By Cliff Baird
“Nothing matters until you make it matter.”
Clearly, this doesn’t mean that nothing matters. What it does mean is that you need to be careful what you make matter. Because what you make matter, in the moment of opportunity, will determine your destiny.
We are a nation at risk! Each week in North America, there are over 35,000 heart attacks. Each week over 10,000 people die of heart attacks.
In 2005 there were more than 11 million prescriptions for tranquilizers and stress reduction drugs. Of course, there are no statistics of the socially deviant ways we escape from the stresses of everyday life,
Tragically, most often stress is a self-inflicted wound. We have unfortunately been taught to “manage the damage” as if stress was an inevitable part of life. It is not! Conflict and tension may be inevitable but stress is always the result of our choices. We can avoid all stress in life. It is simply a matter of choice.
The psychology textbook definition is: “Stress is an internal reaction to external stimuli” or more simply put… Stress is how we feel emotionally (internal reaction) to the choices we make in the circumstances of life (external stimuli). Clinical stress is the consequence of our choices.”
Read this carefully: There are only two ways you will ever have clinical stress in your life:
1. By doing things you know you shouldn’t do.
2. By not doing things you know you should do.
Therefore, knowledge is the cause of all stress. It would be better if you didn’t know.
Knowing what to do and choosing not to do it is the formula for clinical stress.
The question is, now that you have gathered all the knowledge and real estate sales skills, what are you doing with them? Do not even attempt to justify why you are not prospecting. That will become too heavy a burden to carry. In fact, that is one of the main reasons why people leave real estate sales in failure. They can no longer face the truth about themselves. They had the knowledge and the skills but the resulting stress was eventually overwhelming.
Be a “doer”, not only a “learner”. A doer is someone who passionately overwhelms their present circumstances by deliberately choosing the daily activities, which he or she already knows, will lead to the fulfillment of their dreams.
Remember, you, and only you, will determine your destiny.
Cliff Baird, MBA, PhD is a clinical psychologist and a former professor at Wilfrid Laurier. He has spent more than 35 years in real estate. He created a 32-office franchise, developed several online recruiting profiles, was the keynote speaker for every major real estate franchise in the USA and Canada and was a featured keynote speaker for 12 years in a row at the NAR convention. www.cliffbaird.com
