I sit around and think about stuff… like, what stops people from being their best? How do the most brilliant people I know sometimes struggle in their business? What would it take for people to really fire up their inner greatness and go for it?
And then I remember that somebody somewhere along the way said something that became their reality. Maybe they were told they would never be good enough, or that they would never amount to anything or that they should just settle for what they could get. Those are the voices that get inside a person’s head, especially if they hear them when they were kids. (Ask me, I know…)
Anyway, I’ve come to learn that one of the sorry / not sorry things that life does is it brings us what we need to become our best self. Challenges and mistakes and “failures” only happen when we don’t know something – yet. We do our best to avoid those things but the reality is that they help shape who we are over time. They make us stronger, smarter, better.
I read somewhere that personal evolution is about stripping away what isn’t you, shattering the myths that hold you small and taking apart the belief systems that you never questioned before until you know what you really, authentically stand for in life. That doesn’t sound like much fun.
But if you think about it, growth inherently means discomfort because you are going past what you know into places you don’t know. And, really, personal growth means you’re always going to the unknown so you’re going to be uncomfortable until you figure it out. That’s probably one of the secrets to business success right there – get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
To get back to the subject, what does all my thinking mean for your business?
In my mind, there is such a thing as ‘desirable discomfort’. I mean, you’re going to have some discomfort along the way but, for me, if I can choose what it is and when I’m going to experience it, it somehow makes it a little easier to get through it. And I think that’s what it means to be an evolved loan officer – you know it’s not always going to be easy and you show up anyway.
I don’t think that being ‘evolved’ means you sit on a bed of lotus flowers with a gong bell every day. Instead, I think ‘evolved’ means that you got the experience and the commitment and the courage to keep going in the face of what could be daunting odds. An ‘evolved’ loan officer is someone who understands that people are behind the deals… that the deal is not about the property but the family whose life will be changed by living there. An ‘evolved’ loan officer gets out of their own head enough to say yes to being the best self they can be that day, to being greater through service to others, to making the calls and having the meetings and working with their team to get the deals done because it’s all about helping people with every deal.
The evolved loan officer has the responsibility, and the capability, to bring together all the elements needed to drive deals to help people get what they want – the family who is buying the home, the realtor who is making commission to feed their family, the team member who gets paid for their contribution. It’s a whole system – and the evolved loan officer puts it together and makes it happen.
9 Things You Can Do to Be an Evolved Loan Officer
1. Stop making it about you and focus on others. If you don’t show up, a lot of people will miss out on the opportunities you would generate by finding deals and making them happen.
2. Make sure you are current in your knowledge and credentials. If you need to upgrade your skills or licensing or credentials, just do it. Anything less means you are out of integrity.
3. Revisit your business plan to see how you’re doing. Be honest with yourself. Make sure that what’s on your to-do list really matters. If you’re off-track, catch it and course-correct it now.
4. Stop listening to the voices and start acting on what you know to be true. I guarantee you that each and every one of those critics in your head are dead wrong! Every time one of them squeaks, take immediate action. Just like darkness cannot live in the light, those voices don’t matter when you’re doing the right thing.
5. Get out of perfection and get on with it. Today is it – this is all we ever get, really. The only moment that matters is right now. Good is good enough. That’s it. Imperfect action is better than perfection that never happens. Just go make that call or see that client or celebrate a victory with your team – that matters more than waiting for the perfect circumstances to take action.
6. Automate routine tasks. You need to focus on high-yield activities – the ones that only you can do. If a task can be automated, or delegated, that’s the right way to handle it. Nobody else can do what you do. Your team, your family, your clients, your realtors are all depending on you to do what only you can do. So figure out how to get everything else handled and go do what you are uniquely qualified to do.
7. Teach people. People don’t like to be changed – but they like to learn. More educated realtors means more deals. More educated clients means cleaner, faster-closing deals. More educated team members means less hands-on work for you. Invest in the people around you with your knowledge and it will pay off big-time.
8. Create a business culture that puts people first. Putting people first means your customer service will be excellent, you will be more creative in solving problems, your team will have their GPS on how to make decisions and your company will be a good place for people to contribute their time, energy and expertise. That creates teams, loyalty and good ‘feels’ (which can help carry you through the tough times too).
9. Live your values. When you are aligned with and act from what you know and believe, you are congruent. Relationships, conversations and activities become simpler. You have transparency and authenticity and clarity when you know and live your values. You make business decisions from that deep place within where you know what’s right for you (or not). Your values are like a GPS that help you walk away from deals that aren’t a fit. And you can make the most of opportunities that come your way because you just *know* when they’re right for you.
So being evolved is an everyday, right-here, right-now way of living and working. It’s a philosophy and a way of operating in the world. It’s a way to create next-level success that can exceed any of your wildest dreams.
And, just in case you do happen to get a big gong bell in your office, let me know. I’ve always wanted to ring one of those…
Carl White, Chief Officer of Coolness
Article Originally Published on LinkedIn
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