Monday Motivation, 11.16.2020

Written by: Ben Rogers

Every Monday, The Rogers-Long Team meets for one of its two weekly meetings. The Monday meeting always ends with “Monday Motivation” in which a few minutes are spent listening to one team member presenting a quote, a quick reading from a book, a scene from a movie, or anything else they find motivating to provide a “spark” to the whole team on a Monday morning.

Too often my teammates hear me say that “I don’t love real estate.” There is definitely truth to that, but it’s something I need to stop saying unless it comes with clarification.

There are a lot of things I don’t love about real estate – inspections, cranky Realtors, more inspections, low appraisals, late night phone calls, a flooded email inbox, you name it. I also struggle with connecting to the emotional side of real estate – the sunshine and rainbows stuff. Although I do believe in the “American dream” that is homeownership, the whole photo op situation of handing the keys over to the new owner doesn’t knock my socks off. I am able to stay motivated in my real estate career for many reasons, still, and at the top of the list is for my family and for my team. Yes, of course I love our clients and am grateful for them too. Nevertheless, real estate can be exhausting – especially if you’re fortunate enough to be a part of a team that closes multiple transactions per week…and every real estate deal has some hair on it.

When I get drained being a “Realtor,” I look to the words of author and pastor Erwin McManus when he says that “(Insert career here) is a vehicle that God has entrusted (insert your name here) with to make the world a better place.” THAT mindset is what motivates me to push through. THAT is why I’m so committed to building the army. When we say “build the army,” it doesn’t mean that we want more and more and more clients to make more and more and more money. It means that we want to make the world a better place. A place that is full of people that do more good, become better every day, and strive to be the very best a person can be.

Early in my career, I made the commitment to be the “attitude” guy. I wanted to do little things that would not only improve my attitude, but those around me as well. This is why you can usually find me running around the office, jumping into conference rooms, playing loud music, making friends with whoever the admin is at the front desk, and believing in (and acting on) “hugs over handshakes.” Inspired by sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella, I do my best to figure out ways to get enthused about the work I have to do, even if I don’t love to do it all the time.

Rotella says that “It’s important to remember that an individual chooses the attitude he will have. A champion understands that when he’s asked to play a role he wouldn’t choose under ideal circumstances, he’s responsible for the attitude that he brings to that role. He accepts the fact that in order to provide for the wife and children he cherishes, he’s going to have to be enthused about lawyering, or barbering, or accounting, or whatever his vocation might be. He might, in the back of his mind, be thinking that in ten or twenty or thirty years he’s going to build an accounting firm, or a law practice, or a barbershop so successful that he’ll be able to sell it for a lot of money. And then at that time he’ll follow his real original passion. But in the meantime, his pride will make him want to do the best work he can, and he’s going to be smart enough to figure out ways to get enthused about that work.”

I don’t believe that God created me to be a Realtor. Because quite frankly if He did, I think he made a mistake. He did, however, give me a real estate career and a team I love dearly as a vehicle to make the world a better place. I believe that to whom much is given, much is required and you better believe that’s why I get up every morning.

With that kind of attitude, home inspections and cranky Realtors don’t seem so bad anymore. 

Ben Rogers, The Team Leader of The Rogers-Long Team, has been in the real estate business since 2012. In 2014, he began The Rogers-Long Team with Kevin Long, which produced over $25,000,000 in volume production in 2017. In addition to selling homes and leading the team, Ben hosts a podcast show called the “The Bottom Line”, which can be found by clicking here. The Bottom Line is a Podcast that links lessons learned from sports, business, and life and is targeted at those who are striving for excellence, while ‘Average Sits on the Bench’.