Why good Realtors fail and how to overcome!
As an entrepreneur, I know all to well how easy it is to fall into the “success trap” when the good times are rolling, it is easy to fall prey to Ego. That little voice that tells you “I’m amazing! I’m the best”. As Ryan Holiday discussed in his must-read book “Ego is the Enemy”. A successful person’s worst enemy is their own ego. It blinds us to our own short comings and gives us a false sense of security. Even worse, it convinces us that “we have put in our time, so I don’t need to do XYZ things that made me successful originally”.
This is probably the number 1 reason why I see successful Realtor’s fail. They believe themselves to be “above the grind” or some other nonsense. I have mentored 100s of industry professionals over the years. Some of them have not only become successful, but they have been able to maintain that success.
Yet far too often I have seen good agents I have mentored leave their team and inevitably leave the industry. I used to be upset by this. I would ask, “Did I fail them? Where did I go wrong as a mentor?” The truth? that is my own ego speaking. No one is responsible for anyone else’s success or failure (unless they commit some serious fraud and theft… but that’s a blog for another day :P ) The truth is, individuals are ultimately responsible for their own success or misfortune. We choose the story we tell ourselves. When we quit, it is our choice to give up, no one else’s.
Example: When we lose a good client do, we say “My brand, my team, my leader, my market… is the reason I lost this deal.” Or do we say “I didn’t understand my brand, I didn’t learn from my team, I didn’t leverage my leader, I didn’t adapt to the changing market” Regardless of what we say, we are correct. That is the universal truth.
You may have heard the saying “Perception is reality” that is not true.
Reality is Reality. Perception is your take on reality and that is the deciding factor in how you respond to success and failure. In my industry far to many agents change brokerages like they would their social media profile picture. Why? In my experience most are unhappy with their current business and want to blame everything external they can. Instead of focusing inward, they seek that “magic pill” that will help them “succeed”.
The reality? True change must come from within. This is what #BetheChange means. (One of my personal core values btw). If you are unhappy with your current situation, all the anger, hurt feelings and spite will not change a damn thing. No one cares that you ‘feel’ you “should have XYZ”. If you want to change your situation, you first need to change your perspective. As one of my mentors Robin Sharma says. “Your mind-set, soul-set, heart-set and health-set determine your greatness.” These are the 4 inner empires and focusing on cultivating them is a path to lasting success and greatness.
How do you avoid failure? You cannot. What you can avoid is being defeated and consumed by setbacks. By focusing inward and growing as a person, you will overcome failure and turn it into your next success. I will leave you with a quote from a famous poet.
“Meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same” – Rudyard Kipling: IF