Sometimes the beauty in things is about the journey.
People might think that this is a bittersweet consolation but looking at the bigger picture and in hindsight, it is actually the journey that makes up the bulk of our adventure, isn't it? The climb of the majestic Lionhead in South Africa that took its toll on us for hours and spending barely 30minutes at the summit taking the moment all it.
Being a Real Estate Agent is never an easy job. You might probably think that it is indeed a role of a middle men that bring things together or make things happen but the challenge is, in fact, looking for a willing seller and willing buyer, that itself is asking several stars to align to your favour which doesn't happen so that often. Of course, there are other things in play, like the dynamics and chemistry of your prospect and so forth.
But we eat rejection no just only for breakfast, but lunch and dinner as well. The number of leads we have to go through, the number of people we talk to. I think at some point I'd feel really drained and tired out from people. Especially those that kept asking, taking me out for a ride only to find that they made a purchase somewhere else, or they're just "asking". I digress.
Aside from energy vampires, the challenge is to in fact hustle without expectation. I think it is probably the work of the rejections, numerous rejections, nos, the door slams. I'd stopped expecting great things after. I'd just go with the motion and do my best for each client, at each door. I'd take a day at a time to keep leads warm, to connect genuinely.
It sounds actually sad but I'd honestly say that out of the 2-300 leads that I interacted with, I guess only less than a handful of them is at least humanely friendly. Most of them end up like one-sided conversations with blue ticks and you hanging in there trying to give yourself pats on the back.
I learnt it the hard way after my accident. When you know that they don't even care the least for you, it was... I guess... oh wait I was expecting again. End of the day expectation kills, I was expecting them to be nice because I was nice, or at least alittle more polite/courtesy instead of sending me blue ticks. A syllable or an emoji would have been much better, than the Nike of rejection.
But then again, who am I to ask for it?
I think about again, about the days that I just threw hope out of the window. It was dangerous, I'd say I felt empty, unemphatic and even robotic. I stopped feeling, and everyone I met became just another lead instead of "just another person". It was sad, really sad to only peg a project or a Facebook ad to another person; say Jonathan Midwood 2BR.
I wanted more. I want to know more, to learn more.
Perhaps it is the industry and the hustle and bustle of life that people rarely open up to. But I'd wish for more, and though without expectations, I hope I'd get to meet more prospects like this.
It's sad to actually end this on a depressing note. But sometimes we are just grinding to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Call it excavating, and we don't know how deep is the cave, how long do we take to get to the other side and it's been so long of the same granite, the same view the same silence and the same drills that echoes throughout the day that we're so numbed and blocked out over time.
But hey, we'll eventually reach there... right?
