Tony Robbins famously said "The strongest force in the universe is a human being living consistently with his identity."
The biggest (unconscious) challenge I see most people dealing with in the property world, is that their identity rarely serves them.
In fact, we're living through a time where technology has sought to commoditise our professional identity and sell it to the lowest bidder.
And in a profession like estate agency, the label 'estate agent' carries a tarnished view - one which is repeatedly reported as low trust by the Ipsos Veracity Index.
Tony Robbins goes further on this important topic of identity - one which the profession refuses to address;
The question we must ask of our ourselves is this - "does carrying the identity of being an estate agent serve me?"
Or put another way, "If the public don't trust estate agents, why call myself one?"
If you look at the activities of most estate agents who want to be paid what they're worth, you'll see many chasing shiny new toys, or worse, wedding themselves to the status quo for decades because they've not challenged the most basic of assumptions.
To me, the most basic assumption to challenge is that of your identity.
Who are you? What do you stand for? Why should I work with you over someone else?
Ask those questions of most agents and they will give you a long laundry list of external elements without addressing the one core element - which is their identity.
Taken further, if your identity is controlling so much of your life, does it serve you to keep branding yourself as something people naturally do not trust, or spend a fortune to plug into expensive accessories as a cover for a lack of trust?
If you truly take the time to sit with these questions and not rush off into the "constant pursuit of next", something powerful will emerge.
Questioning our most basic, yet most deeply held beliefs, creates a deep seated environment of freedom and responsibility. When we challenge our assumptions, we quickly realise most of our beliefs have little substance behind them. They're just things we've continually repeated to ourselves as being true.
The status quo - who are deeply (financially) dependant on you never asking these questions - would love to keep you trapped in the commoditisation cage given half a chance.
You waking up to the realisation you are so much more than a tarnished label that's seen better days, is what the system fears. It thrives on preventing you from doing your best work.
Self-actualisation - the realisation of one's talents and potentialities - awaits. The ability to charge what you're worth is available. The reversal of fortunes from spending an enormous sum each year to generate leads is replaced by people seeking you out instead.
This is a lot easier to do than you realise. A large part of The Maverick Mindset starts with that shift in identity. I can guarantee that the majority (90%), of subscribers won't even read this far into the newsletter, and even less will sit with these questions for any length of time.
In an age of distraction, supercharged by AI's ability to flood your psyche with more tasks and ideas than ever before, sitting in quiet contemplation, wrestling with your identity, will soon be considered a superpower.
My hope, dear reader, is that you'll do yourself a favour and block out 60 minutes to be introspective with these questions.
And when you're ready, let's have a casual conversation about your realisations. I promise they'll be extremely powerful.
Godspeed.