Are You The Tortoise or The Hare?
As children, we unknowingly learn powerful and thought provoking concepts that help us become successful adults. One story that I have carried within my mind for decades now is Aesop’s classic tale about the tortoise and the hare. After several years of reflecting on the underlying message, I’ve been able to create and recreate a successful living during my career. If you don’t remember the story, here is a quick reminder:
There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.
Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, “How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?”
Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, “There is plenty of time to relax.”
Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.
The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.
Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.
After that, Hare always reminded himself, “Don’t brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!”
Does this sound familiar? I’m not referring to the story itself, I’m talking about how it relates to how you run your Real Estate business.
Are You The Hare in Your Real Estate Career?
Being a Real Estate Agent, have you noticed your business going up and down in random spurts? It seems like maybe 1 month you have 3 or 5 deals and then the other month you have a big fat zero. Maybe a few months out of the year, you have 5-10 deals and then the rest of the year you have nada. So sometimes you appear to be a top producer, but then when you take a look at your career each year as a whole, you do relatively the same amount of deals year after year. If this is you, are you beginning to see the similarities between you and the Hare?
The psychology behind this is actually quite simple and obvious. Sure it has a lot to deal with ego and pride, but it also has a lot to do with discipline and complacency. Real Estate is one of the few industries where you can earn some fairly large commission checks in a short period of time. If a Realtor sells a few houses, it can equal $50,000+ in commissions. It doesn’t matter who you are, making $50,000 in a few months is amazing. The problem that immediately arises after a couple of fat checks is complacency. Most people just don’t save their money and end up sending it right away. The problem isn’t only the part about blowing your money away onsuperfluous things, it’s that 30-40% of that money you made doesn’t even belong to you, it belongs to Uncle Sam!
How Do You Become the Tortoise?
The tortoise keeps on saying that “slow and steady wins the race!” What does that mean? It means that unlike all the other Realtors who are like the Hare quickly burn themselves out. They work hard for a short period of time, and then they play even harder. This cycle continues too many times and any success ends up canceling itself out. I’m not telling you that playing hard is a bad thing, I’m saying that you should limit the amount of time you spend playing hard now, so you can play harder that ever a little later in your career. Instead of working hard to do 5 deals a month, taking a break, then trying to do another 5 again the following month, focus on doing 3-4 deals each month. Not only should you take a look at the number of deals you do, you should also make the attempt to live below your means.
Most of the people who made a ton of money in the last Real Estate upswing have pretty much spent it on big houses and fancy cars. Now, these are the types of people who are getting foreclosed on and are now forced to change their entire life style and struggle. People who made the decision to go slow and steady during the last Real Estate market upswing and still continuously work hard and save money, now have the opportunity to invest into houses and stocks at ridiculously low prices.
What You Should Do Right Now?
If you do almost everything I tell you to do, you will achieve the goals and dreams you desire. I’ve been in the business for over 30 years, so doesn’t it make sense for you to follow my advice?
- On the days you feel like working, and the days you don’t, you need to work hard no matter what.
- Start each day at zero
- Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
- Have a short term memory with the the bad things you do and have a long term memory with the good things you do. After all, everyone makes mistakes, no point in dwelling on the bad.
- Become more teachable and coach-able and I promise you that this alone will allow you to change the way you do Real Estate.
As you begin to feel comfortable with my advice, take notice on your future, and dwell on your goals for a moment. It’s important for you to know that it’s okay to be told what to do in this industry. So simply allow yourself to let yourself do what I say and I promise you that you’ll almost instantly notice a difference. Leave a comment on what your thoughts are below.