By Be healthy, wealthy and wise in 2007
Mark Twain, once wrote, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can somehow become great.”
I like this quote because it is, in essence, what we try to do at Intero and what I’ve worked to do personally for the last 21 years I’ve spent in real estate. I found that if you want to succeed in this business, you need to first surround yourself with people who will encourage you to strive for the very best and second, make sure they have the wherewithal to help you get there. Never underestimate the power of influence. The book that I’m currently reading, The Slight Edge, says your average income tends to equal the income of your five closest friends and your attitude and health tends to equal those same friends.
My success has come, very simply, through dedication, hard work and focus. Each November and December, I take a moment to reflect on my accomplishments for the year past and think about what I hope to achieve in the year ahead. I think about what I want for family and myself. I think about what I’d like to accomplish personally and professionally. I set goals. I come up with a theme. And, I write it all down as my life plan.
This is something I encourage everyone to do. It’s easy as a realtor to find yourself adrift, not quite knowing what direction to take. (This is especially important when the market is slowing, such as it is today.) By considering your goals and where you want to go at the beginning of the year, you’re essentially creating a road map for yourself. My life plans have become a sort of progress report by which I can gauge my accomplishments and take stock of where I’m heading.
When we started Intero, I began doing this for the company as well. These themes have helped to coalesce the many different components of this company into a more coherent strategy for the year. Here’s a quick rundown of the themes of years past:
- 2002: Genesis,
- 2003: Building the Dream
- 2004: Realizing the Dream
- 2005: Provizio (Aspiring to Greatness)
- 2006: The Heart of a Team
- 2007: Salute, Ricco, Saggio (Healthy, Wealthy and Wise)
This year, with Intero continuing to grow, I’ve designated 2007’s theme as “Be Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.” This speaks to the heart of our values—that to be successful, it’s important to balance both your professional and personal life. Don’t make the mistake of compromising your health and wellbeing by focusing only the commissions you make. You’ll be a better real estate professional; you’ll be more successful, if you are healthy and taking care of yourself and your family. This is one of our core values at Intero. Myself, I started the year by heading to the gym and being smarter about how I eat.
Even before I started down this path, my days began at 4:50 a.m., and so you can imagine that it hasn’t always been easy to fit a workout into my day. By making my health a goal for the year, I put it at the top of my priority list and ensure that I make time for it. As a result, I’ve lost weight and feel healthier and better than I have in a long while and that translates to me being able to do more for Intero.
This year marked another big milestone for me. Our executive team recently completed the purchase of Intero Real Estate Services from Mercury Companies. We are very grateful for Mercury in providing the capital to help get Intero started, but it has always been our philosophy to own and operate our offices on a local level. With this leap forward, we are now able to do that. This, too, was part of my life plan.
If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to take some time, sit down for a few moments and review your own goals. If you haven’t established goals for the year, think about doing so as soon as possible. Some you will accomplish, others you will not. The importance is not in achieving the goal, but in the person you will have to become to achieve it.
We offer excellent professional guidance for realtors through Provizio, our agent training, education and ongoing professional development program. Learn more about it by contacting Mia Park, our Director of Education and Career Development at mpark@interorealestate.com or 408.541.4307.
