I was reading an interview with web design guru Eric Meyer, and was struck by his answer to one of the questions and how much that answer rings true for real estate as well as technology fields.
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to people starting out in the field, what would it be?
A: “Love it or leave it. Seriously, this is not a field where you can coast by on “it’ll do for now” or “eh, it’s a living”. There’s too much need to be creative and sharp, and there are too many nagging little problems to deal with on an ongoing basis, to be doing this for anything short of love.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Being a Realtor is everything Eric stated above, and more, though the question was about being a web programmer. But in real estate especially, if we don’t love what we do and have a true passion for helping others, it won’t work as a career.
This is similar to a posting by Seth Godin recently.
Hi Rush,
I was in the audience of the “large gathering of real estate agents” Seth Seth refers to in his blog. It was the Keller Williams convention in Atlanta earlier this month and he talked about his book The Dip.
He’s absolutely right about a lot of agents just needing to get out of the business. I do follow his “specialize in something and be the best” line of thinking also. It all makes sense.
He was a very entertaining, engaging and interesting speaker. He does venture off into what I’d call somewhat manic notions of how to succeed in real estate, but hey, he’s thinking outside the box and it stirs up our creativity and thought process, which is a good thing.
Steve
Considering where our economy is right now, it is rare indeed to do something career-wise out of sheer love. I strongly
feel that on a certain level this is just another form of narcissism, a left over, if you will, from the entitlement era of the 70’s, where many folks simply weren’t ready to grow up yet. Work is work, short and simple. Same with raising a family,
and anything else that smacks of responsibility. Work is firstly a sacrifice, and a labor of love a far second factor. If
love and creativity are a part of that sacrifice, all the better, but it is assuredly a lifelong necessary sacrifice and obligation
to the community/world we live in, and a creative outlet as a rare but wonderful icing, if it is found.