So last week we talked about the ten, what I call probably most importantly, challenges that we face as a Real Estate professional. And we covered numbers one through five last week. And we’ll cover number six through ten this week.

And the first one ties into what I just said. The author stated, time is not always on our side. Time is not always on our side. And I wrote the following. And I want you to think about this carefully. We have to stop wishing and hoping for better results and start doing what brings better results. Because no matter what stage we are in the business, time is always running out. Each day that goes by, we have one less day to be productive. Each day that goes by, we have one less day to learn how to do our jobs at a higher level.

I had a conversation this past week because of the first five points for the person said to me, “You know, Mike, there’s so many things we have to learn and understand.” And I said, “There’s no doubt about that.” But what we have to learn to understand is we have to use the self-discipline to follow the schedule that we have if we want to produce on a regular basis. This man then went on to say to me, “What is the biggest challenge in Real Estate today?” I said, “Well, the economy, which is going up and down, interest rates, which are going up and down.” And I said “Then, as importantly, the Real Estate sales prices for most of North America have continued to rise since COVID ended in 2021.” And with the rise of prices, is the rise in the amount of commission checks and the demands that agents put on the brokers to get paid the most money possible. So as a result, our checks become bigger and bigger, and our desire to perform and produce sometimes becomes less and less. Time is not always on our side, but if we take advantage of the time we have, we’re going to have a better year in 2024.

7) Everybody that you admire and adore will eventually leave

Number seven, everybody that you admire and adore will eventually leave. But when I read that thought, I thought, well, that is so interesting because, you know, customers come and go, friends come and go, agents in your company often come and go. Real Estate brokerages come and go. Everybody that you admire and adore will eventually leave. So I wrote down the following. We have to realize how temporary relationships so often are. You know, we meet somebody, we have a breakfast or lunch with them, we enjoy some time with them, and all of a sudden a month is gone by and we find their card and say, well, I haven’t talked to him, so what the heck?

So relationships do come and go. Four separate thoughts. I want to give you now to extend a relationship. Enjoy the time you have with the people that are around you at the moment. Second, and probably just as much, learn from them as much as you can learn. Third, teach them what you know. And then fourth, look at how you can profit together in the relationship you have. So in essence, enjoy, learn, teach, and profit with anybody that you have a chance to spend time with.

8) There’s a direct correlation between putting in the effort and energy every day in Real Estate

Number eight, remember hard work doesn’t always guarantee a high level of success. You know, there’s a direct correlation between putting in the effort and energy every day in Real Estate. And as you’ve heard me say in the past, my days always revolved around role-play and practice first thing in the morning because I felt, no matter how good I knew the scripts, if I wrote it in practice, I could perform at a higher level for the prospect and the client. And then, of course, I prospected usually a minimum of three hours a day most of the time for and of course, 1970, you were knocking on doors because we had rotary phones and you couldn’t take the time to dial enough people in the course of a day. But then, of course, the afternoon was spent either previewing property, prospecting, or going on appointments.

So my days were very simple. I put in a lot of effort. So at 5:30 PM, 6:00 PM I could go home and be with the family because the kids at that time, Matt, Tom, Michelle and Pat were all very small. But remember, you can’t always control the unpredictable circumstances of the Real Estate business. So just because we put in a lot of hard work and effort doesn’t guarantee that we’re always going to get the results we want.

John Wooden has that great quote that if you do a little bit better each day, those little bits add up to a summation of a lot of good things happening in your life as you go further in life.

9) What we do is a choice

Number nine on this list, what you do is a choice and an inevitable responsibility to learn how to enjoy the many ups and downs of Real Estate. What we do is a choice. Whether you do something productive is a choice. Whether you sit and drink coffee and eat donuts for a couple of hours is a choice. But we have to be able to understand that we are responsible for the choices that we make and the many ups and downs that we experience. We choose how we react to each single day based upon the goals and objectives, and the desire you have to achieve those goals and objectives.

10) We choose the path we take as we choose the reaction to the path we take

And number ten on this list, you are the author of your business and the author of your life. I met an author that wrote a book that was quite popular in the in the early 90s, and the guy said to me the following, “Everybody thinks they can write a book until you try to get past the first chapter. Well, we are every day, week and month and year is another chapter in our life. So I wrote the following. We choose the path we take as we choose the reaction to the path we take. A lot of the activities were involved in, you know, we’re writing out and authoring a list of things that we do, and it’s only for us to look at. Is a lot of people buying? Are a lot of people buying a copy of your book, of what you do every day, all day long? Probably not. Well, we are the author of the results that we get, and if we put in the efforts, we get the results.

So I hope you’ve had a good two weeks. I hope that these messages, some of them will apply to everybody, and probably all of them apply to a handful of those that are trying to grow, move ahead and succeed at a higher level. Well, that being said, I will look forward to talking to you next week. Thanks for today.