I feel like I am a naturally curious person and yet I think there are two types of curiosity. The definition of curiosity is: “eager to know or learn something.” Fascinating that within a dictionary definition there could be two very different means of expressing curiosity. On the one hand, someone can be eager to “know” something. On the other, one can be eager to “learn” something. Being eager to “know” something does not imply you will do anything about it, but being eager to learn something creates action. And this is where the rubber of curiosity meets the road of intention and change.
Where did the interest begin? I have an Eastern philosophy lean to begin with. Though as a child I probably saw on TV or movies culturally inappropriate depictions of people receiving acupuncture and thought it looked cool. My interest in its effectiveness has recently increased as my wife found it to be useful during her pregnancies with our children. I entered into the experience without expectations of it being a cure-all, but hoping that it might be a be part of an overall trend towards a healthier lifestyle and smooth out some cravings as well as digestion challenges. Three sessions in and those aspects of my life have become more manageable.
Why now? In large part because our insurance covers acupuncture, which is fascinating in and of itself. To me, this is a perfectly legitimate reason to embark on this small journey. It indicated to me that the time was right. So, I shall submit to you, what is something that you have long been curious about who’s application may be staring you in the face? Find a way to adopt that small change because there will be bigger and weightier changes that will require you to be ready.
Intention and change come out of a desire to learn. I want to learn about my capacity for production and health and therefore I acted on my long standing curiosity to see what my life would look like without alcohol. There were no addiction issues to reconcile. There were no daily habits of drinking reasonable amounts. There were no weekly occurrences of drinking to excess that lead to incidents. I suspected that I would be more consistent with my healthy habits, more productive both at work and around the house, and have a more even mood. 30 days in and this has proven to be true.
I think this winter is going to demand my best in order to make it through and be ready for what could be an historic spring and year in 2024. I am not looking for sympathy as I asked to be in this position, but it is hard to:
Run a transaction based business at a time where transaction volume is down to levels not seen in 20 years.
Keep spirits high for all of my colleagues who feel that dip.
Keep spirits high and keep people in their seats to take advantage of the pendulum of pent up demand when it swings back towards fruitfulness.
Navigate a fast-changing world in which we operate, specifically the sweeping changes that will likely take place in the distant to not-so-distant future as a result of the ruling in Sitzer/Burnett.
Somewhat reinvent myself, my business, ourselves, and our business because the industry is calling for that.
Manage all of this while needing to sell real estate myself.
For those of you who are struggling due to the low transaction volume across residential and commercial, please know that it is always darkest before the dawn and while we cannot change external factors, we can change ourselves and recommit our passion to this industry we love and to ourselves and each other.
My friend and mentor, D.Fish once told me that discipline is simply the ability to remind yourself of your goals when faced with an inflection point. I am going to demonstrate my discipline and commitment to you, Be, and the real estate industry by doing what is necessary to stay stoic for the foreseeable future and have the clearheadedness and strength of body and spirit required of us when life is difficult and also SO FULL OF PROMISE!
