Today is Ben Franklin’s birthday. According to History.com, Franklin was “a statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor, and diplomat.” He “served in the Second Continental Congress, helped draft the Declaration of Independence, negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, and in his final significant act of public service, he was a delegate to the convention that produced the U.S. Constitution.“
Some of his most famous quips and quotes can be great lessons and reminders today even though Ben Franklin died some 232 years ago. See if you can learn anything from these wise words.
10 Lessons Realtors Can Learn from Ben Franklin Quotes
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” – You know what you need to do each day. When you put on your real estate hat each day, what will you do to build relationships, solve problems, and have fun?
“A place for everything, everything in its place” – Stay organized. Whether it’s your home office, mobile office (car), or branch office, keep it clean and decluttered. Take the time to organize your digital world too by cleaning out old emails, updating apps, and using digital storage like Dropbox, Evernote, or OneDrive.
“When you’re good to others, you’re best to yourself.” – Remember this is a relationship business. Spend the majority of your day taking care of your customers, clients, and community and you will create a business worth talking about. When other people talk about you and the great work you do, you don’t have to spend your time, effort, and money telling your story. You can spend your time, effort, and money taking care of the people who are telling it.
“While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us” – Have you ever heard of The Serenity Prayer? This sounds awful similar, doesn’t it? There are many moving parts in a real estate transaction but all we can control is the stuff we can control. Don’t hesitate to call a “time out” or press pause when things seem to be getting out of control.
“Well done is better than well said.” – This is one of Franklin’s more popular quotes, especially to business people and entrepreneurs. It’s so easy to talk about what you’re going to do but until the rubber meets the road, you’re not going anywhere. Make your “to-do list” each day and then make it a “done list.”
“Glass, China, and Reputation are easily crack’d, and never well mended.” – I used to have a sign hanging in my workspace when I first got licensed. It said, “Your commission will be gone long before your reputation.” It was important back then and remains important today. With social media and the power of online testimonials. it might be even more critical. As one of my mentors always tells us, “Put the interests of your clients first and the business will take care of itself.”
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Never stop learning. Sign up for conferences and events. Read more blogs and books. Listen to more podcasts. Watch more videos. Constantly be feeding information into your brain by inquiring about everything. The best salespeople ask the best questions so keep asking questions…and listen to the answers. You just might learn something that could help you or someone you know.
“We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing” – We aren’t working on high-tension electric lines, digging ditches in the summer heat or winter snow, or other physically or mentally challenging careers. We get to guide our clients in their journey to a new home or destination. We are helping people write the next chapter of their life. We all need to try and smile and laugh more each day. Like the t-shirt says, “Life is Good.”
“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late” – If you’re truly paying attention each day, you can learn something about something or someone. Even our mistakes will help teach us something. What can you do today to #BecomeBetter tomorrow?
“When you are finished changing, you’re finished.” Real estate markets are constantly in a state of change. Interests rates go up and down daily. Inventory comes on and off the market daily. Lately, it’s been moving very quickly but soon that will change. The neat thing is each day we get to change the calendar and the sun rises in the East, we can change clothes, change our hair, change our mindsets, and when we decide to do that…we change our future.
Go make it a great week and remember…
“The doors to wisdom are never shut”
Ben Franklin