I just finished my avalanche safety training course in the backcountry of Whistler BC.  The backcountry is an incredibly beautiful environment.

The backcountry can also be a very dangerous environment as snow avalanches take dozens of lives each year.

Our safety course had two distinct areas of focus.  The first was to understand the environment and to avoid or mitigate the risk.  The second was how to rescue people from an avalanche.

As I was out there skinning up hill, skiing the powder, digging pits and probing for hidden transceivers – it occurred to me that there were some powerful similarities between excelling in this environment and excelling at building a consistent real estate business.

 Skinning up hill is like prospecting.  We need to build the muscles, commit and consistently move forward.

Skiing Powder is like making the deal.

 

In the backcountry, we need to understant the environment if we want to avoid unnecessary risk.  Things like deep snow, steep terraine, sun effected snow, unstable layers, surface hoar and other interesting features matter.  In real estate, it’s the market, the competition, the culture, the econmy, the laws, the rules and the protocols.  If we can understand these factors and navigate them well, we will keep out of trouble, stay productive and build a successful real estate business.  There’s nothing like a lawsuit to derail an aspiring entrepreneur.

If we get into trouble, we need to know how to rescue ourselves or our clients.  In the backcountry, if we end up in an avalanche we’ve made a mistake.  Since mistakes do happen, we need to know how find someone and dig them out of a potential icy grave.  In real estate, if we make a mistake we may end up with something simple like an overpriced listing or something more complicated like an ethics complaint  or a legal problem.  We need to know how to rescue ourselves from these distractions (or worse).

Best choice?  Stay out of trouble in the first place by knowing the environment and navigating it carefully.  Slow down to avoid mistakes and make deliberate decision that get you where you want to go.  Recognize that shortcuts often have bad results.  If you end up with bad results, be prepared to deal with it in a logical and systematic way…..and call for help!

Interested in knowing more about Avalanches?  Check out my partners blog  www.wayneflannavalancheblog.com