I have been having amazing calls and conversations with my readers over the last 8 months about their specific “needs and wants” in selling, investing, purchasing, renting, and leasing residential and commercial properties.
However, somehow one of us diverged and segued into a totally different conversation and dialogue about what they do for a living and how the Covid-19 pandemic has either enhanced their income by saving them money and now not having to commute, wasting precious and valuable time from five to 30 hours per week.
The time gained back is the added financial benefit to both working more efficiently, being remunerated in extra pay, and/or creating more leisure time with their family, grandchildren, and friends.
So that is the brighter side of what the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled those who were fortunate enough to keep their jobs and being able to work externally via telecommuting from their home, homeowner association, condo, coop, or rental and still pay their monthly mortgages, rents as well as their everyday living expenses.
However, I have also realized that so many people are not happy doing what they do for a living and are always complaining about it to me, but are afraid to change careers due to the fact that they are earning money that they feel that they cannot duplicate in another venue.
I tell them if you have the need, fortitude, effort, diligence, and sacrifice devoted to their real passion to make that change and a bit of financial wherewithal, then just do it and never look back, but look forward to a healthier, happier and more financially rewarding future and a new career.
I say, no pain, no gain, no risk, no reward. If you don’t love what you do, then do what you love, something that you have been thinking about doing for either a very long time or just recently. Some tell me that they get a sudden surge of “inner satisfaction and a tingling sensation.”
My response is to plan and take small but calculated baby steps but adding some controlled risk and do what you really want to do. I say, your passion is spot-on when you get that amazing feeling of euphoria and excess happiness you have now begun to hit your “sweet spot of yearning for that satisfaction.“
Most people never grab that opportunity that stares them right smack in the face and begs them to say, “I will do it! For some, opportunity doesn’t always pass their way or doesn’t always become apparent all the time until they miss their chance and it rushes right by them like the wind.
Most never grasp the chance to do something different, something that they feel that they really need and want to do, because they are either not thinking outside the box, procrastinating, saying, “oh I will get to it someday” supposed lack of income to make the change (use your credit cards if needed), just sheer apathy or constant excuses or I should have, would have but I didn’t and then they just live their lives in mediocrity!
I have almost heard it all and nothing usually surprises me anymore, except when I see someone so different and unique and the will to succeed where nothing will stop them. I use to have an agent who earned $110,000 in the very first year in our company. She had never done real estate before.
Nothing stopped her as she took her 3-year-old son everywhere she went whether it be for a listing presentation or a showing. Nothing was going to stop Carol from excelling and succeeding and nothing did!
The second-year she was tracking to earn $170,000-plus but unfortunately, she moved to Virginia due to her husband’s phenomenal job offer at a hedge fund and the lifestyle was more conducive based on his earnings and the much lower cost of homes compared to Long Island.
She still holds her New York State license as well as her Virginia license and we stay in touch when she has anyone coming to New York to purchase or invest, so we share the commission.
There are those that aren’t receiving much money and whose benefits will be running out this month or next. I have much sympathy for those who don’t have the skill set at the moment or who don’t think they can do anything else because they don’t have the right education, mentor, motivator, or person to look up to, whether it be a parent, friend, current employer or business associate.
Self-motivation is not the simplest task to undertake and it takes a lot of gumption and resourcefulness to push oneself to get out of the “plateau of doubt” and “not good enough” mindset. I do not have a specific answer for everyone, but it can be done by digging deep and “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” and just saying, “nothing will stop me, nothing at all.”
This needs to be your affirmation and belief system going forward into 2021 and constantly thinking outside the box by seeing what are the possibilities and finding your passion in whatever it is and whatever you really want to do. It may be a bit early, but why not be, “the early bird that catches the worm” and make this your New Year’s resolution today, right after you finish my column. If you thoroughly enjoying assisting and helping people then maybe, just maybe real estate might be your next career adventure.
Philp A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 Great Neck. He has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute and a Certified International Property Specialist. Receive regular “free” updates of sold homes in your area and a “free” Comparative Market Analysis” of what your home would sell for in today’s market or search on: WWW.Li-RealEstate.Com He can be reached by email, at:Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com, or by cell: (516) 647-4289.
