Marketing, Real Estate, and the Importance of Keeping Your Options Open with Melanie Ginsburg

Melanie is a digital marketer turned Realtor who has landed in Austin, TX after years living as a nomad and traveling around the world.

She runs a global real estate team, and works hard in and out of her real estate business to help as many people live happy, healthy and meaningful lives.

In this interview all kinds of areas related to how you navigate career choices — especially how Melanie has found so much success simply by keeping her options open.

Listen in here:

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What Melanie does
• Why you don’t have to pursue dreams early in your life in order to achieve them
• How important it is to keep your options open
• Her secret to finding success
• Her journey from zero to leading a group of real estate agents
• How she made her transition into marketing and then to real estate
• How to decide between one career or multiple careers to sustain financial stability
• How Melanie helps new real estate agents
• What is the demographic of the people she is working with
• How to do real estate in other countries
• Why it’s helpful to reach out to mentors who’ve gone through the same challenges as you’re facing
• How to handle resistance from families and loved ones
• How to find mentors
• How to find your purpose
• Why you should not be too hard on yourself
• How to set a goal
• Importance of journaling

Resources Mentioned:

Melanie’s Instagram

Melanie’s Youtube

Software Generated Transcription:

Dan

Melanie, thank you so much for joining me. Welcome to the Meaning Movement podcast. I’m so happy to have you here with me.

Melanie

I’m so happy to be here. Thank you so much Dan.

Dan

So question I always begin with is, how do you begin to talk about what you do in the world?

Melanie

That is a great question. I professionally. I’ll say I’m a real estate agent, real estate coach. I have a huge team of agents, and I help them. But what do you do in the world is a different question. So I say I like to just bring out the best in people. I think that’s one of my superpowers, and I think that’s something, unfortunately, that this world kind of lacks is the belief that we’re all individuals, and we all have unique things that we bring to the table.

Melanie

So I love finding that in people and helping them find that in themselves.

Dan

I love that. I love that. Have you always been in real estate? Was that your goal when you were just a wee little laugh about thinking about what you want to do when you grow up?

Melanie

Actually, not at all. I feel like that question. What do you want to be when you grew up? Always felt so heavy to me. And I was a kid that had no idea what I wanted to do. And I changed my mind about a million times. Yes, ended up kind of by accident, starting my own marketing agency. And I did that for about five years, and it was great. And then I never even considered real estate. But when I started dating my now fiance, he was big into real estate, and he kind of opened my eyes to the real estate world and all the benefits of it.

Melanie

So I transitioned into that about a year ago, and I think it’s unique because it came as a total surprise. So I really want to emphasize that you don’t need to have that dream from a wee ladder last know?

Dan

Yes.

Melanie

Keeping your eyes open to possibilities like you never know when there will be a new opportunity that will totally change your life.

Dan

I love that. I love that. How would you answer that question now? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Melanie

Impactful, I think, is what I want to be when I grow up. I have really big dreams about helping a lot of people and making the world a better place. As cliche as that sounds. But I think it’s got to start somewhere. So why not with me?

Dan

Yeah, I love. I love it. Well, definitely resonate with your story there of not knowing which way to go and trying a million things. I think you’re definitely in good company with myself as well as many of our listeners. And I think just your perspective of keeping options open because you don’t know what is around the bend is a really important value. I guess as we navigate these transitional career spaces. Sounds like you definitely hit the ground running with your real estate career. You said you have a huge team of agents, and yet you’ve only been after it, getting after it for a year.

Dan

Tell me about how is that portion of your journey been? How did you start and what steps did you take as you began?

Melanie

Yeah, definitely. So the company that I work with as a real estate agent has a very unique structure in that it really stresses and emphasizes collaboration over competition. So they have a lot of ways without getting too technical to have agents receive more help. And coming from my marketing background, I quickly saw that most agents that was a big gap in their knowledge, because to get your real estate license, you have to take anywhere from 30 to 200 hours of classes. But that’s all about the laws and contracts and the boring stuff, and they don’t really cover how to market yourself as an agent.

Melanie

And agents are independent contractors. So every agent is responsible for their own clients. And that with my marketing background, I’ve really been able to add a lot of value and help a lot of agents. So I think with any career or work related, I mean, really anything, actually, it’s just about providing value and finding where that need is. And then if you can fill that need, then you can see success pretty fast, relatively, I think.

Dan

Yeah. I I love it. So it sounds like with real estate in particular, there’s just opportunity to kind of form partnerships of sorts where you’re able to get mutual mutual benefit. And that’s how you’ve grown your team.

Melanie

Yeah. Exactly.

Dan

I love it. I love it. Let’s just kind of rewind a little bit. And I would love to take me through some of the steps of some of the transitions you were doing marketing agency for a number of years. What happened before that? How did you get into that? I’d love to just hear some of those transition points along the way.

