Happy Sunday Everyone:
I’m not sure if it’s just me or not but my strong suspicion is most people in our business would say it’s challenging right now. This is actually my final Sunday Thoughts, and my last day at RPM is tomorrow. I’m officially done and opening a bar in Mexico, the bar will be named “Hugo’s” which is my alter ego and comes out during a fun night….Kim’s alter ego is “Katrina”, we’re both named after hurricanes, which is fitting….So who is coming with me??? I am in fact joking although if I told you the thought had never crossed my mind, I’d be lying. I don’t want to spew negativity but based on conversations I’ve been having with a lot of people, there seems to be a common theme of frustration, burn out, and just not having a ton of fun at this moment in time.
Friday Morning, I had a scheduled mastermind call with a few other loan officers around the country on what’s working, what’s not, where we can help each other etc…I’m looking for take aways as it relates to process, structure, team, messaging, value, etc…waiting for the nugget that makes the call worth it. As we’re talking, I’m realizing my friend in Washington, Kyle, sounds different. When he’s explaining his business, his optimism, passion, and gratitude for what “he gets to do” every day is center stage and its contagious. He has no agenda, he’s not trying to impress us with some false happiness/positivity, he’s just genuinely grateful he gets to do what he does every day, and you can hear it in his voice. You ever get around people that you don’t want to stop talking? That’s how Kyle was on this call. Coming out of his lungs/heart/head was legitimate positivity. I get this probably sounds a bit weird but it is what it is, it’s what I felt, and it was just what I needed. Certainly more so than any specific answer to process/roles/structure/messaging etc….
I’m not sure how many times I’ve written about a topic like this but it is certainly more than once. Why? because we all get stuck in ruts at different points in our lives/careers and we all need to find a way out. Ruts are going to happen, ruts are a part of life, but we need to recognize the rut and get out of it as quickly as possible. In a sick kind of way, I actually like ruts. I like ruts because the only way out of a rut is to be thankful and grateful. You can’t get out of a rut unless you take the time to think about the good side of life. I’ve never heard of someone getting out of a rut by getting more negative, have you? As I type this I realize I need to embrace ruts more. If I can have the presence to recognize when a rut comes along and that it’s simply a reminder I need to focus on the positive side of life, to focus on all the areas of my life that deserve some gratitude, I’ll be much better for it.
My point about Kyle is simply to hang around with positive people. It is in fact contagious. It’s also good for business. I can guarantee you the people that choose to do business with us, in large part, choose to based on how we make them feel. I know I’ve said this one a 1,000 times but if someone feels the genuine gratitude and happiness you have to work with them, it’s glue….and the opposite is just as true.
I think we start a movement #embracetheruts. We can meet at Hugo’s to celebrate.
Have a great week!!