Bang!

The starting gun has fired!

2016 ends with a roar of change. Right down to the final few days of the year we had rate changes, policy changes, and on the final business day of the year, a compensation model change resulting from Oct 3, 2016 announcements.  No rest!

Into 2017 we are thrust, many of us feeling like huge portions of our skill-sets having been made useless with a few strokes from a bureaucrats pen.

Surviving and thriving will hinge on one key skill-set; the ability to learn.

To learn is to adapt, to adapt is to survive.

To thrive the primary skill-set remains…

Communication

With well rounded communication skills one can explain to clients what is happening in the world around us.

Being able to absorb and understand the many changes in our industry may require an upgrade of communication skills. How does one learn to listen better? To read more effectively? The answer is, as with many things in life, by doing.

Listening  – Listening skills improve one way only, by doing more listening. Spend less time preparing your response while being spoken to, and more time absorbing the information. It is OK to take a moment to digest what has just been said before responding. (This is a skill I am trying to improve on myself)

Reading  – Another learned skill. Many of us stopped reading for fun in grade school, having been told (incorrectly) at some point that we were just not ‘the reading type’. The same applied (for many of us) to math, languages, phys-ed, etc. Entire generations went through an education system that preached ‘fixed mindset’ nonsense. We do not in fact have any other limitations on our abilities other than what we accept. Want to change your mindset? Start with this book, and read on!

Speaking – Most of us have vast experience in this area, but speaking is not the same as talking. Many of us have trouble clearly explaining complex topics. And once again, this skill comes only with practice. Start out by explaining to friends or family members why in 2017 they may pay higher interest rates even while making a larger (20%+) down payment. At first you may find it very difficult to do so in a simple and articulate style. Again, practice makes perfect. Being able to verbally explain the what, why, and how of things like the differences of what drives Prime rate vs. what drives fixed rates is crucial.

And when it comes to speaking – grab that microphone whenever it is offered. Nothing will position you like the expert you are like having the courage to get up in front of a crowd and explain, inform, educate, share. Too nervous? Why? This is not that grade 5 book report, on a book you did not like, given to a classroom of kids that did not like you. This is not that experience. You are the expert, you are passionate and knowledgeable about your topic. Be the expert! You can do it.

Writing – ‘if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen’, words to live by. Before you verbally explain new regulations you may want to write out all that you know about them. Create a list of questions, and sources for answers, as you write. The questions will come naturally, and having researched the answers in advance of explaining the topic live is always a good thing. Grab a basic journal at the dollar store, title it ‘mortgage stories’ and start writing out your thoughts.

Again the more you write, the more you think, and better you will become at both writing and thinking.

For help with reviewing email templates, blog posts, or just about anything that you write check out the ‘Hemingway APP‘ – I used it for this post.

 

These are my thoughts at 8:09 the morning of Jan 1, 2017.

Here we go into an amazing 2017!