"Spirit" and Losing

Occasionally, my wife will send me an Instagram clip of someone talking on a podcast. You know those clips from podcasts or other interviews where someone is sharing something insightful or interesting. There are millions of these, and three to five of them get sent to me every week by my wife.

My client and I were discussing the importance of making calls and having conversations with people on a weekly basis. Here is how the conversation went:

Client
  “How do you know who to call?”

Me:   “It doesn’t matter. You can use your CRM. You can use God. You could use the Universe. You can use Spirit. I use Spirit.” [Not trying to offend anyone with the G reference - hopefully you can appreciate the spirit of the conversation that was being had].

Client:   “What?”

Me:   “Spirit. Channel the Universe. Ask, ‘Who do I need to call?’”

Client:   “That's it? Whoever comes to mind?”

Then we talked for a minute about using software to predict people who are more likely to sell, which got us to the following:

Me:    “I know that data can predict a lot of things. There's the famous example from something like 15 years ago, where Target sent baby ads to someone who didn't know she was pregnant. That story freaked people out. I'm not saying that there aren’t ways to predict that stuff. However, we as human beings, our overall health and well-being rely on connection, human connection. If nothing else, calling people that you're moved to call, to have a conversation about being connected and supporting people, is a good enough reason to call.”

That’s when I said, “This would be a great clip on Instagram!” 

If I were on Instagram.

At any rate, our conversation continued about sitting down to go through her database and not only clean it up, but to find other people she could/should/must reach out to. Not surprisingly, she doesn’t feel like it. Most of us don’t feel like doing any of the things that are good for us.

I said, “You need to create a more powerful context around your database and your conversations with people. Instead of something to suffer through, maybe it’s more like, ‘My life depends upon me making these connections.’”

Now, that’s a radically different context than:

• I don’t want to
• I don’t feel like it
• This doesn’t make a difference
• Nobody answers the phone
• Nobody calls me back
• Blah blah blah

“If you can’t make a sale, make a friend.” - Zig Ziglar

Make a friend. Every day.

2 for 1 Today - Here’s another insight from this week. Actually, I have two more but only going to share this one :-)

On Thursday, I was scheduled to do a session in the San Fernando Valley. No one showed. I mean, one person stopped in, so I guess that’s not zero, but essentially it’s zero. 

I left and drove back across the San Fernando Valley to Burbank airport. Frustrated and upset doesn’t even begin to explain how I felt. I wasn’t mad at anyone specifically, I was just thinking, "What a colossal waste of my time (and money).” 

A couple of hours later, I was sitting on the plane waiting to push back, scrolling through YouTube videos. I was watching a mashup of Michael Jordan that people put together for “motivation and inspiration.”

As part of this video, Jordan and Steph Curry are talking about how much they hate losing. I mean, they hate losing. They are so competitive. Losing makes them insane. But then the video moves to something I had heard Jordan say before, but I heard it differently this time, given how my day went.

“ I respect losing because losing is part of winning.”

And...

“You never just win. You gotta lose to win.”

Lastly...

“Losing is going to hurt. You know, to a point where you would look at how can I do things differently, how can I change, how can I make this team better...”

Instantly, my day was reframed. I took my anger and frustration and channeled them into how I can be more effective and what I can do differently. I literally came up with two breakthrough ideas for my business. These ideas would likely never have happened if I hadn’t “lost” on Thursday.

The same is true in real estate. Deals are going to blow up. You are going to lose business. Stuff isn’t going to work out. People won’t call you back. Past clients will buy/sell with someone else. The opportunity is always to look at how you can be a better professional.