I bet I can guess what you are thinking – How does a field that revolves around sales ability kill your ability to sell? Let’s look at this.
I started working in the real estate business in 2003 after buying my first home. Because I had been successful in my sales and marketing career, I was able to buy my first home, at the age of 25 years old, with cash. Now, it was a rehab project and after everything was said and done, I only had about $100k into it, but still a great achievement by most people’s standards given my age.
I knew how to sell. I knew people. I loved people. All of these things made making money easy, but at the end of the day, the biggest key to my success was that I openly discussed new ideas, had no problems talking to people about just about anything, and had no fears that someone would use my ideas against me.
Enter Real Estate
My real estate training was not much different than most others. You spend a couple of weeks in a training room, meeting different instructors daily that speak to you about specific portions of what you need to know to pass your real estate exam and to become successful in the business. One of the biggest issues they hammer into you repeatedly is Risk Management and Risk Avoidance. The idea is that by practicing sound risk management techniques, you are less likely to get sued. There is a saying in the real estate business that goes something like “there are two types of successful real estate agents – those that have been sued and those that will”. Who wouldn’t be a little nervous about hearing this and having these ideas planted into your head over and over?
So how does that negatively impact you?
Glad you asked. When you constantly struggle with being open about things because you fear the potential repercussions, you, over time, develop the habit of being more closed off in your ideas, not saying everything that you are thinking of without actively analyzing potential negative ramifications of your actions later.
As you go through your day to day routine, these “work skills” start to ingrain into your other tasks and reach your basal thought processes. We all know that anything practiced over time becomes habit. So, if you get in the habit of looking at the potential negatives it makes it almost impossible to see the positives, or at least very difficult to work on the positives for fear of all the potential that could go wrong.
So what do you do?
Mindset readjustment.
By actively looking at where you are, and knowing the problem, you can make it an active part of your thought process to throw out the negative. You have to realize that you are actively sabotaging yourself and your potential when you worry more about the potential negatives than the potential rewards.
This has been a difficult process for me. Even though I have not been active in the real estate market in about two years (I simply broker my company and let agents handle the sales and listings), I still struggle from time to time with analyzing all the potential negative ramifications of a process or opportunity. Now, it is good to be able to analyze these potentials so you can avoid certain risks, but you also have to consciously turn them off and focus on the reward potential to keep your mind positive and focused.
Where is the balance?
Balance is achieved by getting in the habit of looking at positive potential, understanding the risks, but not letting it hamper your progress. Instead of focusing on the risks of situations, simply understand them, and then get focused on the part of the business or project that you love.
Final Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed real estate when I first started, but the constant risk assessment wore me down. It made me actually dislike my job. Even though I was easily making six figures a year realistically only working 3-4 days a week, I did not enjoy it anymore because it seemed like there was always something new to worry about. Now, I will say that the experience and thought-processes were great to learn, and have helped me in many situations. I am also fortunate to say that despite being a top-producing agent for many years, none of my real estate clients or customers ever sued me (whew, right?). Now, I spend my time thinking about the positive potential of new opportunities more than the potential risks, and I have noticed that my “sales ability” has come back to a level far higher than it was before my real estate career.
This, of course, is all about mindset. People enjoy being around positive people. If you are always worrying about something, you cannot realistically be completely positive. I have a lot of friends that are great in the real estate industry, and are really positive people. They obviously learned this lesson before me. I hope that it will be some help to you as well. It does not matter if you are a real estate agent, a broker, an internet marketer, or a cashier – positive attitude and a free-flow of ideas is what will make you successful in your path. Don’t be bogged down by negative thoughts, no matter how well-intentioned, and you will go far in your business and in life.