We have all endured difficult times.
Loss of a loved one. Loss of a limb. Loss of net worth. Loss of direction. Loss of confidence. Loss of self esteem.
“If your path demands you walk through Hell, walk as if you own the place.”
Some reversals are tough, others are tougher. We always get through them. We have no choice. The question is how quickly and how successfully.
Special Olympics athletes are magnificent examples of adapting to reversal successfully, converting adversity into opportunity.
ATTITUDE + PROCESS + MESSAGE = SOLUTION
We all just had our reality change virtually overnight. How do we deal with it? This is what works for me, as you might guess, a lesson from Chubby (my dad).
ATTITUDE
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude; nothing can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson
Special Olympics athletes determine to make a reversal their springboard to greatness. I urged my 300+ agents to stop focusing on themselves, and start thinking about how they could help their family, friends, and clients. In times like these the world needs positive problem solvers not “the world is ending” negativity nellies.
PROCESS
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
Special Olympics athletes don’t succeed just because of a positive attitude. They develop a process that addresses their particular problem, their specific handicap.
With my firm, we devoted long hours to developing movie quality home-showing video with audio commentary. We show buyers the video instead of the home. If they like the home, they first negotiate an acceptable price with our sellers, then physically see the home with a 24 hour right to cancel.
The crazy part is we’ve been doing this only a week, already sold homes, with buyers and sellers telling us they like the process better.
MESSAGE
“You aren’t truly brilliant unless you are brilliant enough to let people know about it and believe it.” – Greg Hague
A positive, solution driven attitude combined with a process that solves the problem isn’t a real solution (for you or others) unless people know you have it.
Getting your message out typically isn’t easy because we are all so deluged with advertising messages. So I developed a formula to help me craft “cut through the clutter” messaging.
I named this thought process BURST:
Brief – Keep it to just a few words, ideally 7 or less.
Unique – Make it different from any message in your category.
Relevant – Have it squarely address what keeps you target demographic up at night.
Simple – Ask yourself if a 12 year old would understand it.
True – Unlike many businesses, don’t advertise what you don’t really have.
SOLUTION
“You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.” – Eldridge Cleaver
COVID-19 is a serious problem that needs serious problem solvers. This is true in the medical arena; the business, economic, and our quality of life arenas too.
Personally, I committed to restrict myself from checking stock market fluctuations and new Coronavirus cases. These metrics are beyond my control so it’s a waste of my time.
I intend to focus my energies on helping my family, friends, agents, and clients. I will inspire them. I will uplift them. I will urge them to stop watching the news, and strive to become the news, because their attitude enabled them to develop a process that represented a solution for those who need them.
As a leader I have experienced so many wonderful highs and a good number of challenging lows. I have never been more determined to be a problem solver than I am at this moment.
I wish you good health and a sense of optimism. Together we can and will overcome this… and be better because of it.
