I’ve had the pleasure to get to know so many of you and your individual stories. It’s truly been one of the biggest honors of my life. Woven into those stories are times of extreme joy and times of struggle. The majority of them at one point include struggle, a low point, and then a journey built on chapters written to find that true happiness and success that escaped you up to that point. I’d love to share them with you because they are so good, but I can’t because what people tell me goes in the vault.
Some of you are going to completely relate to this message because of your own experiences. For others, it will be exactly what you need to hear at this moment and there will be a few of you that will be indifferent. My hope is that you understand that having to dig deep to get though challenging times is just part of the game. Not only is it necessary, it is extremely rewarding when you prevail. Some of us learn it early in life and others later in life. It wasn’t until I was 41 that I faced my first real life challenge. Honestly, I wish I would have faced it earlier in life. We’ve all been there. We’ve all learned some of our best lessons through those difficult times. What I can tell you is that anyone who has had any kind of real success has had their share of failure.
I was reminded of this over the weekend when I picked up and started reading “Principles” by Ray Dalio. He starts the book with his bio. He writes about how he crashed big time during 1982 after he made a huge, wrong, and very public call on an investment position which cost him everything. As he recounted that time in his life, he said “What happens after we crash is most important. Successful people change in ways that allow them to continue to take advantage of their strengths while compensating for their weaknesses and unsuccessful people don’t.” He goes on to say that "Over the years, I found that the most extraordinary people I’ve met had similar painful failures that taught them the lessons that ultimately shaped them and helped them to succeed.”
Breakdowns Create Breakthroughs.
So why am I bringing this up now? It’s obvious that we have entered a time that we will never forget. We are starting to realize that we will not be re-entering the same world we experienced pre-quarantine and we realize that we will need to adapt. The powerful thing about entering a time of uncertainty is that you are forced to think. When things are going well most people - the 97% - just go through the motions, get through the day, and don’t spend any time in thought and self-evaluation. You cannot create what you want without thought. In fact, the success formula I teach is Thoughts create Feelings, Feelings create Action and it’s the Action that creates the Results. The seed for long-lasting growth starts in thought.
….and that is why so many changes in society and to individuals occur after a time of disruption and an uncertainty. People are forced to THINK and that starts the creation process. After 9/11, the financial crash of 2007/2008 and other times of disruption, we’ve always come back stronger. The bigger the challenge, the more significant the change. There will be opportunity as a result of this period of time. The question is are you willing to go grab it?
The Covid-19 virus will be remembered for how it changed how we live and how we communicate. It's forcing us to embrace a virtual world 5 to10 years sooner than we expected.
I’ve read of companies that may not go fully back to an office environment post-quarantine.
How will education change?
How we entertain, how we shop, how we view and consume content has already changed permanently. Many of us livestreamed Andrea Bocelli yesterday on YouTube and found the experience mind-blowing.
Our industry has changed and probably for good.
As real estate brokers, it’s time to fully and permanently embrace virtual methods to procure properties for our clients and market our listings. It’s all changed. Talented and highly productive agents will solidify their role in the transaction if they change with the times. It’s my opinion that most buyers will see fewer properties on site before they purchase. More people will enter contracts sight unseen. They will rely on their talented and skilled broker to “personally shop” for them, virtually show the contenders, and accompany them to the finalists. You will need to market your listings will all of this in mind. You will need to prove to the market that you can execute in this playing field. Each property also has a story and good marketing means you need to become a good storyteller. The transaction will be fully streamlined and the broker will be the quarterback. Lending is changing. Closings have changed. Will it ever go back to the old model? Not sure, but there will at least be a hybrid. With all this change, your personal brand and brokerage has never been more important to you. This change is happening right before our eyes and you need to be quick to react before you have your real estate heart attack. I feel strongly that if you have a “transactional mindset,” you will get crushed. Your clients will expect more from you and they will need to trust you at an entirely new level. You need to become an even further extension of them during the process.
I want to give you some things to think about…
I have a list of questions for you to ponder, to push you to think. This is a perfect time to self-evaluate, right? For some of you, your goals will crystalize. For others, your goals will have completely changed. Grab that journal and let's get some heavy lifting done.
So, how are you doing? No, really, how are you doing?
If I was to ask you what you want out of your business could you tell me? How has that changed from 45 days ago?
Are you ready to embrace this change? How do you see your business changing?
Do you have the skills for this new virtual world? If not, which skills do you need to learn immediately?
If you already have the basic skills for this new virtual world, where can you level up?
If your buyer identifies a property and wants you to conduct a virtual showing for them, could you do it right now?
Do you have all of the software necessary to be elite?
Are you a good storyteller?
When you obtain these skills, how will you let your clients know that you can operate virtually?
What features in a home are more important now than they were 45 days ago? How will this change how people live in their homes?
The better you can answer these questions now, the better off you will be this year, 3 years, 5 years, and 10 years from now.
Breakdowns Create Breakthroughs.
Team, I just want to reiterate, the change that we are going to see as a result of this pandemic will be swift and unforgiving. If there was ever a time to be a relationship-based agent, it is now. If there was ever a time to become a good marketer, it is now. If there was ever a time to build a personal brand that is trustworthy, it is now. If your clients don’t KNOW YOU, LIKE YOU and TRUST YOU, you will struggle mightily. If your clients do KNOW YOU, LIKE YOU and TRUST YOU, you will absolutely crush it! You’ve got to go deep right now to win.
Some of you know this about me and others don’t, but the main driving force for me to get into leadership in 2013 was because leadership at the brokerage level in the first 7 years of my career was nowhere to be found. I guess I didn’t really know that I needed it until 2007. The team I was on was learning together how to manage the disruption, but at the end of the day, we were all fighting our own battles. I made that 2013 decision after a lot of thought and I realized that with what I had learned between 2007 and 2013, maybe I could help fill that leadership void in the industry. Maybe I could provide value, I could pose questions like the above, I could motivate people to think, to push them to strive to be better and to be the best version of themselves. It was the best decision I ever made for myself. I’ve been desperate during times of massive change and uncertainty. That breakdown became my breakthrough and I am so grateful that I got my head handed to me during that time. It was so difficult, but it shaped me into who I am today.
I can honestly say that I am really going to enjoy watching all of you write these next chapters in your story. I have no doubt that I will see more superstars emerge out of this. You are perfectly positioned to take market share. The question, again, is will you seize this opportunity? Will you let this time of uncertainty break you down or will it be the chapter in your story where you completely breakthrough? Yes, that was another question for you to ponder.
To follow up on what Ray Dalio said, "Successful people change in ways that allow them to continue to take advantage of their strengths while compensating for their weaknesses… and unsuccessful people don’t.” It’s really that simple.
