Are you looking for success in all the wrong places? Sometimes we want the ‘magic bullet’ or want to know exactly that one thing someone has done that seemingly catapulted them to success. Is there any such thing?
You’ve seen talented sports figures fail at the highest level. You’ve seen little smarty know-it-alls fail to sell a stick of real estate. So, what constitutes success? It ain’t talent…it ain’t skill (and it’s certainly not good English)….it’s attitude.
Your Attitude about YOU is Much More Important than Your Talent or your IQ
Malcolm Gladwell actually said this in the chapter in Outliers about proverbs. Study after study shows that, if you have the big “T” (tenacity), and you believe you can do something, YOU CAN!
I’m a graduate of the University of Oregon, and I always read the alumni magazine. In one edition, there’s a fascinating study by a couple of physicists (sounds like those physicists just can’t stop themselves from studying this, that, and the other). They found that students with lower American College Test (ACT) or SAT scores could compensate through hard work. So, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t achieve what you want to achieve. Unless you’re trying to become an NBA center, and you’re 5’ 10” tall, you CAN achieve great things in real estate.
Here’s my favorite quote by one of my favorite leaders, Winston Churchill:
Give In? Never!
Never give in!
Never give in!
Never, never, never, never
– in nothing great or small,
large or petty –
Never give in except to
convictions of honour and good sense.
Winston Churchill
Speech at the Harrow School
October 29, 1941
Achievement Can be Yours
Work the hours it takes. Be honest with yourself about your work ethic. Use my analysis, Time and Activities, to check that your hard work is really the work that counts. Take the attitude that YOU CAN. You don’t need great height or great musical talent to do well in real estate. You need the values that you already have: Caring for people, wanting to do right by them, and putting the client above your best interests. Now, go and have a great year, month, and week!
