How I found my Passion and Hated It

Why it’s ok and how I overcame it

Background

I wasn’t a fan of education, honestly, I actively hated it. I just wanted to play soccer and have fun. I was fortunate enough to be granted an opportunity to do so in America. I jumped at the chance, moved all the way over to a small town in Northeast America.

I was a Sports Management and Marketing Major, the typical “jock” major. I knew I didn’t want to do that so I changed to Entrepreneurship.

The first time I was exposed to my passion was through my parents. They had an investment property or two, that yielded some results but nothing special. The second time I was exposed was upon reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. A book that every single entrepreneur should read, and probably a book that every one who is already an entrepreneur has read.

I started looking up ways to make money with real estate. Passive income, capital gains and then real estate sales.

That’s when my passions started to develop. I loved business, I loved the idea of making money and above all, I loved Real Estate. I began devouring every single Real Estate show possible. Million Dollar Listing, Property Brother, Selling Homes etc.

I thought how can I turn this passion into a full-time profession. I knew if I was going to make it in Real Estate I had to make it in the big leagues.

New York City

I called pretty much every single brokerage in the city asking to be an intern for the summer. The real estate industry doesn’t really do internships I was still determined to force them to.

I had some leads, but nothing was sticking. Until opportunity met luck and I was prepared to capitalize. I refreshed a job search page, the first link was “Real Estate Intern for the summer.” Boom!

Application in, email sent and to top it off I found their direct number and called them instantly. Phone interview the next day, tickets booked the day after.

This wasn’t a small company, in fact, it was at the time a top 3 real estate brokerage in America. For the purpose of this article, I won’t name any names.

I got my license, I found a shared apartment in basically Harlem (a whole other story), everything was in place to make this dream a reality.

Upon arriving I was astounded by the office, the people and just in ore of everything. Views of Central Park, views of downtown, views of everything you could imagine.

Reality

I started with so much energy and passion. My supervisors had to tell me to go home each day and they wouldn’t give me a key because I was coming in too early. I was primarily cold calling, trying to meet people, and trying to convert appointments. It wasn’t very well structured.

I loved sales and loved every aspect of it but I wasn’t learning anything.

So I reached out to everyone I could. I emailed my high school, cold introduced myself to everyone who would listen and eventually met a fellow Aussie.

When you knock hard enough the door will fall

I met with this Aussie for coffee at an extremely expensive hotel. $35 later and a disgusting coffee, I had the contact info for another Aussie.

After getting on the wrong train 3 times, getting off and on the wrong stop several more, running 15 blocks in a suit through Brooklyn, I finally met up with this Aussie.

We had a great conversation, every Aussie in the states conversation starts with some light Australian humor (shitting on Americans). Then it turned to business, without asking for anything my new mate, called his girlfriend who worked for a newer real estate firm in New York. She came down 20 minutes later, introduced herself and we began chatting.

Next thing you know I have a chance to interview with a team of real estate agents who are consistently in the top 20 in New York.

This was a dream come true.

New opportunity

So on the Friday following meeting my new associates, I walked into the office quit my job, deregistered my license with them and left.

The next Monday I started at a new company. The first minute of the job, not even knowing where the hell I would be sitting, I was in a meeting somewhere in Brooklyn with two developers who were holding on to a $60 million condo development, that we had to market.

I arrived probably two hours early, naturally.

This was the dream come true, working with the best in the best city in the world. My passion and dreams finally came true. End of story right?

What really happened

Stress, burnout, no money, more stress, pressure, and complete lack of sleep.

I was working 6 days a week, close to 12–14 hours a day. Which meant I was earning close to $4 an hour. So I could barely afford to eat or do anything else. I woke up every morning at 5 went to a gym that is still trying to get me to pay to this day, showered went to work by 7.

I don’t know if any of you have been in the Real Estate industry. But it’s common that Real Estate people don’t really start work before 9. So I couldn’t get into the office because it was locked, I made friends with the front desk person, made friends with a cleaner and eventually every day they’d let me in.

What was great is that the company had snacks and food. So instead of spending my little money on food, I would put together a few of the snacks and eat that for breakfast. I was pretty embarrassed. There were bank statements left in the printer, that showed people with $800,000 sitting in there checking. Then here I was combining three small yogurt packets with old honey to eat for breakfast.

I pushed on. I actually loved every part of that whole equation. It made me hungrier, more determined and better than everyone else. Which may have led to my downfall.

Because I wanted to be the best, I followed up with every single person I could. I stepped on a few toes and even got abused by a few older agents. I laughed it off and continued to strive for the top.

The Heart knows best

I loved Real Estate so much because I got to work with people who wanted to find their dream home. And honestly, I was one of the best at it. With little knowledge about New York, I made a book of every single neighborhood. In this book I included, what celebrities live there, how the area is performing, what are the trends, the prices, and my favorite buildings.

I got to the point where there was no listing in Manhattan that I didn’t see on Street Easy (Basically Zillow). I was so in tuned that I would correct speakers on prices when I knew they were wrong.

All this information was useless unless I could work with people. So I started to meet people, but because I was a young agent intern, I was cut off at a certain point. Then the big wigs would take over. I already knew this, so I had no problem with it.

What I didn’t know is that people actually don’t matter in real estate. The worth of a person is determined by how big they can make that 3% commission.

I started to hear people laugh at their clients, or even abuse them, just so they could show power. Sometimes I wanted to say something to them, but that’s a big no-no.

I started to loose spark. I started to miss breakfast and walk into the office when everyone else was. It became so bad that sometimes I wouldn’t even show up. I loved what I did, but it was killing me and hurting me.

I couldn’t bare to see people not get what they want because agents just want a commission. I even got in trouble because I led a client to a place which was better suited, but wouldn’t make us money. I actually did that a few times, I even gave some clients to one of our competitors because they could actually serve them. It was a nightmare.

Was I naïve?

Am I a dreamer, an optimist or even plain stupid?

All I ever wanted to do was be involved with beautiful homes and showcase them to peole who wanted to live in them. I loved houses, apartments, condos any form of real estate. I just wanted to help people get into their dream place.

My passion started to hurt.

The Breakup

I’d love to say I overcame this and became the best Real Estate person in America, that sticks with their integrity. But well you already know I didn’t.

Instead, I fell right off. I hated everything, I started going out three maybe four times a week. I moved back to school and just didn’t care.

I really lost it. I was supposed to graduate in December, I did, but decided instead of going and chasing my dream I would come back and get my MBA. I didn’t really care what I did. Just as long as I could keep numbing the pain.

I honestly hit pretty much rock bottom. I had no passion, no career, nothing planned, and a broken dream.

Real Estate was my life, it was my passion, my true love. But it broke me, it killed me.

People may say this is crazy to put so much love into something that doesn’t love you back. But that’s what passion is. I am happy that I can say that I had this experience because it shapes me today.

So what did I do next

I started searching, I slowly started to find things to like. I searched myself and searched why this all happened. It’s funny I never considered what I really loved. That was people and serving them.

I found myself little by little every day. I started to do things that were me, started to become me again.

I realized

“There is more than just one vehicle for your passion”

My passion is rooted in being the best and helping people, not just real estate. My passion is sales, marketing, helping and serving.

My passion is now 10x what it used to be. I have been so entrenched in it that I forgot I even had this story.

Conclusion

Passions can change, but your why should be consistent. My why is: I want to reach life’s fullest potential, serve as many people as I can, grow as a human and live life passionately. This translate into my passion for marketing and sales.

If your passion hurts you, its ok. You can get back, passion isn’t everything, you can find something else and still become great!