So, what does that mean? The things top agents never do again.
From my observations of successful agents, they tend to have moments in life and in business, that once they have them, they never go back to the old way of doing things. When that happens, they are never the same.
In short, they just "get it"!
Years ago, a bad business decision of mine led to an interesting situation. I had learned a valuable lesson the hard way and assured myself this was a good thing once I learned that lesson, I would never go back.
Trust me you never do it again. So, what are the key moments successful agents go through that forever change how they do things, which propel them to succeed in business, relationships, and life?
I began to look at these moments and here is what I found.
Successful agents never again…
- Return to what hasn’t worked for them in their real estate business or personal life. Whether a job, or a broken relationship that was ended for a good reason, we should never go back to the same thing, expecting different results, without something being different.
- Do anything that requires them to be someone they are not. In everything we do, we must ask ourselves, Why am I doing this? Am I suited for it? Does it fit me? Is it sustainable? If the answer is no to any of these questions, you better have a very good reason to proceed or stop it and be your authentic self.
- Try to change another person. When you realize you cannot force someone into doing something, you give him or her freedom and allow them to experience the consequences. In doing so, you find your own freedom as well. You can only change yourself and really cannot change others.
- Believe they can please everyone. Once you get it truly is impossible to please everyone, you begin to live purposefully, trying to please the right people. They realize they are the most important person in their life and their family and friends are the next important people in their lives. They stop basing their choices on people pleasing and choices that are best for themselves and those most important to them.
- Choose short-term comfort over long-term benefit. Once successful people know they want something that requires a painful, time-limited step, they do not mind the painful step because it gets them to a long-term benefit. Living out this principle is one of the most fundamental differences between successful and unsuccessful people, both personally and professionally. They have the courage to leave their comfort zone to gain long-term results.
- Trust someone or something that appears flawless. It’s natural for us to be drawn to things and people that appear “incredible.” We love excellence and should always be looking for it. We should pursue people who are great at what they do, employees who are high performers, dates who are exceptional people, friends who have stellar character and companies that excel. But when someone or something looks too good to be true, he, she or it is too good to be true. The world is imperfect. Period. No one and nothing are without flaw, and if they appear that way, hit pause. Don’t be misled. Learn how to read people.
- Take their eyes off the big picture. We function better emotionally and perform better in our lives when we can see the big picture. For successful people, no one event is ever the whole story. Winners remember that—each day. The top agents always have their eye on the prize and know their "why" and purpose and love the impact they have on people and the ones closest to them more than the selling real estate part.
- Neglect to do due diligence. No matter how good something looks on the outside, it is only by taking a deeper, diligent, and honest look that we will find out what we truly need to know and the reality we owe ourselves. The best reality comes from an honest self-assessment. Top agents always make educated decisions on everything personally and professionally they do.
- Fail to ask why they are where they find themselves. One of the biggest differences between successful people and others is successful people always ask themselves, "what part am I playing in this situation"? Said another way, they do not see themselves as victims, even when they are. Don’t make excuses for who and where you are. Top agents don’t live below the line in blame, denial, and excuse. They are above the line and take ownership, action, and learn from their mistakes.
- Forget their inner life determines their outer success. The good life sometimes has little to do with outside circumstances. We are happy and fulfilled mostly by who we are on the inside. Research validates that. And our internal lives largely contribute to producing many of our external circumstances. Become a better you and the outward becomes better. The converse is true. People who are still trying to find success in various areas of life can almost always point to one or more of these patterns as a reason they are repeating the same mistakes.
Remember everyone, including myself, make mistakes… even the most successful people out there. But what achievers do better than others is recognize the patterns that are causing those mistakes and never repeat them again. In short, they learn from pain—their own and the pain of others.
A good thing to remember is this: Pain is unavoidable, but repeating the same pain twice, when we could choose to learn and do something different, is certainly avoidable.
I like to say, “We don’t need new ways to fail… the old ones are working just fine!” Our task, in business and in life, is to observe what they are, and never go back to doing them again.
Strength and courage,
Wade
