WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
As a highly infrequent user of my gym membership, I am not here pretending to espouse great wisdom regarding achieving all your life goals.
What I can provide input on however is our lives as Realtors, or pursuers of any self-driven venture.
Now in my 22nd year in this business we call real estate, I have become all-to-familiar with the ebbs and flows of the treadmill of entrepreneurship. After all, things are great! Right? I mean, they’re ok. Wait. They’re great again! Best. Month. Ever. …Oh man, maybe I shouldn’t have leased that car.
Here’s the plot twist. In any given year there are between 6,000 – 10,000 homes sold in Niagara. It’s not like some industries where the landscape literally dries up and cracks. We, as Canadians, are not afraid of moving.
In fact, over the past 5 years, Canada has averaged nearly 500,000 sales per year. In a marketplace that can be inconsistent, that annual volume is quite, well, consistent. There are no bad years. Just bad, or misguided activities.
So, here on January 1st, many of us sole proprietors are contemplating the year ahead. What will we do differently? What help do we need? What fears do we need to tackle? And do we even love this gig now that it’s quite difficult?
Looking back on my journey in this industry, I can confidently attribute our success(es) and failure(s) to us. And it’s not the big stuff we do or don’t do.
It’s the many moving parts that make our engine work. In no particular order, here are the key points that I would time travel back and tell myself in 2003 when I started on my own treadmill:
- Search out, starve, and eradicate any and all self-limiting beliefs.
- Be ruthless with who you pay attention to on social media.
- Be ruthless with who you pay attention to, period.
- Don’t listen to the voice that says you sound, or look, or are stupid.
- Make those phone calls. People are actually happy to hear from you.
- Zig when others zag.
- Do more of what you know works.
- Don’t do the stuff that empties your bucket.
- Be confident in saying no to business that contradicts you and your mission.
- Count to three before you respond to a heated comment.
- Don’t resolve difficult situations via text. Phone calls or in person. Always.
- Track your small activities. Face-to-face meetings. Phone calls. Appointments.
- Map out your day and protect your time.
- Mornings are for desk work. Afternoons are for people.
- Close your door and focus.
- Schedule time for yourself, friends, family, and good times into your day.
- Say yes to more uncomfortable things.
- Go to more training, conferences, and learning opportunities.
- Invest in the tools you need. Don’t cheap out.
- Use the tools you invested in.
- Create systems so there are no holes for opportunities to fall through.
- Be very aware of the 5 or 10 people closest to you.
- Stay in the ecosystem of those who inspire or motivate you.
- Distance yourself from the others.
- Be careful who you emulate.
- Don’t keep score.
- Don't be afraid of change.
- Schedule an extra 30 minutes for all face-to-face bookings.
- Do an time audit.
- Take accountability. It’s probably on you.
- You’re either winning or you’re learning. (not my quote, but I like it)
- Take care of yourself better. Nutrition. Be active. Plan for it.
- Engage with the humans on the other side of the table.
- Don’t forget to have fun along the way.
Best wishes to you for a 2025 that gets you to where you hope to go.