Hard-Won Success Secrets To Advance Your Career

By: Christina Ioannou and Molly Humble

Every great success has a story behind it. We know that no one is born successful and each individual has to forge her own path. Often the path forward is more difficult than we even want to admit, but it’s the lessons learned along the way that shape our success.

Top real estate agent, Molly Humble, is a living example of this. Her mother abandoned her at two years old and she was passed from place to place. She remembers riding around in a semi-truck with her father, hopping from a friend’s house to the other, wondering where her next meal would come from, and longing for the mom she never really knew.

But Molly chose not to let her past be a crutch. She chose not to use her pain as an excuse to play small, but rather as the fuel to power her hard work. I recently asked her to share some of her hard-won success secrets for others. Let’s take a look!

[Related: Where You Start Doesn’t Determine Your Success, But These Three Things Can]

1) Refuse to settle for less than your full potential.

When you’ve experienced a difficult or traumatic past, any amount of success can be amplified in your mind. I’m not saying you shouldn’t celebrate your successes. You should! I am saying that you may be destined for more. And when you refuse to settle for less than your full potential, you take the opportunity to rewrite your happy ending.

As Molly says:

After I received my real estate license in Las Vegas, I could have patted myself on the back and settled for making ends meet. But no. I knew I had the power within me to become a top agent, so I kept going. Once I found Simmons Custom Real Estate Group, I knew I was right where I needed to be.

2) Attention to detail wins the day.

One advantage you gain when you face adversity in your life is a keen attention to detail. Having to build a life for herself from scratch taught Molly that she could build a real estate business from scratch. She regularly surprises other real estate professionals with her sharp eye, which serves as a huge asset for her team. She says:

I often spot trends before other agents because my intuition guides me. I’ve constantly got my finger on the pulse of the luxury home market.

[Related: Six Steps to Create a Story Your Audience Will Really Connect With]

3) Find a way to make your work feel personal.

Another secret to success is understanding your clients or customers on a personal level. While a lot of experts warn against getting too attached to your work, Molly says there are huge advantages to making it feel personal.

For her, each home sale is personal because she asks her clients to share their dreams of building a better life, and she really listens. This gives her several advantages:

• She really goes to bat for her clients.
• She negotiates on their behalf to get them what they need (because she actually knows).
• Her clients know she has their backs.

Because she gets personally invested in doing the best for her clients, her clients often get personally invested in her success:

In the real estate industry, the true gold is in having loyal clients. The reciprocity is like nothing I’ve encountered in my whole life. I’m truly grateful every day.

4) Look at every angle.

When you look at the world, do you see only black and white, good and bad, with no room in between? One secret to success is being open to seeing every angle. This is not something you can learn in the classroom, either. It’s something you have to make up your mind to choose for yourself if you want to make a name for yourself.

When Molly sees a well-loved home that needs some work, she doesn’t dwell on the negatives. She looks at all the qualities that make the home special. Then she figures out how to enhance those qualities. This is exactly what her clients need to sell their homes and this is exactly what you need to rise from the ashes.

5) Believe in yourself.

At the end of the day, we’re all like Molly in some aspect of our lives. Even when you have the very best support system possible, you’ve got to believe in yourself and raise your hand. Says Molly:

This is really the first and only success secret you need.

When you truly believe in yourself, nothing can keep you from your dreams. Indeed, nothing has kept Molly from hers. Hers is a genuine rags-to-riches story! As we move into 2021, what hard-won success secrets will you find the courage to share?

[Related: Past, Present, Future: Three Ways to Honor Your Journey]

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Christina Ioannou is an established professional with experience in advertising, marketing, and arts and design.

Molly Humble is a top Nevada Realtor with Simmons Custom Fit Real Estate Group. The Group’s work has been featured in NBC, FOX, Las Vegas Review-Journal among other publications. Visit this link to find out more.