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If you had to start your real estate career all over again, what advice would you offer yourself? Would you tell yourself to go for broke, back yourself, and make every moment count?
Would you reassure yourself the hard work is worth it, that rejection comes with the territory, and that good habits compound (even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time)?
Yep, 20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back it’s easy to reflect that risk equals reward, and that the initial hard work is an investment that pays dividends.
But it begs the question, what advice would your future self offer to the person who stands where you are now?
Will they thank you for the habits you currently embrace and the risks you take, or will they have regrets about the ambitions you didn’t realise and the leaps of faith you were too afraid to make?
A life well-lived
Without getting too philosophical, it’s always fascinating to hear people reflect back on their life in their twilight years, looking at the things they wished they’d done and those they regret.
It soon turns out some common themes emerge and it’s not so much what people did that they regret but the things they didn’t.
In other words, they don’t regret the chances they took and the mistakes they made, but rather the opportunities they missed, including the following…
Not taking more risks
It’s easy to establish a routine, find security, then get cosy and safe in a comfort zone. But that’s not a place where growth and true life experience happens.
In fact, one of the key regrets a lot of people have when looking back on their life is not taking more risks when opportunity knocked.
Whether it’s asking someone out, pursuing a passion, switching careers, or starting a business, sometimes we need to step up, feel the fear and do it anyway.
Why? Because succeed or fail, you’ll learn and grow and that creates a far more fulfilling life than one spent on the sidelines watching the game pass you by.
Working at the expense of family and relationships
Yes, we need to work and pay our way, but not at the expense of relationships with family and friends.
A common regret amongst those older and wiser or those with little time left is that their brief stint on earth should have seen them invest more energy into relationships with loved ones.
And it’s an easy mistake to make as we set about forging a career and building a profile. It’s also an all-too-common theme in the real estate industry, which has the potential to be fast-paced, all consuming, highly competitive and punctuated by epic highs and crushing lows.
That makes it critical for us to implicitly understand why we do what we do, and who we do it for, then strive to maintain a work/life balance that allows us to nurture the relationships that matter.
Investing too much in material possessions
As the old saying goes, you can’t take it with you when you go, but it’s no secret real estate is an industry with something of a reputation for its materialistic nature.
The question for ambitious real estate professionals isn’t what do you want from the success you achieve in this industry, but rather who do you want to be? It’s not what will you gain from your career in terms of possessions, esteem and accolades, but is instead what sort of person will you become?
How will you give back, contribute? In other words what legacy will you leave?
Not being true to yourself
We only get one shot at this life, and the reality is happiness is a choice. I’m not saying pain doesn’t exist or that bad things won’t happen along the way, but while we can’t control what happens to us, we can control how we respond.
We can choose to be true to ourselves, to be happy, to follow our dreams, to take risks then learn and grow.
We can choose not to stay in unsatisfying jobs or relationships. We can choose to surround ourselves with people whose company we enjoy and pursue things that allow us to feel fulfilled.
Is there a leap you want to take?
All of this begs the question, what might your future self regret? Or on the flipside, what will they thank you for? What is it you are doing right now, in this moment that is setting that person up for success and a life well-lived with minimal regrets?
Knowing your why, fulfilling your potential, finding your passion and realising your dreams is something we feel incredibly strongly about at the Agents’Agency.
We’ve helped hundreds of agents take their next big leap – whether that’s a better work/life balance, being in business on their own terms, or enjoying a greater financial reward and satisfaction in the job they do each day.
And their most common regret? It’s not the leap they made by joining us. More often than not, it’s the fact they didn’t do it sooner.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents’Agency, Australia’s first multi-brand real estate network.
For all enquiries and more information on how the Agents’Agency can help you take your career to the next level, please visit https://www.agentsagency.com.au/ or email
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