Are you Confident or Cocky?
Being confident is requisite for success. Even if you’re brand new to real estate, you need to look, speak and behave confidently, assertively, as if you’ve been around the block many, many times. I’m not asking you to be evasive about your inexperience or lack of sales, but if customers aren’t comfortable with you, you’ll never gain that important experience! Supplant (soften) your newness with other valuable traits – eagerness, responsiveness, reliability, willingness to seek help from others. But when does assuredness become arrogance, cocky, obnoxious…dismissing other viewpoints or feedback? Not that being shy, insecure or intimidated are preferred, but where do you draw the line between haughtiness and humility?
The biggest sale in real estate occurs inside your head – the mental debate that occurs within you as you encounter “real life” real estate – that first call, building inspection, market analysis, listing presentation, first property showing, writing up your first offer…getting it closed! Scrape off the crust of imperviousness for more severe retrospection, and likely, more sober and dramatic change:
- Assess your abilities, skills, beliefs, attitudes. But look too at failures, when you fell woefully short or gave up; when it was simpler to abandon your goals than DO what it took to achieve them. An honest self-assessment helps you focus on skills, strengths, other qualities you need to emphasize and work on. Many deficiencies can be overcome by coaching and practice. Others, you may have to delegate (paperwork, e.g.).
- Don’t compare yourself with others. Talents, intelligence, intuition, enthusiasm will vary. Rather than diminish or deprecate others, measure the “new and improved” you against the “old” you. Are you making progress? Segment long term goals into interim steps (small victories) that keep your momentum climbing.
- Listen to those you trust. Critics will not always be right, but hear them out. Thank them for caring about you. We spend too much time false-hoping people by avoiding the truth, confrontation, giving undeserved praise.
- Take your commitments seriously. When you tell someone that you’ll do something for them, DO IT! Be realistic in how much effort and time it will take. Better to not promise than never deliver!
- Never stop dreaming! Great champions visualize results beforehand… the elation, pride, rewards – focusing more on the glorious outcomes than the arduous, sweaty path to achieve it. Recognize, however, that some dreams are just fantasy. Dream big, but goal-set in smaller (sooner) increments. Stretch your goals, ambitions, dreams just outside of your current belief system (opinions) of what you or others say can be done.
By setting slightly unrealistic goals, you’ll discover unforeseen ways of achieving them. Be confident, but ever mindful that what’s needed for success is constant learning, vigilance, and hard work.
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” ~Helen Keller