11
F R OM T H E F O U N D E R
You are in control of your business, and its success depends on your ability to keep a level head and keep making things happen. What goes up can stay up – if you do!
L et’s face it. There are a number of signs out there that this raging economy is going to slow down some. How much and exactly when, nobody knows. But that doesn’t mean you need to operate your business as if you are scared. That – being scared – isn’t going to do anything to help you be a better leader of the other people in your firm. In fact, it could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Mark Zweig
I will admit that when COVID-19 first started, I was definitely scared. It made me want to unload our rental real estate portfolio as fast as possible. We sold about $18 million worth of heavily-leveraged real estate in the 18-24 months that followed. If we would have kept all of our properties another six to 12 months, we would have made several million dollars more than we did. But I panicked, and it undoubtedly cost us dearly. Your job is to keep your business growing and profitable no matter what. And you can do that as long as you keep your head on straight. What is happening with the external environment, or with other firms in this business, does not have to happen to YOUR business. You are in control of your business, and its success depends on your ability to keep a level head and keep making things happen.
Here are my suggestions for how you can do that. Whether or not these tactics will work for you, I can’t say. But they do help me: 1. Go on a news and social media diet. Too much of it and you will find you have a negative attitude. News media outlets focus on bad news. It’s what keeps people glued to them. That sells more ads. So recognize that is what they are trying to do – to get you upset. Find one or two sources you like – my preference is for certain newspapers or online news providers (from what are or what used to be newspapers) – and stick with them for a limited amount of time each day. 2. Watch your associations. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances, and most of them are very
See MARK ZWEIG, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER MAY 9, 2022, ISSUE 1440
Made with FlippingBook Annual report