Happy Sunday Everyone:
I skipped last week. I prefer to skip this week to be completely honest with you. I’m on sensory overload. I looked up “sensory overload” just to be sure. Here is what it said; Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body’s senses experiences over-stimulation from the environment. There are many environmental elements that affect an individual. Examples of these elements are urbanization, crowding, noise, mass media, technology, and the explosive growth of information.
Anyone in our businesses, primarily being real estate and mortgage, is in some sense of sensory overload with information, while also trying to understand just how far your cheese has been moved…and how all this information/news plays a part in that (the moving of your cheese). My point of this Sunday Thoughts, as always, for me first, and then hopefully for you, is breaking through the noise of information that is truly and simply, noise, and information that is valuable and useful that we need to take in, digest, understand, interpret, and then go execute on. Whatever plan you had 60 days ago for 2020 has changed. If you’re not having to pivot right now, please let me know as I’d love to know what you know.
I’m just going to break this down to some learning lessons I’ve taken away the last few weeks and hopefully it makes some sense:
1. The Serenity Prayer should be used as a tool often to help break through the noise. “God-Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” It goes on but that’s all I want to focus on for now. The amount of time one can waste thinking/worrying about things that we can’t change or impact is infinite and it leads to nowhere. The quicker we can internalize this and respond, the sooner we get to higher ground.
2. Separate useful information from noise quickly and then understand the crap out of it. As a live example, lenders that understand what is happening behind the scenes in the secondary markets, with the fed, with jumbo, with conforming, with servicing, etc….will be better equipped to educate clients and business partners on “why” things are happening like they are. Not sure if this came from my dad but he always says “anyone can make complicated complicated, it takes a genius to take complicated and make it simple”. I’m 100% certain now, more so than ever, the more I understand, the more simple I can make this complicated environment for my clients and business partners. Knowledge is power. Transfer of knowledge with simplicity, super power.
3. Pragmatic vs. Emotional. This also has do with point #2. There is a direct correlation between someone’s emotional reaction to a situation and their understanding of the overall situation. The more you understand the less emotional you’ll be. I’m not suggesting having emotions is a bad thing but I find myself stopping the purely emotional begs/pleads when I understand a situation in full. This isn’t a slap in the face to the “emotional” person receiving the information, it’s as much of a challenge to the person providing the information to educate on the overall landscape and why decisions are being made in the manner they are.
We’re all learning and growing right now, probably more than we realize, and at times, more than we want to be. We’re being forced out of our comfort zones which is always a good thing.
I can also tell you this, in my adult life I don’t think I’ve seen the amount of grace we’re all giving to one another. If there can be a positive take away from all the negative outcomes this pandemic is giving us, it would be the grace and kindness we are all showing each other….at least from my perspective.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and thanks for reading.