When People Do Not Do What They Say They Will Do

Part of my secret to success in Sacramento real estate is due to the fact that I am consistent. When I find something that works, I continue to do it. I do what I promise to do. I pay attention to things that don’t work and I don’t do those things. You can see it’s a pretty simple philosophy but one that is difficult for many real estate agents to perform. When I try to share this philosophy with other agents, they sometimes mumble, “Yeah, thanks for nothing.” It’s as though they do not appreciate its profundity.

I also follow up. If I promise a person I will call at a certain time on a certain day, I do it. Because I do what I promise to do. Again, something that sounds so incredibly simple, yet some people just can’t do it. It’s not as though we don’t have a task reminder on our cell phones, in our email programs, through online software or, for the non-technical, a hard-copy calendar on our wall and even sticky notes with clever messages about dogs loving you unconditionally and cats demanding your resume.

We live in a world where many people do not live up to our expectations. They set those expectations themselves and then fail to deliver. This can be irritating or annoying for the rest of us. They might say, Oh, I will call you tomorrow, and then they don’t do it. You can’t shoot them because under those circumstances they will never call you again. You can’t change somebody else’s behavior; you can only control how you react to it.

Besides, they have excuses. They justify, reason, explain. It doesn’t mean they will change their behavior and, if you continue to expect them to live up to their word, they may only disappoint.

I am not suggesting that we need to lower our expectations by any stretch to interact with other people, just that not everybody else in the world plays and lives by the same guiding principles that we may set for ourselves. Sometimes, you have to let it go. Direct your attention elsewhere. Other things are more important. Just continue doing what you promise to do, and you’ll be OK, even if everybody else is not.