by Tami Bonnell, CEO, EXIT Realty Corp. International
During a recent interview, I was asked “If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?” I replied that I would love everyone to be exposed to the person they could become.
I think two things keep us from becoming all we could be. One is that we’re afraid – afraid of either success or failure. And the other is that we don’t really know what we want. Let’s take a closer look at the latter.
In helping to bring into focus what we truly want out of life, I find a few things to be particularly helpful. Talk to the five people you’re closest to and ask them what words they would use to describe you. Also, write a list of what you like about yourself and your life and what you don’t like, and equally important, write about what makes you feel fulfilled. When are those times you really feel like you own the day? Listen to your inner voice and pay attention to those magic moments of tremendous satisfaction.
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, asserts that “roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes,” therefore, you’re likely getting 80% of your results from 20% of your activities. I believe that hidden somewhere in that 20% of high-yield activities is what you were put here for and who you could become. It makes sense to focus on that segment; the 20% of the time when you’re in the zone, to see where you can grow.
A group of forward-thinking real estate professionals in California saw an opportunity. They noticed that of the top 100 offices in the state, only 14 were owned by women, yet more than 67% of the 200,000-strong board of REALTORS®, were female. The group wanted to level the playing field and wondered why women weren’t jumping into brokerage ownership. They believed that if they exposed the women in the state to the possibility of ownership, change would come. After only a couple of years, the group that became WomanUP!® is an incredible success story, expanding across the U.S. By exposing women to who they could become, we’re seeing them open brokerages, build teams, and strengthen their personal real estate business. The people who created the movement are on a mission and they can’t wait for the next moment.
And that’s how I feel every day at EXIT. I love my job as CEO. I love selling regions and building the brand. But my favorite part is seeing something in someone they didn’t see in themselves and being able to turn their head, maybe even just three degrees, to show them. All of a sudden they experience an AHA! moment of, “Wow! This is exactly what I should be doing! This is my mission!”
I love being tied to EXIT’s mission to show people that it’s better for them to have residual income. It’s better for them to have a backup. It’s better for them to have mentors. It’s better for them to have skin in the game so that they actually feel like they’re adding value to their work. Truth be told, we could use all those things in any line of work, not just real estate. To become all you could be, it’s about spending the time to dig deep into the 20% of the activities that light up your heart, building on that core foundation then running with it.
