Two weeks ago, I wrote about having a rough week. It struck a chord, especially with other salespeople. My inbox lit up with messages from agents who were riding the same wave of burnout, rejection, and “You've got to be kidding me” moments. The most common question?
“How do you bounce back?”
I still remember the very first deal I ever lost. The couple was relocating to New York from California. We saw over 100 apartments. One stood out. I negotiated like hell, got the deal signed, and they sent in their deposit. And then *just like that* the check bounced. And so did they.
Gone. Vanished into thin air.
If you’ve been in this business long enough, you’ve got your own version of this story. You work like crazy. Do everything right. And still, somehow, it all falls apart.
It’s not like getting passed over for a job or ghosted by someone you dated twice. It’s emptier than that. Because it wasn’t supposed to happen. You had the deal. Until you didn’t.
No one really talks about that part of the business. The solitude. The crash after the high. The quiet after the chaos.
But here's the truth: What defines you isn’t what happens to you, it’s how you respond.
Top agents have a few things in common. A little bit of alpha energy. A whole lot of grit. And the resilience to keep going when things get hard. You need just enough ego to believe the next big thing is always just around the corner and just enough humility to keep learning.
Early in my career, my bounce back strategy was simple: Push harder. More calls. More emails. More pavement.
Now? I take my foot off the gas.
I pause. I reset. I figure out what I was supposed to learn. I let the team step in where needed. And I return when I’m ready with more focus, more purpose, and a better attitude.
Because in this business, the bounce back isn’t optional. It’s the whole game.
Let's do this,
Shaun