How’s your day going?
What comes to mind when I ask you that? Do you think of everything that has gone wrong today? Do you think about everything you have left to do today and wonder how you’re going to get it all done? Did something wonderful happen and you’re going through your day on cloud nine?
If your brain jumped to a lot of negative thinking, what results are you experiencing because of it? My guess is that you are showing up with a scowl on your face and a tone in your voice that make people want to get away from you as fast as possible.
I’ll admit that in my office, negativity can be contagious. One person starts complaining, someone else commiserates and another jumps in with their own problems to complain about.
How do we get to the other side of all this negativity?
It starts with letting go of the thoughts and beliefs that are not serving us. Here are some examples:
Thoughts About Others
- Our agents should want to held accountable.
- My mega should be lead generating more.
- My mega should be a better leader.
- We work with too many troublesome clients.
- Co-op agents are the worst.
- Why can’t people get back to me faster?
- Another request? Don’t they know I’m busy?
Thoughts About Ourselves
- There’s not enough time in the day to get it all done.
- I’m so busy and overwhelmed.
- I keep jacking things up. What’s wrong with me?
- Why does it take me so long to get stuff done?
- I’m terrible at time blocking.
- I’ll never figure this out.
- I’ll never convince my agent to…
A lot of us in the role of real estate executive assistants think that everything has to be perfect. There’s a model for everything, right? And of course we should strive to align our systems and actions with the model, but it’s never going to line up perfectly.
If I’m flying from Kansas City to Denver, there’s the perfect path and then there’s the actual path. The plane has to make corrections along its course because the wind tries to blow the plane around. Thing is, the pilot doesn’t get upset when the plane deviates from the perfect path. He simply course corrects as many times as it takes to land the plane in Denver. Blaming the plane, the wind, the passengers, the crew, or himself for the imperfect flight path does not serve him in any way.
If I believe “my mega should be a better leader,” I’m constantly looking for evidence that proves she’s a terrible leader. But if I believe “my mega really cares about us and wants to see us succeed,” then I’ll look for and find evidence of that.
If I believe “I’m terrible at time blocking,” then I won’t feel obligated to honor my time blocks thus reinforcing my belief that I’m terrible at time blocking. But if I believe “I’m committed to doing whatever it takes to follow my schedule,” then I feel empowered and I follow through on my time blocked commitments to myself and others.
What thoughts or beliefs do you want to challenge? What could you think differently that would get you better results in your work?
If negative thinking is something you find yourself struggling with, reach out to me: egilbert@kw.com. I can help you work though it to get you to a better place.
