Real estate Ozempic: What do you need to shed this spring?

When they talk about personal goals and work-life balance, many folks set intentions around health and wellness. For many, this involves weight loss — eating right, working out and, increasingly, talking to the doctor about medical interventions like Ozempic.

These medications aren’t magic: They’re tools to help people exercise more control over what they consume. In addition, they’re not painless interventions: For many people, they include unpleasant side effects.

It’s the same with most things that are worth doing, right? Improvement — whether in your personal life, your relationships or your business — involves taking control of some things, admitting you need help and, often, dealing with the painful side effects that come with change.

The past few years have been challenging, first because of the pandemic and then because of the economic upheaval of the past year. From mansion taxes to interest rates to commission lawsuits, it can be tough out there for real estate professionals.

When you’re in a time of struggle, it’s tempting to add new things: New strategies, new tech, new bells and whistles that promise to “fix” whatever’s going on.

I’m going to propose that we go in the other direction, giving up the things that no longer serve us. Here are some ideas:

People

We say all the time that real estate is a relationship business, but what we don’t always say is that some of those relationships are toxic.

Maybe it’s the client whose requirements are completely unrealistic. Maybe it’s the colleague whose competitive streak veers into unethical behavior. Maybe it’s the friend or family member who treats you as less-than. Examine the people in your life and see who you may need to distance yourself from in order for you and your business to thrive.

Places

Are you working in the right neighborhoods? Are you limiting yourself to the community where you’ve always farmed, ignoring new possibilities and new opportunities? Are you paying for office space you don’t need or staying put out of laziness?

Context matters, and the places where you live and work provide the context for your business and the service you provide. Consider whether it’s time to reevaluate and make a move.

Things

Are you holding onto clutter in your home, car or office? Do you joke that “you know where everything is” when people question the state of your workspace? Do you spend more time than you should taking care of “stuff” without regard for how it serves or enhances your life?

Have you gotten into bad spending patterns that you need to get a handle on? It’s time to look at the things you own — and the things that own you.

Habits

Whether it’s procrastination, pot-stirring or that extra glass of wine in the evening, we all have habits that we could afford to shed. Maybe you’ve gotten into bad habits around meetings, time-consuming processes or a lack of delegation.

Maybe you’re using outdated tech out of habit (and out of resistance to learning something new). Be bold enough to question why you’re doing the things you do, and find out whether you’re being driven by need and efficiency or habit.

Fears

If you’ve had a down year, if you’ve been betrayed by a colleague, if you’ve been criticized by a client, you may be operating from a place of fear. Maybe it goes back further to a mistake you made in the past or a fear-based childhood.

Facing your fears and working through your anxieties can free you up to make this the best year ever in your work life and home life. Need help? Consider talking with someone to help you address some of these concerns.

I hope this year’s spring market brings you everything you want — and that you leave behind the things that no longer serve you. Let go of the dead weight that’s holding you back so you can show up leaner, stronger and more powerful than before.