Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
“We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
The authors of The Declaration of Independence believed that there are certain fundamental truths in life, that these truths are self-evident and that no people should ever be deprived of their birthright of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I was thinking about this concept a few days ago and since real estate is my life, I tried to relate it to my business and the agents who work for me. I’ve always assumed that all men and women aspired to these basic human desires, and that includes my agents.
I thought about it again while watching the news a few days later, as a mob of Iraqis demonstrated loudly in the streets of Tikrit in support of one of the most brutal and ruthless dictators the world has ever known. How could that be? If I lived under such a brutal regime, I’d kiss the feet of anyone who got rid of the tyrant, and I would exult in my new freedom! “What’s wrong with those people?” I thought.
Then I realized that while all men and women may be created equal in the eyes of the law, they don’t remain equal. As a result of conditioning from the day they are born to the day they die – by their parents, teachers, governments, clergy and culture – many people (believe it or not) don’t really want freedom, they don’t want the responsibility of providing for themselves and their families, and they actually prefer a form of servitude and enforced mediocrity to the freedom to spread their wings and excel.
Something else occurred to me. It’s not only Iraqis in Tikrit who seem to prefer mediocrity and want someone else to control their destinies. Many Americans suffer from the same affliction, and some of them are selling real estate. Americans have opportunities like no other people who have ever before walked the face of the earth and yet many waste that freedom because of imaginary limitations that are every bit as restrictive as those imposed by the Saddam’s secret police.
One of the recurring themes that I stress at my firm, Empowered Investor International, is that agents free themselves of self-imposed limitations that restrict their success. I implore them to look closely at who they are and then create a Personal BrandTM that defines who they would like to become. I try to convince them that limitations have infected so many of us by a lifelong stream of “you can’ts” from parents, teachers, preachers and bosses. We all need to remember that success comes in “cans” while failure comes in “can’ts”.
I don’t believe “you can’t.” While it may be in the best interests of parents, preachers and the state to raise compliant individuals who, like Little Red Riding Hood, are afraid to stray too far from the path because of the threat of Big Bad Wolves, the reluctance to innovate and take risks is certainly not in the individual’s best interests. This is especially true for salespeople and entrepreneurs who need a personal philosophy of “I can” in order to succeed. Once they believe that they can, the power of life and liberty and the achievement of happiness becomes nearly automatic, and the natural ability to excel will result in personal achievement beyond anything they would otherwise expect.
In last month’s column I discussed goal setting and the role of the subconscious mind in achieving excellence. If you are so full of “you can’ts” that you are held back from becoming your best, It’s necessary to replace them with “you cans” and cast off the shackles of your past. You must overcome the fear of the unknown and not be content with the status quo simply because it is familiar and comfortable. When a person burdened by “can’ts” is thrust into an environment where he or she “must,” whether in post-Saddam Iraq or in real estate sales, that person can either accept the mediocrity of the crowd or issue his or her own Declaration of Independence and stand apart, resolving to do those things that successful people do even if it’s uncomfortable for awhile.
I suspect that if those pro-Saddam Iraqis could just step out of the confining psychological “boxes” imposed on them by the restrictions of their upbringing and visualize the opportunities they now have to build better lives for themselves and their children, perhaps they would embrace change rather than fight against it. In a way, they are a metaphor for new real estate licensees who also find themselves facing unfamiliar terrain. Rather than enthusiastically embrace their new freedom as entrepreneurs, too many agents avoid doing the things necessary to succeed in the very competitive arena of real estate sales by taking refuge in the “I can’ts” that clog their subconscious, and they slowly sink into a quagmire that impedes their chance to excel. Remember… success comes in “cans”!
Jason Hartman, CRS, GRI, CSP is the author of “Become The Brand of Choice – Make Your Name A Powerful Brand and Earn Millions” and President of Empowered Investor International. For more information visit www.JasonHartman.com or www.BrandofChoice.com
