Personal growth is one of the most important pillars to a well rounded life. We carry on in our day to day life and it often gets overlooked. It certainly feels less urgent than the ringing phone or last minute client demands. Besides missing out on the opportunities, failing to prioritize your personal growth can lead to long term burnout and overall lack of fulfilment.
Trust me, I’ve been there.
Real estate sales can be a bit of a hamster wheel. Someone recently described it to me as as “lifestyle”, and not in a good way. It’s something that can really envelop everything you do. While it’s exciting and pays well (if you put in the work), it can be repetitive. I, personally, started to lose interest in the transactional part of the business sometime in the first decade.
My business was doing great, but I found the transactions boiled down to the same 6 or 8 conversations, over and over again. It wasn’t challenging me enough and I got bored, but my business needed me. So I kept trading till I’d been in the business for 15 years and had hit a boiling point.
I wasn’t happy with the business I had and I wanted to grow it. I wanted to experiment and try new things, hire more people and sell a LOT more if I was going to keep doing it. The challenge was that my partner wanted to keep things as they were. I don’t blame him, we had a great business. It was profitable, well organized and we could run it in very few hours per week with total flexibility. Many people would have wanted to keep it as-is.
I’m a big believer that you can walk out your door and get hit by a bus. I know it’s an abrupt change of topic, but think about it. None of us have any idea how long we’ll live. I wasn’t living my life in a way which made me happy or fulfilled, and that was a far bigger problem than financial risk.
So I jumped ship and he bought me out.
I shifted gears and put myself into a new and far more challenging side of the business. It’s been challenging, exciting, and has brought me amazing perspective on what I was missing, what I want and how I’m going to get it.
I see people all the time falling into the same trap I did. I kept telling myself that I’d get what I wanted when I got somewhere further down the path I was on.
“I’ll take more time off next year when I have found a new hire”
“I’ll start eating better when I’m on the road less”
“I’ll spend more time with my partner when I have the time to do it”
“I’ll do that someday”
Again, what if you got hit by a bus tomorrow? Would you be satisfied that you put it off? Have you been living the way you want right now?
Fuck Someday.
Figure out how to start living the way you want NOW. Who says you can’t?
You deserve to live the best life you can in the time that you have. That means that you owe it to yourself to prioritize the things that are going to make you happy, healthy, and, most importantly, fulfilled.
This is a business blog, but the reality in life is that your business will only grow to the extent at which you do. So, when looking at your personal growth an planning for it, I recommend starting on the personal side.
Last week we shared categories to consider when planning your personal growth. These were Health and wellness, Spirituality, Wealth, Business/career, Work life balance, Parenting/family/relationships and Adventure and exploration.
Consider topics you want to explore personally, books you want to read, types of mentors and coaches you want in your life, partners you want to work with, groups you want to join and people you wish you could mastermind with.
Who do you need to surround yourself with?
I recommend you create a 3 year plan with goals on each of these areas and ask yourself how you need to start growing NOW to be able to reach them. I’ve created a goal setting sheet I’m happy to share with you. It’s simple and putting your goals on paper is something which will give you clarity on the journey necessary to reach them.
Back to the whole “fuck someday” thing. Let me be crystal clear here. I don't recommend tossing your responsibilities aside and selling your house for a personal jet. This isn't a "fuck everything" and figure it out as you go conversation. What I’m challenging you to do is map out how you want your life to look in 3 years, 5 years or 10 years. Ask yourself “What small step can I take now to start moving in that direction?” or maybe “What part of that could I start including in my life right away?”.
Chances are that there are small things you could do right away to live better, get stronger, develop faster or indulge in the experiences you want sooner than you thought.
Start mapping out your goals and ask yourself how you need to grow, who you need to know and what you need to start doing now to support yourself in getting there. Chances are things will flow quickly onto the paper once you get started, and you’ll have fun doing it!
Remember, these are goals, not tasks. Make it fun! Challenge yourself to think big and un-limit your personal potential! Who says you can’t have everything you want someday? On a similar note, who says you cant have part of that, right away?
I’d love to see your growth goals when you fill them in. Reach out and connect with me and we'll brainstorm how you can work everything in that you want.
Savour the journey, you deserve it!
S