Most of us feel a certain amount of optimism, excitement and anticipation as a New Year arrives but that wonderful feeling of hope can fade quickly during the early days of January.  Old habits prevail and everyday challenges seduce us to worry about the urgent, anguish over disappointments and not focus our thoughts and energy on the important stuff.

What if you were able to make a commitment to protecting your sense of optimism even in the face of the inevitable challenges and setbacks? What would 2017 look like then?

There is no shortcut to success. No one has ever achieved sustainable success without overcoming enormous challenges, obstacles, setbacks and failures.   The path to achieving success is a process and perpetual optimism is one critical factor to maintaining momentum on this pathway.

As each hour, day and week passes into 2017, you can be sure that you will be challenged.  Each of us will be.  That’s what life is – expect it and prepare for it.  Optimism is a choice and is grounded in gratitude.  Optimism and gratitude matter.

Let’s say that your biggest listing lead for the New Year calls you this week and says. “My cousin is going to buy my house. It works out really great for both of us. Thanks for your help.”  This has the potential to be an optimism killer but what if you chose to see it differently?  What if this was just the inevitable valley between the peaks or the trough between the crests?   If we hang too much importance on each real estate lead we are destined to be disappointed.  Use this as the lever to get out there and have conversations with people about Real Estate.   Congratulate the seller and reach out to the cousin; he may have a house to sell.  Build the relationships that will allow you to practice perpetual optimism and you’ll climb to the top over and over again.

My late 2016 and early 2017 have been challenging.  My relationship ended, my water pipes were frozen for three weeks over the holidays and I had a ski crash that tore up my knee.  I’m gimping around on crutches waiting on surgery.  Obviously this will make touring around the country challenging.  Part of me wants to curl up into a ball and give up but another part of me is seeing it differently.  I’m grateful that they can fix my knee.  20 years ago they couldn’t.  I’m grateful that I have water (and heat and shelter and food) and I’m grateful that I have so many people that care about me.  In this gratitude is where I find my optimism and in this optimism is how I solve the problems and continue to move forward in this amazing thing we call life.