As the best-selling author Simon Sinek has pointed out, perhaps the most important question to start with in any endeavor is why? A well-constructed why can help keep us focused and dedicated even when we feel we are being pulled in a million different directions. It also serves as a powerful tool in the market place. Understanding people’s motivations – their why – builds trust and understanding. As he puts it, “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” So why did I at the age of 22 decide to pursue a career in the extremely difficult and competitive real estate industry? To fully answer that I first have to explain my state of mind before making that choice.

A Head Full of Doubt

I believe that every major life decision starts with doubt and my decision to get into real estate was no different. To be perfectly honest I never saw myself working in any office type job. My only experience in that realm lasted about as long as an oil change. I had spent the majority of my working life, from my first job laying cement at the age of 14, until my decision to get into real estate, working with my hands. When people used business terms like ROI, A to B marketing, asset allocation, and supply chain acquisition my eyes tended to gloss over. To say I was lacking in industry experience was an understatement.

I also had to confront the ‘problem’ of my age. By the time I got my real estate license at the age of 22 only about 2% of agents in the United States were under the age of 30. I was entering a profession where the vast majority already had a long career. They knew the ins and outs of business life. They had connections, experience, and resources. Most of the people I would be doing business with would be at least twice and often 3 times my age. I was full of self-doubt. I wondered how other people would look at me and if they would respect me. Perhaps more importantly, how could I ask someone else to trust me with one of the largest investment of their lives, when I didn’t even trust myself? To be entirely transparent I almost felt like a fraud.

“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”

Then there was the very practical problem of finances. When I graduated college all I had to my name was some mixed matched gym clothes, an ill-fitting navy-blue suit, and a 2001 Honda civic. Oh, and let’s not forget the albatross hanging around my neck – a pile of student loans that needed to be paid. I knew it would take several months, if not longer, to start making enough money to pay for basic necessities like food, rent, car payments. 

The stress and difficulty of getting started in the industry is reflected by the high turnover rate. Between 80-90% of people who enter the real estate industry drop out within 5 years. Even with youthful optimism, the task ahead of me seemed daunting. Especially when the reality of not being able to pay my bills was staring me in the face. That is the price I was going to have to pay for being self-employed. Every deal was a gamble. Every dollar earned represents hours of stress and determination that fell solely on my shoulders. 

Why, why, why!?!?

I think one of the most difficult questions in life is to figure out what you want to do. It is easy to over-analyze yourself right into the arms of indecision. At least that is where I found myself post-graduation. I had a multitude of paths before me and no clear direction of which was the right one. I spent months not doing much of anything – too worried to make a bad decision and work at some miserable job than to commit to one. How does one choose a job? I laid awake in bed at night mulling that question over and over. 

As any good millennial does, I consulted the ultimate source of authority in the world… google. I sat at my computer and typed in: What job should I do? *enter* The white screen flashed as 6,510,000,000 results appeared. Down the rabbit hole I went; dozens of personality tests, preference quizzes, and maybe even a horoscope or two. All I found out from this search was that I am an extroverted Capricorn, I would be an excellent exotic animal wrangler, and that if I was a food, I’d be spaghetti. Well at least those questions were answered, but I still didn’t know what I was going to do.

What Counts…

I don’t know where the answer to my question came from. It was almost as if some celestial being took pity on me and whispered the answers in my ear. I realized that I had been looking at it all wrong. I had been thinking that a certain occupation would make me happy. That I’d have to do X or Y to be fulfilled and that if I chose incorrectly, I’d be miserable forever. But I realized that what I really wanted. What really mattered to me was to be successful at whatever I was doing. To go out into the world and stand on my own two feet – to sink or swim with the result resting entirely on my shoulders. 

As machismo or self-righteous as it might sound, I wanted to prove to myself and perhaps to the world that I was capable of transforming myself into something far better than what I currently was. And if I could do that by helping people making a difference in their lives at one of the most important financial decisions of their lives, then all the better.

I wake up every morning and choose real estate, because it challenges and pushes me to be better. Like a sanding belt that shapes, smooths, and transforms a rough slab of oak into a beautiful piece of furniture, this industry takes the potential a person has and reveals the character underneath; both the beautiful grain that can be stained and polished, as well as, the rough edges that need rounding. 

I choose real estate because of the difficulty not in spite of it. When the times are tough which they often are I remind myself that these are the moments that make me better. These are the moments that propel one in life. Edith Eger put it far more elegantly that I could ever hope to when she said, “Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.” The easy path, although seductive does not lead to satisfaction; quite the opposite in fact. In my admittedly short life if I have learned – or more aptly been taught – one thing, it is that the most difficult path holds the greatest rewards.

-Peter Galloup