By: HAYIM MIZRACHI, CCIM – President | Principal | Broker
This article was written for Southern Nevada CCIM newsletter called the Perspective – April 2023 Edition.
My goodness, 2022 was a fun year for CRE wasn’t it?!
Deals were flowing. Confidence was high. Bank accounts were phat!!! And then the Fed moved the cheese with their silly little rate hikes.
By summer, buyers were pulling back and by the 4th quarter the spigot turned off. Unless you’re an industrial broker. Those gals and guys are finally getting their due.
Investment sales, office and multifamily… all challenged. Even retail brokers have issues. Good demand from quality tenants but a lack of quality space.
And so, motivation is waning across the CRE community.
Your thriving cycle went from…
Crushing the morning routine ➞ conquering the workday ➞ being fully present at home ➞ getting a good night’s sleep ➞ crush the morning routine… etc. etc.
To a tailspin like…
Completing the morning routine ➞ shitty workday ➞ stressful time at home ➞ staying up later ➞ aborting the morning routine… etc. etc.
CRE brokers everywhere are using the “down market” as cover to come in later and leave a little bit earlier. Energy in the office is down. All of a sudden, it becomes normal to taper into the weekends on Thursday.
Tough days become tough weeks. Tough weeks become bad months. Anxiety defines your year.
All because it’s hard to stay motivated.
What Is Motivation Anyway
My wife and I traveled to Thailand for our honeymoon. Visiting an elephant sanctuary is one of the top attractions in Thailand. When walking through the camp we noticed the elephants were only secured with a small rope tied around one ankle. We asked the trainer why the elephants didn’t just break free. He explained when the elephants are babies, they use the same size rope. Because they’re too small to break the rope when they’re babies, they grow up conditioned that the rope is stronger than they are as adults.
The elephants succumb to ‘learned helplessness’. This occurs when someone has been conditioned to anticipate discomfort without having a way to avoid it, make it stop, or have tools to endure.
Motivation is derived from the word ‘motive’, which implies a person’s needs, desires, feelings, or urges. It is the spark needed to take action.
When that spark is gone (capital markets seized), or hard to ignite (energy in the office is low), we find ourselves in learned helplessness. Like the elephant, without the tools to endure or the knowledge that we can simply break free, we are conditioned by these small ropes.
Replace Motivation with Discipline
In the book Discipline is Destiny, author Ryan Holiday writes, “we must practice temperance in times of plenty… because plenty never lasts.”
Here is reality. Times have changed. Conditions are going to be more challenging. Each of us will have to adjust. Each of us will feel discomfort.
So what?!
Are you going to succumb to learned helplessness? Or are you going to find the tools to endure and overcome the discomfort?
Zig Ziglar said, “motivation is doing what needs to be done when you want to do it. Discipline is doing what needs to be done when you don’t want to do it.”
Mel Robbins said, “Motivation is garbage. To change your life, you need discipline.”
Denzel Washington said, “You won’t always be motivated. You must learn to be disciplined.”
My man David Goggins said, “a well-disciplined mindset allows you to handle every punch life throws at you that much better.”
The answer to a “down market” is not to run and hide in your comfort zone. The answer is to shift the way you keep score. To redefine what success looks like.
“I’m not motivated to go to the office”, must shift to “I will arrive at the office by 8:00 am ready to work in order for me to have a successful day.”
“I don’t feel motivated to make prospecting calls”, must shift to “I will make 60 calls a week to new prospects in order to have a successful week.”
The CRE winners of 2023 will be the ones who shift their mindset from relying on motivation to practicing discipline. It will be these people, who focus on action day in, and day out, that will inspire and motivate the rest of us.
Let’s not forget. Obtaining the CCIM designation takes discipline. We know how to do this. We have been here before!
Bring the punches in 2023.
We’re ready!!
Brought to you by: