Let’s start with a reminder: For all its problems, the world isn’t falling apart and there’s always the opportunity to find some good news around you. Not just on Good News Fridays, either. Seeing good news can happen any day, and it’s needed, more than ever.
That’s why it’s so important for YOU to be someone who finds - and points out - what’s working in the world! For your colleagues. For your clients. For yourself. Not only will it make you feel better, but it will make you calmer, and much more valuable to your sphere of influence.
Let me tell you a story.
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Imagine being the person who goes around saying this kind of stuff….
“The state of housing in the U.S. “sucks,” [said one industry CEO] last week. “The current way the industry operates “is kind of broken” he added, “It’s antiquated, it’s inefficient, it’s manual, it’s expensive and people are just not buying and selling homes in this country. We’re stuck.”
Good grief.
After 35 years, you’d think we’d heard it all before. And I realize a lot of these kinds of statements are for consumption by the press, social media, and Wall Street. But there are real estate people who listen, too, you know. Nobody denies the housing industry has work to do. But we’ve always had some work to do. That’s it means to be an industry that takes change seriously and works tirelessly to improve itself.
And that’s the real estate industry I’ve been in since 1991.
Never have I flown to a city or country and heard real estate professionals say, “Thanks for coming, but don’t bother, because it all sucks and it’s all broken and we’re just going to sit here and complain about it.” Yet you will find that headline aplenty in this business, without even trying. Which is strange, because I have no idea who people like this guy is hanging out with. Most of the brokers who are doing the business in this industry are far from antiquated, inefficient, or manual.
Of course, I’ve said this before: Some people sell sadness for a living. And plenty of people buy it, or repeat it, especially in an attention economy, where feeding adrenaline-inducing rage-bait earns money.
They have to stir you up to monetize, rather than offer you a hug.
You Must Choose for Yourself
Which means you must choose to find the good news yourself. Otherwise, you risk losing control of much more than your focus: You’ll start to feel depressed. Then confused. You’ll lose control over the narrative: that you do improve yourself, all th etime. That you help plenty of people achieve their dreams without the experience sucking.
But you’re just one little voice. So you’re going to have to work hard at this, to stave off becoming demoralized by the constant drip of criticism, and avoid waking up one day and asking, why bother?
Be on the Lookout!
You don’t have to go to a convention to hear this kind of negativity, either. It’s freely available wherever talking heads gather, like those Facebook groups where too many salespeople spend too much time commenting instead of prospecting. Some recent gems include:
“More than 50,000 home purchase contracts fell through in March!” said someone quoting a Redfin press release.
“Over 300,000 REALTORS left the business recently!” screamed a meme on NAR’s latest membership count.
“Over 70% of REALTORS didn’t do a single sale last year,” was a recent favorite, too.
Every one of those posts will make your blood boil.
The Rest of the Story
Until you remind yourself there’s another side to the story.
Before I started my speaking career, I was in talk radio. I studied all the famous broadcasters and motivational speakers to improve my skills. One of my favorites was the iconic host Paul Harvey, who would tell stories with an unknown twist, always wrapping up his pieces with the famous phrase:
“And now you know, the rest of the story.”
That’s the secret to choosing good news for you, too.
When I started writing Good News Fridays, it was a personal exercise to offset all the negative pandemic news back in 2020. The media drama was as bad as the virus. I was consuming so much negativity about the speaking business that I almost gave up, thinking, why bother, if the speaking business sucks so much?
That’s when a client called me for some advice.
She was pretty worked up, panicking about her company, her salespeople, and the future of the real estate industry. Without thinking, my natural “optimist” instincts took over. I started generating ideas - some good, some wild - to provide her with alternative perspectives.
At one point, I remember saying, “Remember, we’re AmeriCANs. Focus on what you CAN do!” I don’t think it was helpful enough, because she said, “But everything is prohibited! How CAN we sell anything when everyone is locked indoors?”
That’s when I remembered Paul Harvey’s phrase.
“That prohibition is only part of the story,” I said. “What we need to do is figure out the rest of the story! What’s possible to keep buyers in the market without leaving their homes?”
That little shift caused us to seek examples of people finding solutions, not wallowing in problems. We quickly found examples of people using video tours, Zoom showings, and social media to host virtual open-houses. We asked if we could use drones to do neighborhood tours.
“Let’s find out,” she said, suddenly encouraged. She hung up the phone a little less frantic. And I was left feeling something even more exciting!
There’s Always Good News to Choose
Something clicked after that call. I could always choose good news.
I began to make it a weekly habit to find good stories and add them to my newsletter. Eventually it became a daily habit, interrupting the circuit whenever someone tried to push my buttons with bad news.
Today it’s my natural instinct to find and share the rest of the story.
For example, while it’s true that 50,000 home purchase contracts did cancel in the last month, it’s also true that …….
It’s also true that 300,000 REALTORS left the business last year, but did you know that 15% of NAR’s membership is new members every year anyway? That’s around 225,000 new entrants annually. Suddenly, losing 300,000 doesn’t seem so bad!
Besides, we don’t even know why those people left.
Maybe they reached their financial goals and wanted a new challenge.
Maybe they retired with satisfaction on their career.
Maybe they sold their company to someone who paid a lot of money!
You see, those parts of the story aren’t told, just the scary numbers. Many people leaving the business last year could be a sign of success, not failure!
Your New Goodness-Seeking Habit
Why don’t you develop a good-news-seeking habit, before reacting to negative headlines? You might just find that the industry - and the world - is still full of wonderful things every day; that things are hardly as bad as you’re being lead to believe, and if you choose to discover the rest of the story, you’ll find yourself just as productive, energized and happy as ever.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
Stay always inspiring!
— M
PS: Remember that recent headline that said “Over 70% of REALTORS did ZERO sales last year?” Well, here’s the rest of the story… 👇
It turns out, the story was incomplete
When the headline started going around, I knew there was something that wasn’t being stated. Well, it now appears that the rest of the story has appeared - unfortunately, a whole year later. The National Association of REALTORS survey of members reveals a much deeper dive into the data:
Only 5% of agents registered with NAR as specializing in residential sales reported zero transactions.
NAR had to remind the “talking heads” that many of its members aren’t active salespeople.
They’re office managers, property-managers, assistants and even professional trainers like me. Suddenly we see that it was barely 5% of sales agents who completed no deals last year.
Which means that 95% of full-time sales professionals did plenty: they actually averaged 10 deals each!
What other story has you believing things are much worse than they are? What else have you come to believe, because it’s been repeated over and over, on stage after stage, feed after feed, that might be undermining your optimism to reach your goals this year.
Or worse — undermining your clients?
Build your Good News muscle, because you can’t depend on getting the rest of the story without it.
—M
