The Wisdom is in the Work

by Lyle Wilks

The Wisdom Is in the Work

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what wisdom actually is.

And the more I think about it, the more I believe wisdom is just experience that you actually paid attention to.

You can read the books. Go to the classes. Listen to the podcasts. Learn the scripts.

But there are some things you just have to live through.

Especially in real estate.

You have to have the deal fall apart. You have to lose the listing you thought you had. You have to have the uncomfortable conversation. You have to screw something up, figure out how to fix it, and remember how it felt so you handle it differently the next time.

That’s where the wisdom comes from.

And I think sometimes we’re moving so fast that we miss it.

We close a deal and immediately start worrying about the next one. We have a bad month and immediately start looking for some new strategy. Something doesn’t work, so we change directions.

But what if the thing you’re going through right now is actually trying to teach you something?

I’ve talked a lot about how much faith this business requires. And I think this is part of it.

Faith isn’t sitting around hoping something happens.

It’s doing the work when you can’t see the result yet.

It’s making the calls. Having the conversation. Working the deal in front of you. Staying consistent when things are slow.

And sometimes it’s having enough patience to slow down so you can speed up.

This market will punch you in the mouth.

Deals will die. People will tell you no. Months won’t go like you planned.

But when I look at the agents who are still doing well, they aren’t avoiding the punches.

They’re learning from them.

They take the hit, figure out what it taught them, and keep going.

Maybe we don’t need to be so obsessed with getting everything right.