All week, Inman is taking a Deep Dive into eXp Realty. We’ll be covering the brokerage’s annual EXPCON event — taking place virtually and in Las Vegas this week. Stay tuned in the coming days for more on eXp, and for future Inman Deep Dives into top brokerages.
Nick Santonastasso was born with a single arm and no legs. Later in his life, his brother overdosed. He’s had, in other words, more of an uphill battle in life than many others.
But while on stage Thursday at EXPCON — the annual gathering of eXp Realty agents happening now in Las Vegas — Santonastasso recalled his life story and how he overcame various obstacles. And he urged real estate professionals to adopt a positive mindset.
“A low energy person won’t attract high level opportunities,” he argued.
Santonastasso went on to recount that after his brother overdosed, he chose to focus on what the tragedy might teach him.
“Who am I going to become because I’m going through this,” he recalled thinking. “Who do I get to become because I’m going through this? What’s the gift? Nick, find the gift. What are the learnings? What’s the lesson?”
Nick Santonastasso on stage at EXPCON Thursday | eXp Realty
Over the course of his speech, Santonastasso suggested agents take a similar approach. And he offered a series of questions agents can ask themselves to help them do that:
- “In my life the majority of the times, do I focus on the things that I have, or the things that I don’t have?”
- “In my life the majority of the time, do I focus on the things I can control or the things I can’t control?”
- “In my life, where do I find myself focusing? The past the present or the future?
Santonastasso went on to tell agents to have “emotional integrity,” which he said involves not lying to oneself about emotional states. And he argued that it’s important to focus on the positive and not zero in exclusively on problems.
“Most people have problems in their life,” he said, “because all they do is have problems.”
