Have you ever asked yourself why are you doing what you do, or why you have the job you have? How about, how did I get to THIS place in my life ... ? Have you asked that of yourself when you've reached a place of stagnation and dissatisfaction and even disappointment? Are you achieving the things you thought you would by now at this part of your life or has your life turned out to be what you thought it would be back when you were graduating from college... or getting married...or when you first had kids...?
Have you ever had to change your dreams when the company you worked for went insolvent... and couldn't make payroll and you lost your job? What about when you found that next dream job and that company ended up merging with another larger company and your job was eliminated because the division you were in was no longer part of their business model? Have you ever found yourself struggling to pay bills from month to month even though you thought the J.O.B. you had was going to save you from all those headaches and take you on the path toward riches? What does J.O.B. actually stand for?? (We'll come back to this in a bit)
How about this question... have you ever asked yourself: what is it that you want to do with your life?
So first and foremost I think the thing for me to explain is that I have had a chance to experience a number of things in life. I've worked for a number of different companies both small and large. I've experienced sales jobs, service jobs, corporate office jobs, marketing and management roles with as many as 120 people under me. I've had jobs that allowed me to travel all over the country (often requiring me to be away from home more than I was at home). I've had territory field rep jobs where I was never in the same place for more than a few hours at a time on a given day. Some of those J.O.B.'s were fun and gave me some amazing experiences... but at the end of the day... not a single one of them gave me ANY sense of security or gave me a sense of true satisfaction that I was DOING what I was meant to do. Many of them had lots of opportunity that was part of both the company and the actions of the job itself, however NONE of them provided a certainty of employment for the long term no matter how good I was at the job. After what happened in 2007-2010 when some of the world's largest and most solid companies disintegrated from the financial collapse... the nature and idea of the American Dream and working for a single company for a lifetime then retiring with a golden pension plan / retirement account has probably changed for a LOT of people.
I have had 2 careers in my life where I truly felt like I KNEW what I was meant to do with my life and how I wanted to make a living. One was an entrepreneurial experience where I was part of a startup business that developed specialized furniture that serve the needs of people with disabilities or movement disorders. The other is Real Estate. What is it about THOSE 2 things that are so different? The answer for me is that in BOTH of those roles, at the heart it is providing a product or service to people that need it that creates a deep sense of satisfaction both for the consumer / customer / client and for me as I provide the service or sell the product. People's lives are changed with this kind of service and product and that at the core is invaluable at the end of the day.
Under all... is the Land. There is NOTHING in the world, not a single asset in the world where you can OWN Something that YOU Control and that YOU can improve, and nurture and care for and that YOU have rights to that cannot be physical removed from your possession (assuming you pay your taxes and pay your mortgage of course). Think about it... a car... can be loaded on a tow truck and hauled away. Your furniture can be loaded into a pickup truck and hauled away. Gadgets, gizmos, jewelry... it's all just stuff, it can be taken away. Real Estate however when you own the land, it will always be there. Land doesn't go away. A Home is something you can possess and enjoy and LIVE in. You have rights that are assigned to it that in this Great UNITED STATES of AMERICA that provide that you can enjoy that property in fact it is part of our country's foundation that we are Granted the Rights to Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. And those pursuits can be achieved in part with the ownership and control of Real Estate.
Alongside of the aspects of control and rights and ability to pursue and establish your happy place... Real Estate is also one asset and investment category that has created more millionaires than ANY Other form of investment on the planet. For me... No it's NOT about the money. Money is great and sure it can be good (it can be bad when used improperly too - different topic) but it's NOT in itself going to make someone happy. Happiness has to come from within, but Money and the ability to make money and build wealth is enabled with Real Estate in ways that no other asset can allow. Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy Freedom. And with Freedom... happiness is a much easier thing to achieve.
Real Estate for me provides a marketplace, a medium, a space for me to provide a service and help people in ways that allow me to use my skills effectively and help people achieve their own dreams and goals. Often my Real Estate services are needed to help someone solve a problem. Usually that problem is wrapped around a life transition or situation that they have to deal with and they need help of a professional. People inherit houses that they aren't sure what to do with, or that they need to sell right away. Sometimes lives are changed by job transfers and they need someone that knows what to do to help them sell the house, make the move and get another house wherever they are going and they need it quickly. Divorces are special situations where people need someone that is sensitive to the situation and will help through a VERY difficult time and prevent a bad situation from getting much worse financially. Job losses, avoiding foreclosure, downsizing, overborrowing, limited equity, bankruptcy... often tough situations need a professional that can handle the situation and help everyone stay on track and help make sure that things go forward as smoothly as possible. This is what I enjoy the most... helping solve problems for people and serving people. Helping them to get the most out of their life and when possible finding happiness...when necessary being able to move on. At the heart of it all is serving others.
I'm a single dad... with 2 teenage kids. As I write this I am 48 years old and I've been a single dad for longer than I care to admit (10 years). My kids are teenagers and they have seen me struggle with careers that were unsatisfying and watch as bills piled up and we could barely make ends meet. At my core though was serving Them. Helping to teach them about life and showing them how to help others. But during those career blahs... I longed for something more, something where what I was DOING with my life had a greater purpose. And that is where Real Estate comes into play for me once again in my life. In this 2nd half of life I can now approach Real Estate with a new focus and with new vision of truly helping others and providing the best and most professional service that I possibly can to my clients, customers and fellow agents so that a Win-Win-Win situation comes out in the process.
There is NOTHING I would rather be doing for a career than serving clients and investing in Real Estate. There is something powerfully enjoyable about Real Estate that provides opportunities for those that buy it, own it, use it, enjoy it, sell it, invest in it and benefit from it that nothing else on the planet can reproduce. That my friends is why I love Real Estate, and that is at least partly why I love being a Real Estate agent... helping people achieve their goals and enjoying their lives a little bit more ... with Real Estate.
My best,
John Polson