By James A. Gage
Do you
find yourself struggling with keeping a positive mental
attitude (PMA)? Does reading or watching the news make you
feel like there’s no point in trying to sell or buy real
estate? Did you attend a conference recently and come home
all pumped up – only to feel like a deflated balloon a week
later?
Yes, the
standard advice for developing PMA works – i.e. read
self-help books, attend conferences, have goals, etc. But,
none of these tactics will work if you fail to act.
That’s
why I believe the real secret to PMA is taking action –
versus simply believing the universe will send you what you
want. What do I mean by this? Here are my three tips for
achieving action-based PMA:
1.
Look for opportunities in negative data.
It’s a
fact: we’re in a recession. And yes, the real estate
industry has been hit – hard. You have two options: you can
get very depressed and give up or you can figure out how to
survive and thrive.
We live
in a time when data is easily accessible and plentiful.
Instead of ignoring the news, learn how to disseminate hype
from fact. This means that you take “negative” data and look
for trends and opportunities within it – or as I say, “go
where they ain’t fishin’.” Even though 25% of people were
unemployed during the Great Depression, you could still find
millionaires because these people knew where to fish.
When
foreclosures began to skyrocket, I didn’t look at the
numbers of foreclosures only. I also noticed a huge surge in
people renting because they were losing their homes and
didn’t qualify for a prime loan. I remember thinking, “Woo,
wait a minute. I have to change my strategy.”
I knew I
could take my properties and turn them into traditional
rentals and wait out the market – or I could make this
negative data work for me – which lead me to really looking
at my lease-to-own strategy.
I’d
always done lease-to-owns but due to the rental data, I put
my lease-to-own strategy on steroids – and it’s working. My
first step was to place a small ad on Craigslist. Due to
this ad, I received an unbelievable 150 calls! I haven’t
seen the numbers I’m now seeing – ever.
2.
Look for inspiration outside of the real estate industry.
If you
read history, you’ll know that downward trends, no matter
how severe, always pass, so it’s important to get your head
out of real estate, real estate, real estate and into other
sources of inspiration – not just for positive mental
attitude but for a fresh perspective.
One place
I find inspiration is in my children. If I don’t stay
positive and proactive, they won’t have a future.
I listen
to John Maxwell, a former pastor and International
motivation speaker, who is very down to earth and practical.
He talks about how we’re not reinventing the wheel and how
the struggles we’re going through now we’ve already done. He
helps me keep things in perspective.
And, I
take specific theories for living and apply them in
different ways. For example, I’ve transferred the concept of
homostatius ( def:
physiology metabolic equilibrium actively maintained by
several complex biological mechanisms that operate via the
autonomic nervous system), a medical term for keeping the
body in balance at all times.
PMA gurus
talk about not hanging around with negative people. Applying
the principal of homostatius, I’ve learned that I don’t want
to hang around with those people who use extreme PMA
techniques.
You can
find lots of real estate gurus who have what I call “real
estate diabetes.” They push the ultra positive things to the
hilt and when you try to follow their advice, you end up
“failing,” which brings me to my third tip:
3. Set
realistic and achievable goals.
It’s very
easy to go to seminars and get all pumped up with a “yes, I
can!” attitude. You get a huge shot of adrenaline – then
five days later you crash as you realize you’re still in the
same rut.
You want
to think “big” and push yourself, but you also have to set
milestone goals that you can realistically achieve. If
you’re currently making $100K right now, setting a goal to
make $1 million in 12 months is unrealistic.
Instead,
set a goal to make $1 million in five years and then set
milestone goals to achieve it, and keep working until you
achieve your goal (while celebrating those milestones).
There is
absolutely nothing wrong with trying new strategies and
failing. Where many people do go wrong is trying new things,
failing – and then giving up. Successful people, on the
other hand, have can-do attitudes in the face of failure,
and will persevere until they achieve their goals.
Keeping a
positive mental attitude does begin in your head, but it’s
manifested in your actions: search for opportunities where
none seem to exist, look for inspiration and advice from
successful people outside of the real estate industry, and
set realistic goals that you can achieve. You’ll find that
it’s much easier to keep a PMA every day.
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"You are who you are and where you are because of what you
have put into your mind."
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call or e-mail. I can be reached at (508) 595-9567.
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