Keep moving...

“We are where we are. If we keep moving, we’ll be someplace else.” (Michael J. Fox) from the Jack’s Winning Words Blog that I often reference and use. According to Jack’s post, this was the answer that Michael J. Fox used with his children when they ask the “Are we there yet?” question. I suppose this is a traveler’s equivalent of the “It is what it is” retort that so many use these days to deal with whatever is in front of them.

The key thought in this little phrase is to keep moving and things will change; which when applied to the current economic situation brings another trite phrase to mind – “Keep on keepin’ on.” That’s what most of us are doing, in hopes that keeping moving in any direction will eventually bring us to a better place.

Now, I suppose that Michael’s phrase would have a different meaning if one were on a merry-go-round. In that case keeping moving would just keep bringing one back to the same place. That brings to mind the old definition of insanity, which is to keep doing the same things over and over and expecting a different outcome each time. I suspect that many Realtors are stuck on that merry-go-round. We keep listing overpriced houses and sitting in out of the way open houses and taking out unqualified buyers in hopes that somehow the outcomes will change and we will make a sale.

The keys to success in business in times like these seem to be the recognition of the need for change, the ability to see the options for making changes, committing to one or more changes that are feasible and executing on that commitment to change. I think lots of us have mastered the first of those four things – we see the need for change and understand that without some changes we can’t make a living selling real estate. The next two steps are the parts that hang most people up – seeing what the options are for change and choosing from those options the changes that we really have a chance to make (those that are feasible for us).

I opined recently about some things that I know I could be doing to increase my business – prospecting activities that would bring in more potential clients, if executed properly. I also noted that many of the activities that I can come up with when I think about it are things that I just can’t bring myself to do – cold calling upon FSBO’s or expired listings for example. So those are things that just aren’t feasible options for me. There are other options that I can commit to in order to change things for me. Perhaps I’m stuck on that next step of choosing 1 or 2 new things to do and committing to execute them; however, I’m committed to keep moving because I need to get somewhere else. What about you?