Will your WHY get you through the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Will Your WHY Get You Through the Corona Pandemic or Is it Time to Self Reflect?

Coronavirus has taken control of the world. People are quarantined inside of their homes, they’ve lost jobs, and they are too distracted by the pandemic to think about moving. This means the real estate market has suffered a blow that may make many agents and investors wonder if they will ever get back on track.

WHY You Chose Real Estate

Do you know what your WHY is for getting into real estate? If you don’t (although you should), you need to take this downtime to come up with it. Just ask yourself what is the reason you really wanted to enter the industry. Write it down and make it meaningful.

When you’re done with identifying your WHY, you need to take a step back and ask yourself a very hard question - will that WHY still be as meaningful when the pandemic is over?

Some are in this business to: 

- Earn a little extra income by adding a new stream

- Learn more about the industry 

- Leave their current job

- Drastically change their lives by acquiring income producing assets

- Create a retirement plan or add to their current plan

- Build a portfolio that can be passed down to future generations... aka Legacy

- AND many more reasons...

How the Pandemic Affects Your WHY

Here’s the thing: real estate is not a career that is static. You do not go to the same job every day, do the same tasks, go home to go to bed just to get up and do the same thing the next day. Real estate is much more transient. Some days, weeks, and months are great, and others are a nightmare. This is the way real estate goes, and those waves are for people who, well, like riding the waves.

Before COVID-19 hit the United States, the housing market was doing well in most parts of the country. Mortgage rates are down and houses were selling quickly. It was a real estate agent’s dream, but then COVID-19 reared its ugliness and everything literally shut down. States went on lockdown, governors shut down non-essential businesses, and people were told to stay home. This is a real estate agent’s nightmare.

In the midst of the pandemic, people are afraid of doing anything and when this is all over, they are going to be in shock over what happened. The worst part is we were heading into peak real estate season.

Now, how does this affect your WHY?

Examine your WHY and see if it aligns with the rises and falls of the real estate industry. Does it allow you to have these periods of inactivity? Will you still be able to fulfill your WHY when situations like this arise? Is your purpose grand enough to keep you pushing through difficult and uncertain times?

Real estate is not static. It’s constantly evolving. To be successful, you have to accept the shifts and learn how to adapt, or you’ll freeze.

If you can’t ride the waves, it may be time to make some changes in your life. Does that mean you should leave real estate? Maybe. Does it mean you should maybe incorporate something else in your life to make the waves less of a big deal to you? Maybe. Only you can decide what you need to do, but you do have to make a decision.

What To Do Now

You do not have to go at this alone. One of the things that have helped me, my team, and colleagues during this time has been accountability. Who do you know that has similar or even larger aspirations? Set up weekly or even daily video conference calls to discuss setbacks and ways to overcome them. Discuss things that you're grateful for each day and highlight those small victories that you otherwise may have overlooked.

More things 'To Do' and ways to take action

Contact people! Many of us are stuck inside anyway so if you're an agent, this is the best time to get in contact with new and past prospects. If you're an investor, there has never been a better time to reach out to lenders, Realtors and fellow investors. 

Make it a point to grow your network each day with just 5 people. If you do that 5 days per week for the next month, thats 100 people you've contacted. Not only will you build and strengthen relationships, but you'll likely be closer to your next deal or referral.

Work on your '2nd quadrant' activities. Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, talks about The Time Management Matrix where he discusses the 4 Quadrants that make up the things we spend our time on. 

The magic happens in the 2nd Quadrant. These are the things that are IMPORTANT but NOT URGENT... AKA, the things we know we need to do but often put off. This is a great time to work on your business planning, health planning, goal setting, accountability systems and more.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, you have the opportunity to self-reflect and figure out where you are going with real estate. If you’re okay right now and ready to hit the ground running as soon as the country is free to do so, then you’re in a good place with your career. If you’re not feeling that right now, find out what you’re feeling so you can do what you need to do to make your career a success.