All
Members
Companies
Blog
Forums
Podcast
Webinars
    User Log in  /  Sign up
  • Forums
    Newest Posts Trending Discussions Followed Forums Real Estate News & Current Events General Landlording & Rental Properties Buying & Selling Real Estate Deal Analysis See All
  • Education

    Read

    BiggerPockets Blog BPInsights: Expert Analysis Coronavirus Content & Resources Guides Glossary Reviews Member Blogs

    Watch

    Webinars Video Library Financial Independence Blueprint Intro to Real Estate: Rentals

    Listen

    BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast BiggerPockets Money Podcast BiggerPockets Business Podcast Real Estate Rookie Podcast Daily Podcast (Audio Blog)

    Topics

    Business Operations Finance Finding Deals Property Management Property Types Strategy
  • Network

    Recommended Vendors

    Real Estate Agents Mortgage Lenders Companies Hard Money Lenders Contractors Investment Companies

    Search

    Members Events Jobs
  • Tools

    Calculators

    Rental Property Fix and Flip BRRRR Rehab Estimator
    Wholesaling Mortgage Payment 70% Rule Airbnb

    Services

    BPInsights: Property Insights Tenant Screening Property Management Lease Agreement Packages

    New Feature

    BPInsights (beta)

    Quickly analyze a property address or ZIP Code to compare your rent in your neighborhood.

    Analyze a property
  • Find Deals
    Real Estate Listings Find Foreclosures External Link Ads, Jobs, and Other
  • Bookstore

    Real Estate Books

    Profit Like The Pros Bidding to Buy See all books

    Featured Book

    BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine book cover
    BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine

    Written by financial journalists and data scientists, get 60+ pages of newsworthy content, expert-driven advice, and data-backed research written in a clear way to help you navigate your tough investment decisions in an ever-changing financial climate! Subscribe today and get the Oct/Nov issue delivered to your door!

    Get the Magazine
  • Pricing
Log In Sign up
User
Quick search links
Podcast Hard Money Lenders Books Washington
BlogArrowPersonal DevelopmentArrowChange: Do You Run from It Or Learn from It?
Personal Development

Change: Do You Run from It Or Learn from It?

Michael Blank
Expertise: Business Management, Commercial Real Estate, Landlording & Rental Properties, Real Estate Deal Analysis & Advice, Mortgages & Creative Financing, Personal Development, Real Estate Investing Basics
126 Articles Written

Recently my family and I vacationed in Hilton Head Island and participated in a guided beach nature walk.

Want more articles like this?

Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inbox

Sign up for free

Something our guide said stood out to me. He said, “This beach looks so much different than it did a month ago because of this storm we had. In fact, every time I come out here, something is different. It never stays the same.”

Isn’t that also true in business? In life?

We know it’s true that change is constant and inevitable. But we resist change, don’t we? We don’t like it at all. It disrupts our lives and makes us uncomfortable. We’d much prefer that things stay the same so that we can be in our comfort zone, where we like to be. Things are pretty good right now, aren’t they?

Or are they? Is it possible that change is actually a catalyst for greatness?

I’ve learned the hard way that ignoring or even resisting change holds us back personally and professionally.

How Resisting Change Can Hold Us Back

Resisting Change Makes Us Complacent

Complacency breads mediocrity and prevents us from growing personally and in business. When we get complacent, we get comfortable. We stop pushing, hustling and learning. We stop striving for excellence, and we start becoming OK with being “OK.”

Being complacent prevents us from becoming the best version of ourselves.

Resisting Change Prevents Us from Proactively Addressing Problems

I owned my pizza restaurants for several years from afar through a manager I had hired to run all of them. The extent of my involvement was a weekly meeting to review the numbers.

Related: One Easy Change of Perspective Could Vastly Improve Your Real Estate Business

One day we bounced a check. And I was like, “What? How can this be?” We always had money in the bank. Suddenly, I realized that our profit margins had dwindled to the point where we started having cash flow problems. We stopped being aggressive with our marketing and relaxed our customer service standards. We weren’t paying attention to the competition that was growing more and more intensive. In fact, the concept had grown stale. To me, it all happened suddenly but in fact it’s been happening for years.

Resisting Change Prevents Me from Taking Advantage of New Opportunities

When we become complacent, we stop looking for new things.

We see a great new opportunity but say to ourselves, “Nah, let’s let someone else run after that. Things are good, no need to kill ourselves.” That attitude is a mistake because it holds us back from developing our full potential.

While I’ve learned some rather hard lessons about resisting change, I also learned that embracing change propels me forward and has developed me personally and professionally. I’ve accepted that change is actually good. But it’s not always pleasant. In fact, it can be rather unpleasant at times and pushes me over the edge of my comfort zone.

But embracing change also keeps things exciting. It lets me learn new things and can improve what I’m already doing.

Conclusion

Sometimes, when things get too quiet, I actually look for things that I can change. I ask myself, “What can I do better?” And sometimes the answer is something that will require a lot of work or forces me to learn new things. Then I resist and say ,”Nah, too much work, things are pretty good right now.”

Then I hear a small voice whisper to me, “Is that attitude going to make you a better person, or will it keep you where you are now?” And if I listen to that voice and push through it, remarkable things happen to me personally and my businesses.

