At
the gym recently, I walk
into the pool area
where there's only one other
guy
who’s busy getting
ready to swim a few hundred miles
– I can tell
by the swim cap he’s wearing
that he’s serious
about all of this. I get
into the pool and do
some stretching (so I can look like I know what I'm doing – I can’t have a dude
in a swim cap mocking me).
Just as I turn around
to face the opposite end of the pool
and affix my goggles, this
other guy comes from out of nowhere and plops himself into the pool at the
other end of THE VERY LANE IN WHICH I’M GETTING READY TO SWIM. I’m
wearing goggles for Pete’s sake! How do I NOT look like I’m about to swim
here?
And there’s no
one else in the entire pool – there are four lanes for the taking, and Swim Cap
McHundredmiles
has yet to choose
a lane.
The interloper at the other end of the pool could have jumped into any one of
the other three lanes, but he chooses
mine.
Now,
I’ve seen something similar to this before. The lane in which I’m getting
ready to swim is closest to the Jacuzzi.
I’ve seen people pop out of the Jacuzzi and jump into the pool to cool off and
then quickly exit the pool again
–
I think
this
is
what
Mr. Personal Space Invader is attempting,
so I stand
my
ground and wait for
him to exit the pool. But he doesn’t!
He proceeds
to
jump from foot to foot all the while staring at me from his end of MY
LANE!
I
keep
staring
at him, wondering when he’s going
to finish his little exercise jig and depart. Swim Cap turns
around
and notices
what
is
happening
and looks
at
me. I look at
him and say, “You
can see me, right? I’m not invisible, am I?” What
puts a guy into a mindset like this?
At
this
point, I’m
reminded of a recent article I read that detailed the mindset
of the “super rich”. Not to be confused
with the “stinkin’
rich” (a whole other tax bracket), those that fall into the “super” category
earn over $370K/yr
and/or have a net worth north of $2.5 million.
(If you’ve read even a handful of these newsletters, you’ll realize I’m
going to make a point, so buckle up!)
The super rich share these traits:
• A
stronger belief in
their ability
to
solve problems,
have more
control over the things that happen to them
• A
greater internal drive/passion to pursue their goals
• Less
likely to overspend
or gamble compulsively, financially
enable
others, hoard
possessions,
or
have trouble
sticking to a budget
• Money
should
be saved,
not spent; more likely
to be anxious about not having enough money
Stop
me if I’m wrong, but didn’t that just describe the traits of a successful real
estate agent/broker? Didn’t that just
describe the traits of someone who is getting ready to purchase his first home
or her twelfth investment property? In
the case of the first-time homebuyer, the agent’s job 95% of the time is
helping that buyer realize that he or she has those traits, even if they’re
buried below the surface – and those agents who can help them find them are the
most successful, personally and professionally.
As
I peer down the lane at Mr. Oblivious, I truly can’t figure out what traits he
has that make him think this is cool, so I just move over to the next
lane. It’s not worth a fight – and my
choice to avoid a confrontation proves to be a good one as I later see him
walking around the entire locker room for about 45 minutes in nothing but his
birthday suit. He’s either a vampire
(because he obviously can’t see his own reflection in any one of the many
mirrors) or he has an overabundance of “self confidence” – he never would have
seen my point. And as an aside, you
can’t unsee
that no matter how rich you are – super or stinkin’!
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