Are you ready for the flurries?! I am not talking about the weather and the
dusting of snow the news is predicting for Friday here in CT. I am talking about the "flurry" of
pics and boasting you will see today, this week and next on social media. You see, most real estate companies just had
or will have their real estate award ceremonies for performance in 2016.
This past Sunday I begin planning for this
week’s activities and many mixed feelings surfaced and have begun to grow
stronger for me as I prepare to attend our company's award ceremony this
afternoon. My first feelings were what I
believe is a healthy sense of pride. My
team and I have done it again! But then
I was thinking…well so what?! Do people
really care? What difference does it
make? Yes, I understand to be
statistically ranked as the Top 4% out of about 40,000 agents nationwide and
then publicly recognized is very nice (and I am very grateful for all the
support Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties has given me)
BUT that's not really why I work every day.
Getting another plaque doesn't truly give me any satisfaction. That's not why I am out talking to people
about real estate until 9pm many evenings, that's not why I work on the
weekends and sacrifice time with my family and friends who I love to death. So what's the point? I kept thinking why I am going through these
motions every day?
After much thought (some of it very
emotional) and even telling myself don't even bother going to the awards
ceremony, I had a few moments of intense clarity…thank God! I started thinking about memories in my past real
estate transactions and saw some posts on Facebook and other social media. I saw a few pics of a family having a birthday
party for their 11 year-old daughter in the home I sold them, in Glastonbury, 3
years ago and how happy they look. I saw
a pic of a past seller, from Rocky Hill, bragging about walking along the beach
in South Carolina while we are freezing here in CT. I received a message about how a past client was
referring me to his brother, in Rocky Hill, to sell his home because he wants
to buy a smaller one to save more money for an earlier retirement. I saw a pic of a newborn baby, their proud
parents and the nursery they are setting up for her in a home, in Manchester, I
sold them. I saw a post of a car
salesman who opened his own business at a building, in East Hartford, I helped
him buy and his client is thrilled.
Those posts made me smile AND I opened my eyes! I felt a sudden twinge of fulfillment and
gratification. I felt happy!
That's what THIS is all about for me…it's about the memories I help to make for
my clients! It is "that
thing" which gives me satisfaction.
It is what makes me smile when I am having a tough day. I realized I am truly helping others to get to
where their "happy place" is. I
am happy seeing the results after helping others in real estate. It’s not business to me, it’s personal. My life, my work, my career satisfaction is
personal to me.
I have decided I will embrace that eventful
moment of celebration today - that quick second of when the picture will be
taken and I will try my best not to feel guilty about it. I will tell my team that I am proud of how
they work well together because I really am.
I am a business leader and need to counsel, motivate and inspire my
team. I need to support my family (along
with my hard-working wife) of 6 kids.
AND NOW, thank God, I know where my motivation to work in real estate
comes from.
So when you see the "flurry" of
pictures and the typical real estate agent's boasts about BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
being posted all over know that I am truly appreciative of you (my clients and
team members). You gave me the gracious opportunity
to sincerely help you so that I may have the satisfaction of helping another human being. That we connected is what I am most thankful
for.
