Some of you may recognize this quote from Clint Eastwood in the movie Unforgiven. I have found this to be a sad but true fact of life. Early in my business career, I wasted countless hours convincing myself of all the reasons why I deserved to be on this or that account, and how much more I deserved it than the people in the office to whom it was actually given.
The funny thing was, all the great reasoning I came up with never seemed to change the fact that they were on the account and I was not. All those people I hoped would be ashamed that they were taking something I deserved more? They probably didn’t spend two minutes thinking about me. They certainly weren’t feeling guilty about it. In fact, the only thing this line of thinking ever changed was my attitude. I became so focused on what I deserved but hadn’t gotten that I stopped valuing what I already had in front of me.
After a lot of soul-searching, I finally realized that no one was going to give me what I felt I deserved simply because I thought I deserved it. Instead, if I wanted the situation to change it was up to me to change it. This small realization became the foundation for my successful commercial real estate career which has now spanned more than 30 years.
When I stopped worrying about what I did and did not deserve, I was able to focus all of my energy on creating new opportunities for myself and my clients. I focused on things that were in my control, and did what I could to shape the situations the way I wanted. Much to my surprise, when I look back on it now all these years later I realize that I probably had more success and made more money on the deals I went out and got myself than I would have made by getting on that account I thought I so richly deserved!
Remind yourself of this today: deserve’s got nothing to do with it. It’s up to you to create the new business opportunities to propel yourself forward. That’s the way to truly get what you deserve – to go out and make it happen yourself.
Have a great weekend,
Ro