The stress of the real estate industry can affect your mental health. Learn to manage it before you reach your breaking point.
By Raquel Salas
Special for El Inmobiliario
The phone rings a thousand times, appointments are scheduled one after another, the calendar is disrupted by unexpected delays, a payment plan is thrown off by errors in the formula, and negotiations take place with the developer to adjust the client's payments or extend a hold. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what real estate agents go through every day.
I say "they happen" because it would be presumptuous to consider myself a real estate agent, since my work in the sector is on the developers' side, focusing on providing support to make things easier for the agents. But that's not the point. Since October 10th was World Mental Health Day, today I want to talk, as Raquel, a coach and motivational speaker, about how this turbulent dynamic in the sector can affect our emotional and mental health, and consequently, our physical health.
Stress, uncertainty, overthinking, and a constant sense of urgency eventually take their toll.
Dynamics that can affect your emotional and mental well-being:
Stress, uncertainty, overthinking, and a constant sense of urgency. While it's true that the goal is to achieve monthly or seasonal targets and close as many deals as possible, it's also true that some clients demand time and energy but take their time making decisions. This dynamic can generate frustration and lead you to wonder how you'll meet your financial obligations if you had that resource available. The consequence is that you might start acting with a disproportionate sense of urgency, which raises your levels of negative stress.
Yes, there are two types of stress. Spanish psychologist José Miguel Sánchez, a high-performance expert and top 100 speaker, defines them in one of his videos: “There are two types of stress. Positive stress, or eustress, is what motivates you to action, increases your activation level, and even helps you take responsibility for what you have to do. On the other hand, there is negative stress, or distress, which accelerates your heart rate to the point of tachycardia, increases your breathing rate, and disrupts your blood pressure. Both are related to pressure: external pressure, which circumstances subject you to, and internal pressure, which sometimes works against you.” (Paraphrase).
Stress and balance:
As Sánchez explains, both types of stress can be managed. Positive stress can be kept at bay if we manage to build a balanced life. Negative stress can be prevented as long as it doesn't stem from an imbalance in neurotransmitters or other compounds that regulate mood.
Recommendations based on my experience:
My first few months in this industry almost led to a breakdown, trying to be everywhere at once. Seeing the first signs of anxiety and chronic stress, to the point where I couldn't sleep due to overthinking, I decided to seek professional help and adjust my life. Here are some recommendations:
Always work with a schedule and educate your clients to respect time limits. Schedule short breaks throughout the day; something as simple as taking five minutes to breathe can make all the difference. Dedicate a day to completely disconnecting, including from screens. Exercise; even a short walk works. Eat well and get enough sleep. All of this sounds like a cliché, and you've probably heard it before, but as we say here, "Dominicans don't lock up until they get robbed." I didn't take any of this seriously until I reached my limit.
Other recommendations:
The industry is full of options and opportunities, but you don't have to sell everything. Choose the projects that resonate with you and fit your niche market, and focus on those. Don't get into unnecessary trouble. If you know that some projects have a dubious reputation with tangible evidence, don't walk into the lion's den just for a commission. Remember that if you work professionally and with commitment, you'll be tied to your client, and you'll have to deal with their understandable and valid dissatisfaction for years if something goes wrong.
Mental health is not a game. Emotional disorders are real, and many can be prevented if we commit to our overall well-being. In the end, if we're not well, nothing else will make sense.
The author is: Public relations specialist for Mystiq developments, CEO and founder of Positive Refocus, director of the Media PR Group, certified by John Maxwell Leadership, co-founder of the introspective podcast Green Dogs, author of "Before Saying Yes" and "Time for Me".