I went through this process with one of my apartment buildings. Things were going OK, but I was not 100% happy with its performance, which of course was directly linked to my property manager. Plus, I was constantly asking him for stuff he said he was going to do but didn't. Then one day I heard the thought, "It's time to fire him," and of course I immediately dismissed it.

I told myself, “He’s doing pretty well. Besides, if I fire him, I’m going to have to interview a whole bunch of new property managers. And who knows if I’ll be any better off? Better to not rock the boat.” But over the next few weeks, that discontent continued to grow and I finally decided to replace him.

And yes, it was a lot of work, and the transition was not smooth since many of the tenants decided to test the new management company by not paying their rent. But WOW, the result has been amazing. Not only did the bottom line improve substantially, but I no longer had to micromanage the manager.

Related: Are You Ready to Change Your Life?

Oftentimes, doing the right thing is hard. Embracing change is one of those right things. Is it hard to do? Yup. But is it worthwhile? You betcha!

What change do you feel you need to make right now? What changes in the past have forced you to grow and learn more about yourself?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

By Michael Blank
Michael Blank is a leading authority on apartment building investing in the United States. He’s passionate about helping others become financially free in 3-5 years by investing in apartment building deals with a special focus on raising money. Through his investment company, he controls over $30MM in performing multifamily assets all over the United States and has raised over $8MM. In addition to his own investing activities, he’s helped students purchase over 2,000 units valued at over $87MM. He’s the author of the best-selling book Financial Freedom With Real Estate Investing and the host of the popular Apartment Building Investing podcast Apartment Building Investing podcast.
Read more
5 Replies
    JerryW.
    Replied over 6 years ago
    Michael thanks for taking the time to write this article. Change seems to get harder to accept as you get older. I always wanted change when I was young. I will think on this today!
    Michael Blank Rental Property Investor from Northern Virginia, VA
    Replied over 6 years ago
    Jerry … you’re so right. Why is that? All’s I know is that it’s one of those lifetime skills that you need to continue honing …

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
    Ryan Billingsley
    Replied over 6 years ago
    I embrace change and would rather try to create change than to be forced to change. Thanks for writing this article because it reminded me of the changes that I want to make in my life that will help me get to where I want to be!

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
    La Nae Duchesneau
    Replied over 6 years ago
    I am thinking about a change, but I am not positive what it is. Life is going good. I am making money on my rentals and do it full time. I have a mix of single family houses and mobiles. Sometimes I think I should sell one of my houses and buy more mobiles. Each house profits me $300 a month, where if I sold one house, I could buy 4 mobiles and make $1200 a month on that same investment. But change is scary. I don’t mind the work. I have fear of all my eggs in one basket. What happens if we have a hurricane and it wipes all my mobiles away. (I live in Florida). Maybe I should buy a mobile home park. All just thoughts in my head, but I have been thinking about this for the last 6 months and have done nothing….. yet.
    Michael Blank Rental Property Investor from Northern Virginia, VA
    Replied over 6 years ago
    La Nae … self-awareness is the first step to change. Thanks for your honesty ….

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
Rotate Log in or sign up to comment

Related Blog Posts

Personal Development Jan 06, 2021

Why Some People Will Never Succeed (& Others Always Will)

By Steve Rozenberg

It’s a common error, but one that’s easy to correct. Look forward, rather than back, to set yourself up for success in business and in life.

Read more →

Personal Development Dec 18, 2020

Analysis Paralysis Is Costing You More Than You Think

By Marcus Maloney

Did you achieve everything you wanted to this year? If not, this one significant factor faced by newbies and pros alike may be to blame.

Read more →

Personal Development Dec 11, 2020

The No. 1 Thing You Can Do To Improve Everything in Your Life (Bonus: It’s Ridiculously Easy!)

By Andrew Syrios

The one thing we can all do to improve our skills is the one thing we seem to almost intentionally deprive ourselves of.

Read more →

Personal Development Dec 07, 2020

12 Gifts for Real Estate Investors (That Don’t Suck)

By G. Brian Davis

Ditch boring gift ideas, and try something a little more personalized this holiday season—something befitting the real estate investor you’re shopping for.

Read more →
Log in Sign up

Log in

Forgot password?

If you signed up for BiggerPockets via Facebook, you can log in with just one click!

Log in with Facebook

Or
btn_google_dark_normal_ios Created with Sketch. Continue with Google

Let's get started

We just need a few details to get you set up and ready to go!

Use your real name

Use at least 8 characters. Using a phrase of random words (like: paper Dog team blue) is secure and easy to remember.

By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.

Or
btn_google_dark_normal_ios Created with Sketch. Continue with Google

Why create an account?

Receive a free digital download of The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing.

Connect with 1,000,000+ real estate investors!

Find local real estate meetups and events in your area.

Start analyzing real estate properties, we do the math for you.

It's free!

Explore

  • Membership
  • Community
  • Education
  • Marketplace
  • Tools
  • FilePlace
  • REI Resources
  • Perks
  • Glossary
  • Reviews
  • iOS App
  • Android App

Company

  • About Us
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Careers
  • Stats
  • Contact Us

Important

  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Terms of Use
  • Rules
  • Privacy
  • FAQ

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
© 2004-2021 BiggerPockets, LLC. All Rights Reserved.