| Yesterday I celebrated my daughter’s college graduation. Victoria is a tenacious young woman who dug in and worked hard to receive her bachelor’s degree at the tender age of 20. And I’m one proud papa – she graduated Summa Cum Laude which is the highest recognition a student can receive. It is only issued to students with the highest honor which meant she was in the top 1-5% of her class. All of those accolades and honors are great, but it does beg the question: is a college degree necessary to be successful in real estate? A degree is not mandatory for entrepreneurship, but college can be very helpful, as it teaches skills like accountability and time management. It develops confidence and can provide a better sense of independence, and control over a person’s life. No, you don’t need to graduate from college to earn a healthy amount of money. You will find plenty of high-income earners who never went to college. Some of them (yours truly included) barely graduated high school. What you do need to succeed in entrepreneurship is the ability to go all the way to the finish line. And a degree is a clear indicator of a person who can demonstrate the ability to overcome obstacles and complete large objectives. Life is full of obstacles and challenges. So what is the most difficult thing to overcome in real estate? It’s not paying for coaching. It’s not studying and completing a program. It’s not spending large amounts of money on marketing campaigns. The hardest thing to deal with in real estate is doing everything you can and still not getting the results that you really wanted. Let me explain. Let’s say you get into a contract with the seller and it falls out of escrow. Or you’ve had multiple meaningful conversations with a seller but they just decide to sell or list with someone else. These kinds of experiences are like a sucker punch to the gut. Most people won’t give up right away. But after being knocked down multiple times, the majority of people simply give up and go back to living mediocre lives. The true entrepreneur will persevere. But getting back up is only part of the solution. You need to seek help from a trusted advisor so you can combine your mistakes with their experience. When you do that you’ll not only avoid getting knocked down, but you’ll figure out how to find success where you never thought to look. This is the person who will continue to get up and move forward. This is the person who ends up winning in this business. Not giving up is sort of like a muscle. Everyone has it to some degree. But the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. And most people who graduate college have a lot of opportunities to work that muscle. There is a caveat to all of this college talk. There are a lot of students who expect success just because they are handed a diploma. It’s a product of the entitlement mentality that our society is building. A piece of paper and a head full of knowledge is useless if you’re not willing to stick your neck out and take a few lumps. Unfortunately, more and more young people are coming out of college destined for mediocrity. At the end of the day, whether someone goes to college or not, success is easily within reach. It’s up to the individual to take advantage of what they have, regardless of the degree, and do something with it. For my daughter Vicky, I will tell her to use the network she developed while attending college. Build upon her skillset. She has grown into a person who can complete complex, demanding assignments on very tight timelines. She knows how to get things done quickly and effectively. These are great traits, and these are habits that will help her succeed. To your success, Ernie “Proud Papa” Vargas | The Probate Fox |
May 24
What Kids Should Really Be Learning in College
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