Persistence - Bramlett.me

Persistence

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race.” – Calvin Coolidge

I look back on my college experience really fondly and the fraternity I joined was a big part of that. That said, I won’t be upset if fraternities are no longer around when Beck makes it to college (if he goes.) It was a ton of fun, but mostly irresponsible fun. When I was a pledge, they made us memorize a bunch of goofy things – members middle names, etc. We also had to memorize quotes from famous alumni and one has stuck with me. “Persistence” by Calvin Coolidge seems to ring true throughout life, and especially in times like these. I started thinking about it again a couple of years ago when goal setting became a big part of my life and I’ve thought about how poignant it is during difficult times.

During the 2008 Financial Crisis / Great Recession, I was completely unprepared. I had a negative net worth and zero systems in place. My plan was to bail – just go to law school and reset after I got out. I owed money to the IRS, so that plan wouldn’t work. I remember sitting in my home office (our office lease expired and we didn’t renew) and just cold calling like crazy – 100+ IDX leads or expired listings a day. I absolutely hate cold calling, but it worked. I had low quality leads coming in and I knew that, if I called around 50 of them, I would pick up at least 1 viable client. This experience is what got me through a really difficult financial time and also what made me become obsessed with generating quality inbound inquiries.

I learned a lot from 2008 and we’re much more prepared for this coming recession. That said, persistence is what will also get us through this (though hopefully a little more easily than in 2008.) I’m hugely obsessed with efficiency, but during really difficult times, it’s important to go back to the basics and just stay busy. The more you keep your head down and work on productive activities, the better you’ll come out of this. I’m looking forward to watching everyone on our team come out of this strongly.

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