I know most people would say the opposite, but to be honest 2020 was probably the best / most productive year of my life. The reason I feel compelled to share the story of how and why this is the case is not to brag or say, “Look I made it!” Rather, my sincere hope and goal is to help people realize no matter what the circumstances, there is still opportunity to progress forward.
Also with it being the beginning of a new year, I’m sure there are others out there setting new goals for themselves. I therefore wanted to share the specific tools, tactics, and resources that were instrumental in helping me in case they help others as well. Perhaps others will find value in learning what I found to be effective for me.
Lastly, Christina and I purposefully try to advocate positivity on our social media, and with 2020 being such a difficult year for many, it might be easy to think this optimism is naive, forced, or fake. Or that it’s easy for us to be positive when our business seems to be doing well. But I wanted to show the other side that people hadn’t seen, the part where we went through our struggles. My optimism stems from facing real hardships and coming out on the other side, and realizing I had to change my mindset, attitude, and habits first before I was able to change my circumstances and results.
To better understand what made 2020 so good for me, you have to understand the context and my recent history.
I left the corporate world in 2011 to start The Class Room, and not until 2020 did I have some semblance of financial stability. That means, essentially, I’ve been broke for the better part of the last 9 years. Not to mention I’m at an age where most of my contemporaries are hitting their stride in their careers, getting promotions and raises, plus buying houses and starting families.
When we had The Class Room I never made more than $1,600 a month. During TCR’s 6-year run we were never profitable enough to pay me a livable wage. I was fortunate I had friends that helped me in a number of ways, like letting me live in their homes paying little or no rent.
There was also a time in between The Class Room’s closure and my transition to real estate full-time during which Christina was paying for everything for us. And I mean everything. It was during this time that she almost broke up with me. It wasn’t solely about the money. It was the fact that I wasn’t acting with a sense of urgency to correct the financial uncertainty I was in. I had ideas and plans, but I wasn’t really ‘bout that action. I would do a little bit here and there, but I wasn’t getting after it the way I should way I should have been.
On top of being broke, there was a time I was really difficult to be around. I would get stressed, crabby, and moody. I didn’t have steady income coming in, and there was a possibility I’d have to face lawsuits for The Class Room’s outstanding debts. There was a specific fight Christina and I had in which she explicitly told me, “I’m not happy.” My response to that was, “Well do what you gotta do.” I’m not sure why she didn’t break up with me right then and there, but fortunately she didn’t.
All of this that I just described - from opening TCR to Christina almost breaking up with me - transpired mainly between late 2011 and the beginning of 2018. Then in 2018 and continuing through 2019, things started to turn around, as business for the Chris & Cab Real Estate Team started to grow.
In 2020, the seeds we sowed really began to bear fruit, and last year ended up our most productive year to date. Our real estate sales volume increased 67%. Last year was also the first year I individually made more than my old corporate salary, and did so by 38%.
But life isn’t just about work and money. I also feel more mindful and balanced, and I’m much better at managing my moods and frustrations when they arise (most of the time...but I’m still human.)
Lastly, I think the romantic relationship between Christina and me has continually grown stronger over the years. It culminated in what was the highlight of our 2020 - our engagement. We’ve also gotten much better at working together, having figured out which responsibilities should be handled by which partner.
So what changed?
Below are the things that really helped me kick things into gear.
1. ACCOUNTABILITY
Though I didn’t turn things around immediately, the fight in which Christina told me she wasn’t happy was a real gut check. And since we’re in this business together, I always have someone to hold me accountable when needed.
Whether it be a business partner, teammate, mentor, personal trainer, business coach, or whatever it may be, we all need someone to hold us accountable, and to help steer us back to the right path when we start to drift.
2. A SENSE OF URGENCY
Although our Chris & Cab business showed improvements in 2018 & 2019, our pipeline of deals wasn’t yet stable. So when I turned 35-years-old at the beginning of 2020, I was acutely aware I was only 5 years away from middle-age and still not yet stable in life. So all of last year I kept telling myself, “If you don’t make it happen now, you’ll never make it happen. There’s no more time [to wait] - you gotta make it happen.”
Approaching middle-age, combined with another event that occurred on January 26, framed my mindset for all of last year.
That event was Kobe Bryant’s death.
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