It’s Your Turn

Free beer! Ok, not exactly. I had to join the Chamber of Commerce to be able to go to the business after hours, where there is no charge for drinks.

Maybe you’ve been to one of those networking type events.

Half the attendees are in real estate or insurance…

Anyways…I was mingling at the Chamber of Commerce business after hours.

It was time to re-introduce myself to people.

Most people already knew me, because I had (of course) introduced myself to everyone as a real estate agent and just checking if they have anyone in their circles talking about moving…

Because I can help! I’m in real estate!

I’m digressing a little bit.

In my head were all the voices that bounce around.

The voice of fear… “who am I to start this new career…?”

The voice of doubt… “this person will laugh at me…”

The voice of pain… “what if this doesn’t work and I totally embarrass myself?”

The voice of comfort… “don’t rock the boat, just keep the status quo…”

I mean, who am I to just walk up to someone and say I’m moving away from property management and into apartment ownership?

“Hi, my name is Yeadon. I’m looking to buy an apartment complex. Know anyone?”

Three sentences. Three seconds.

But it may as well have been 300 sentences. Or 3,000 seconds…

So many excuses to just stay put in my business. To keep on keeping on, hunting and killing transactional business until I can maybe retire.

Unless…

I get out of my own way.

It took focusing outside of myself to create the courage to say for the first time, out loud, to someone I knew…

“I’m looking to meet apartment owners to talk with them about possibly selling.”

How much nerve does it take to do something new? It takes enough that it becomes unreachable for most.

Unless…

I read this quote this past week from a blog I follow…

There are endless excuses, comparisons and reasons to hold back.

Unless you’re on lifeguard duty and someone is drowning. In that situation, even if you’re not the best lifeguard in the world, and even if the water isn’t the perfect temperature, and even if you don’t quite remember how to do the latest version of the cross-chest carry… you jump in the water.

Because it’s not for you. It’s for them.

Generosity unlocks doors inside of us.

What excuse are you letting live rent free in your mind?

Who is waiting for you to take your turn and begin something new?

Evict those excuses.

Punch fear in the face.

Get to the work that you are dreaming of.

Because there are people counting on you.

Oh, and once I started telling people about the new business of buying apartments, I and my partner went from 0 doors to 950 in the past two and a half years…

Don’t listen to the negative voices.