Lately I’ve been paying more attention to the rhythm of my work days and the interactions I have with my clients and what moves them to feel the things they feel and act in the way they do under times of joy and stress. Right now my days are helter-skelter, I’m out in the thick of handling client’s dreams and losses, experiencing extraordinary moments as well as the humdrum. I’ve found myself taking a sideways glance at myself when I feel frustrated by some of the attributes that mark real estate: greed, happiness, generosity, ego, humility, consumption and fear. I ask myself, can I say something in a new way that allows my person to see this moment differently? How can I turn the tables so that they can step into the other side’s shoes to come to a conclusion which might bring forth better understanding if not empathy. The temptation in real estate is to reduce life to – me vs them. This mindset is foolish to me.
I believe we are all in this rat race of life together. And it only takes a moment of reflection to note that in the vast mystery of it, we all wish to have less pain, fear, boredom and scarcity and more happiness, security, excitement and love. The person on the other side is often more like you than we might realize. I often play a game with myself when I don’t jive with another in business transactions. I make up pretend questions in order to humanize them: Have you cried at anything during this past year? Does your heart beat fast when you see someone you love? Who? Is there something that brings you incredible amounts of joy? And since I know they will likely answer ‘yes” to all of these questions, I already like them just a little bit more. I do believe if we start putting ourselves in others shoes more often than not, ‘balance or grace’ might come knocking on our doors.