Melanie

Of course, I went to school for journalism after changing my major like, six times again. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I graduated with a journalism degree, didn’t really want to work at a newspaper or anything like that. So I took it, quote, gap year. And I taught English abroad for a year because I thought it would be a cool experience and kind of helped me learn more about myself and what I was looking for. And I realized when I graduated College, I had a year where I was traveling and all of my friends had started their jobs and just hearing their stories about, you know, what their day to day life was and how tired they were all the time.

Melanie

It just wasn’t something I was super excited to jump into. After I got back to the States so I got invited to an entrepreneurship conference in Thailand, and it was all about people that started their own business without getting any funding. So really starting from scratch. And I got an opportunity to volunteer there. So all I needed to do was cover my ticket. And then I would basically get this free education about how to be an entrepreneur. And it was in Thailand. So it sounded amazing.

Melanie

And my rationale to myself was worst case scenario as I go to this conference and I hate it. And I go back to the States and get a job and take that route. But I’ve had a week in Thailand, and then best case scenario is it opens my eyes and I get clarity and whatever. So it ended up being the ladder. And all week, I was just stared. And every person I met, I couldn’t believe that there was an option to live this life. I think that we’re really taught one path in life, and that’s the go to school, go to College, get a job, get a house, et cetera.

Melanie

And the truth is there’s infinite different ways to do that, to see success and to chase a career and build a career. And all of those things. It was super eye opening for me, meeting all those people that just were really living life on their own terms. And it was really inspirational. And with my writing background, I realized that a lot of people needed help with their marketing. And so I was just going around all week asking people what they needed help with and kind of keeping track.

Melanie

And then I realized that I could just teach myself what they needed help with. And those were my first clients. I turned around. I was like, oh, you need help with email marketing? Sure, I can do that. And then I very quickly taught myself the basics of being the marketing. And, you know, it worked out super well for me. And then as time went on, I just started teaching myself more skills. And my agency expanded to more things and more people. And, yeah, through from there.

Dan

I love it. And so your first clients were the people that you met at that conference. Am I hearing that correctly. That is so cool. And I love that. It feels like again, there in your journey that these opportunities that there’s a theme here. I’m seeing those opportunities that you can’t even imagine present themselves. You wouldn’t have known going you didn’t know going into that conference what the possibilities were. And you met these people, you saw possibilities. And you met people that kind of matched up with those possibilities, which then kind of started you down a whole new path, which is amazing.

Melanie

Definitely yeah.

Dan

They’re just a mindset shift. And if this was a big leap for you, or if it felt more organic of going from have the career. I worked the nine to five I do the usual the typical it sounds like in Thailand, you were exposed to people who were breaking that mold, I guess. And then to say that I want to do that, too. Is that a hard step, a hardship for you, or did it just come naturally?

Melanie

Yeah. It was terrifying. It was so scary, because again, the world I grew up in was there’s one path and you do it. And that’s the key. That’s all you need. And so it took a lot of courage to buy that ticket and board that plane. And even when I said my rationale was, oh, if it doesn’t work out, then I’ll just come back to America and get a job. And that was kind of like my mantra that I repeated to myself because I really thought there was no way.

Melanie

So I was just like, oh, I’ll just come home and then I’ll get a job because it was Super, super scary. But I think once I met people that were doing it, and I saw for myself that it was possible. It was really easy. Once I got to Thailand, there was no chance that I was gonna go home and get a job because I think before I left, it was just this nebulous idea of, like, oh, I’ve heard about entrepreneurship, and you see the stories, maybe on social media, but who knows how true they are and then meeting these people and seeing their day to day life in the conversations that they were having, you can’t unsee that.

Dan

Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like your eyes are just open to a whole new world. They maybe you thought might be there. But I had no idea what it would look like.

Melanie

Exactly. Yeah.

Dan

Stepping into building the skill set, starting your marketing agency. Because how long did you pursue that? And what was that transition out of that, like, was it kind of a hard stop? Is it kind of like you do a little bit of this, a little bit of real estate, or what has that journey been like?

Melanie

So I slowly transitioned out of it and wrap things up with various clients as I was studying to get my real estate license. So that was kind of a good buffer because I took an online class. So I had the flexibility. And then I was able to kind of slow down with my marketing agency. And it wasn’t as hard of a transition emotionally for me because I’m doing a lot of marketing still. And I’m doing a lot of what I did do with my agency. But now I’m doing it with agents instead of the clients that I had to charge money for.

Dan

Interesting. So do you feel like your day to day work? Is it pretty similar, like you’re building whether it be email campaigns or these things that you would do for other external companies, but now you’re doing it for agents that are part of your team. Am I hearing you correct? And that’s a good kind of way to describe it.

Melanie

Definitely. It’s super similar, but I think it’s better because I get to be more like what I experienced in Thailand and that eye opening. I feel like I’m able to give that to a lot of these agents who they got their real estate license and just quit their job and they don’t really know what’s possible. And I’m able to be a coach and a mentor and a marketing strategist and all of the things. And that’s really what I’m teaching about. Like I said at the beginning, I love showing people what’s possible and helping them discover what lies within them and their passions and their skill sets.

