From Stress To Success

Flipping the script on a tough year

Insider

Contributing Writer

So, the year didn’t exactly go how you wanted. Rest assured, nearly everyone is feeling that way.

Mortgage rates are still higher than projected, inventory is still a challenge, the gap in affordability is widening, and borrowers are still waiting for some sort of relief from these difficult conditions. At this point, it’s easy to lose hope, but it’s important to remember that despite the challenges of this year, you surely had successes too.

Take a moment to look in the rearview mirror and see where you’ve come from and how you’ve succeeded — you’ve likely accomplished more than you think. Taking this inventory is an important step in managing the stress this year has caused.

Let’s dig deeper into why this year has been stressful and examine tactics for managing stress and how to set yourself up for a more successful 2025.

Stressful Times for Everyone

It’s stressful for everyone right now, no matter what industry you’re in. However, salespeople have been hit particularly hard. In a survey of sales professionals across industries, 67% of sales reps reported that they don’t expect to meet their quota this year, and 53% of sales professionals say it’s harder to sell than a year ago.

It’s a stressful time for borrowers too, especially with less-than-optimal conditions for one of the most important financial decisions you can make in your lifetime. Borrowers want to make sure they are getting good rates and good prices so that their home is a sustainable investment. If your borrower is cranky on the phone, don’t take it personally. They’ve been tasked with making an important life decision in an incredibly challenging market.

Lenders are feeling the pain of the market as well. With less loan volume, margins get smaller and smaller and everyone has to do more with less.

How Do You Manage Stress and Adversity?

So how do you effectively manage stress during a time like this? There are a lot of factors outside your control — the state of the market, the results of the election, and the busy-ness that comes with the holidays, to name a few.

Regardless of the stressors you may be experiencing, it’s important not to let them take a toll on your mental health. It can be easy to let the negativity in the news and even in your own office get to you. The silver lining is, no matter how the business looks right now, it will not be that way forever. One thing you can always count on is the consistency of change in the mortgage industry. So, what can you do?

Change your mindset. Instead of looking at what’s going wrong, spend your time examining what is going right.

To remedy the stress and uncertainty of whatever situation you find yourself in, it’s good to start by focusing on the positive, including what you have accomplished. How many transactions did you complete this year? What type of transactions did you make? Do you have any repeat borrowers or any new borrowers? Did you establish any new relationships? When you start to take inventory, you will likely find that you did more business or made more progress toward your goals than you think you did.

Regardless of how it feels, it won’t always be like this. The mortgage industry is resilient, and it always bounces back. In the meantime, take advantage of the slower times to focus on improving your knowledge of the industry. What is something you’ve always wanted to learn more about, but haven’t had the time to? Now is your chance to take the time to learn and grow.

Look into new ways to expand your reach. What is a new loan product that is gaining popularity or what is a new segment of borrowers you could work on gaining traction with?

You can also take this time to educate potential buyers on the benefits of owning a home when it comes to building wealth. While many borrowers you talk to may not be ready in this current market, you have a prime opportunity to build relationships and prep them for whenever the market decides to take a more favorable turn.

Getting Ready for the Year Ahead

As the new year is on the horizon, get started as soon as possible to stay ahead of this consistently changing industry. As Marcus Aurelius said, “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” So, no matter what 2025 throws at you, approach it with a new mindset. Being able to effectively manage stress is a skill you not only need in the difficult time, but in the good times, too. There will always be stressors, but how you respond to them makes all the difference for you and for your business.