Since I have been 21 years old, I have owned/operated multiple businesses, starting in the restaurant business, then transitioning over to real estate.

Over these past 25 years, there is one constant.

CHANGE

And the one constant about change that is true, most times the changes are out of my control, or anyone’s control for that matter.

Back in the early restaurant days, we had a good thing going. And my attitude was ‘build it and they will come’

…but when they didn’t come on this day or that day, I was left scratching my head and worrying about sales.

My business partner that was a non-participant in the business, would call and check on the daily numbers… sometimes hourly numbers. Occasionally his worry would turn into panic because he had no solutions and his level of anxiety would hit a 10.

Once I really got my feet wet and learned how to analyze the data, I could use that data to better predict future sales.

I started using all kinds of forecasting formulas including year to date, weather, local activities, national events… Even breaking down to lunchtime vs dinner time of certain days of the week. And since we had multiple locations, I also figured out that the ebbs and flows of each location had different patterns. I became an analysis junky.

I created solutions for my worry… I learned how to get out in front of the slower sales, days/weeks/months and proactively drive sales vs ‘build it and they will come’

It is hard to articulate sometimes… The act of worrying. I worry about a lot of things a lot of the time. I do it internally and also try to eliminate the stuff I can not control.

In Real Estate, the worries can be great and many.

Will we have enough clients to produce the income necessary?

Will my clients get their offer accepted on the house of their dreams?

Will the house we are rehabbing have enough demand to sell quickly?

Did our documented approach work as advertised for our clients?

Will the lender I’m working with, for my clients, get the loan paperwork done on time?

Will the title company have all the proper paperwork done in plenty of time to close?

Etc, etc, etc,

And although I do not control these outcomes, I can stay cool and calm under pressure because I have the systems and processes in place to combat these issues before I have to ‘worry’ about them!

Realizing the difference of proactive worrying vs reactive worrying has probably kept my blood pressure in the normal range all these years.

Out of my control… is being unprepared for the inevitable CHANGE that happens all around us.

Stop being reactive to change!