Just recently on a Sunday morning, I was sitting in my bedroom crying. I was crying because I was absolutely and utterly exhausted.
Exhausted from “creating my job” every day; trying to make things happen through making phone calls to past clients, sending emails to touch base, mailing marketing materials, sharing posts and ads on my facebook page, beating the bushes, all the while trying to put on a happy face so my agents and clients wouldn’t see- and internalize- my anxiety and defeat.
And then, just like that, I got a call from an agent saying he’s submitting a full price, cash offer on my new listing. And my mood shifted.
This, THIS is real estate.
One moment you are beaten down, ready to quit, and questioning your life choices, and the next you are excited, elated, and motivated to do more.
I asked my mentor one time, “How have you done this job for 40 years?”
His response?
“You just do.”
You just put one foot in front of the next and never stop. You go to work everyday whether you want to or not. You make the phone calls, send the emails, and keep pushing forward. Sometimes you are met with resistance, and other times you catch a tail wind. And then one day you look back at everything you’ve endured, and everything you’ve accomplished, and you realize you wouldn’t change a thing.
You just do.
You realize that all these ups and downs is real estate. And to love real estate, and stay in real estate, you have to love the process of real estate. Because although getting to the closing table is the prize, the process is what gets you there. And the process is 95% of the job.
So we have to appreciate and accept the process; we have to accept the peaks and valleys, the crazy clients, the self-promotion, the “putting ourselves out there”, the uncomfortable situations, the paperwork, the negotiating, the getting stabbed in the heart by friends who go with someone else, and getting knee-capped by corporations like Zillow.
But every single time we get knocked down, we get back up and go again.
Why? Because the process is everything. Yes, it’s where the work is, the stress is, and the heartache is, but it’s also where the growth and success are.
If you’re struggling right now, think about the process. Think about where you are right now on this journey, what you can do to get through the bumps and overcome the roadblocks, and how you can fall in love with the process as much as you have the closing.
Because like my mentor, you’ll wake up one day and realize you did this for 40 freaking years, and it was worth every obstacle and every challenge. You’ll look back and feel proud of yourself, proud of your work, and proud of your profession.
You have to fall in love with- and accept- the process. Bruises and all.
You just do.
Amy Gilpin, Associate Broker, Manager, ABR, SRES.
Sixteen years of helping clients. Nine years of helping agents. All for this crazy thing we call real estate.
Production Realty 517-879-4141 Jackson, MI Amy@ProductionRealty.com
