Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Motivation

As we all have experienced lately, selling real estate is difficult. In real estate, we are always selling. You are selling yourself to others - buyers, sellers, and other agents. Convincing buyers to get off the fence as well as convincing them to stay away from short sales take skill. Convincing sellers to price their property correctly and to get in the right condition to sell requires skill. On top of this, working with other agents who don’t have the same level as commitment as we do to our profession makes our job harder. Basically, selling has always been tough and you should be glad that it is because not everyone can do it well. You must dedicate yourself to be a better salesperson to survive in today’s market, but also to help you thrive in future markets.

What is your philosophy in achieving success in life and business? Does this philosophy carry on in all aspects of your life? If you want it, you need to instill the following objectives into your life to make it happen.

It starts with commitment. You need to commit. Commit to yourself that you will do the right things to ensure your success. Focus on the small stuff. Daily activities such as seeing houses, reading articles, writing notes, making calls, networking with clients and agents, researching the market, setting appointments and furthering your education. As the famous quote say, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step”. Just do it!

You must make the right choices. Choose to be positive. Choose to set a schedule and stick with it, consistently. Choose to associate with the right people. Choose to do what you like in the business and hire people to take care of what you don’t like about the business. Choose to attend training, listing exchanges, mastermind groups and seminars. Choose to deliver excellent customer service. Choose to improve yourself and your skills.

Improvement comes in increments. Start small, everyday and before you know it you will notice a big difference in yourself and your business. Know what you want, when you want it and make the effort to do it. Be persistent in your endeavors whatever they may be. As Jim Valvano, the head coach of NC State said to his team that won the NCAA National championship in 1983 prior to beating the heavily favored University of Houston…“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up”.

In addition, you need passion. Passion for the business, your commitment, your choices, your attitude and your improvement is critical to your success. If you don’t “feel” it, others will notice. Take your passion, in all you do, to the next level and your success will follow. Vince Lombardi once said “Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is”. Make it happen through your passion.

Grow your sphere of influence by developing new relationships through networking events, associations, charity events, youth events (sports, dance, horseback, etc). Build upon existing relationships through pop bys, office charity events, personal notes, check in calls, etc. to help build up your business base.

Discipline is the final piece to the puzzle. Have the discipline to write down what you want to accomplish, the discipline to write out an action plan to get you there, the discipline to follow a schedule, the discipline to make the right choices. Discipline is the price we pay for success.

If you instill these attributes into your lifestyle, you will be amazed at the opportunities you will be presented with in your business. As Henry Ford once said, people often miss opportunities because it is dressed in overalls and disguised as work.

Are you there yet? Do you have it in you? The fire has to burn within you. We have it and want you to have it too.