Melanie

I’m doing way more of that now than I was with my agent.

Dan

I love that. I love that. I know that in real estate, most real estate agents, when you look at people who have their license, they’re not doing actually that much volume of transactions. And it sounds like what you’re able to do and correct me if I’m wrong here is take someone who has this idea that they want to go and become a real estate agent and then maybe just kind of blow up the ceiling that might otherwise be in place or a wall that would be hard for them to get past to really scale what they’re doing to the next level.

Dan

It sounds like you’re able to them a system and help launch them. Maybe in some ways. Is that correct?

Melanie

Yeah. Absolutely. 100%.

Dan

What is the demographic of the people that you’re working with primarily?

Melanie

 All agents! I’m able to work with agents in all 50 States, in 17 countries. So I have agents on my team that are in India. Even we have men, women right out of high school, some of them because you only need to be 18 to get your license. Some of them, they thought they retired, but they got bored. So now they want to to get their license, like every kind of person, which I also love.

Dan

Wow. Very cool. I didn’t even know it was possible to do real estate in other countries. That’s a whole new thing I’ve never even heard of before. How complicated? How different is the real estate game in different countries? I know there’s different laws, different legal legal things.

Melanie

Great question. Yeah. So there are. And I’m very blessed because the company that I work with, all agents need to have a sponsoring broker. That’s just the legality of it. So the brokerage that I’m with, they have the structures, they do all of the complicated laws and contracts and everything, and they have it set up in all of these countries, and I’m able to step in and do what I do best, which is the coaching and the marketing and all of that stuff. And there are other people.

Melanie

If one of my agents in India has a question about the contract. I don’t actually need to know that because we have a bunch of staff that’s available, so it really helps. I mean, everyone is just really doing what they do best, and we all come together to be a very cohesive of team, which I love.

Dan

I love that. That’s fantastic. And it sounds like a huge asset to be a part of an organization that handles all the complicated legal things for absolutely alongside you. That’s great. I’m curious in your journey, if there are any places where you really felt stuck or uncertain about what your next steps would be. And I think this question is coming from people who are listening to the podcast are looking for some sort of change. Often they don’t know what that change is. They just know that something needs to change.

Dan

They might be like, Well, I need a different job. I need a different career. I just need something different if you have any words of wisdom to people who feel like they’re in that kind of stuck space or even stories from your own journey of how you’ve gotten yourself unstuck.

Melanie

Yeah, that’s a great question. And from my own experience, even when I was in College, I was doing a lot of interviews with people to see what their jobs were like and shadowing them. And there was nothing that really excited me. But I was hunting. I knew there was something out there. It’s like, exactly like you said, Dan, they feel stuck, but they don’t really know why or where to go or how to get unstuck. So I love people. And I’m a firm believer, as you can probably tell from my story that there’s always an answer anything that you’re struggling with.

Melanie

Someone on this planet has probably struggled with the same exact thing and found the answer or found their way out of it. So then it’s just about finding that person. So I think if you’re stuck and you’re not quite sure, start asking around. And what I’ve also noticed is people are more than happy to share their story in my head when I was going through this, and maybe this will resonate with some of your listeners. I was like, who am I to reach out to that person?

Melanie

They don’t have the time to talk to me or they don’t want to talk to me. All of these stories and this fear. And then once I gathered the courage to do it, they’re like, yeah, I’d love to. I would love to sit down and tell you about how I got into what I’m doing or whatever. And I feel that way now, you know, partially with my agents, but with everyone when people are like, hey, I saw you were traveling. I’m just wondering how you did that.

Melanie

I’m like, yes, this is my favorite question because like I said, another theme is like, there is always more than one way. And so when people are like, hey, it seems like you found a different journey, a different path. What was that and what led you there? I am more than happy to share my experience because it has totally changed my life. And there were people that did that for me. And then I think we just pass it on and give back to the next generation.

Dan

I love that so much. And I feel like that’s such a good nugget of wisdom that someone else has solved your problem.

Melanie

Exactly.

Dan

And you just have to find that person and ask them, ask them how they’ve solved it. That’s just huge. And also what you’re saying just about there’s always more than one way, always more than one way forward, which is just a really beautiful thank you. I’m curious in your journey. And maybe whether it’s your journey or maybe as you’re working with agents and inviting them to a similar journey of just imagining a different path forward there’s often when transitions like this are made, it’s like we become different people than we were.

Dan

We choose to go down a path that doesn’t fit the mold that a lot of people have for us mentally in their minds as they think about us as they relate to us, especially when it comes to family, especially when companies, old old College friends or whoever it might be. And I’m curious your thoughts. And again, whether this be from your own journey or as you’re working with agents on a similar trajectory, how do you suggest people deal with that kind of resistance or confusion that might come from people in their lives as they’re changing?

Melanie

Yeah, that is a huge question Dan and I think something. I mean, I definitely experienced it. And still to this day, experience it. And many, if not all of my friends that anyone that veers away from the status quo, I think, is going to experience this, whether it’s professionally or personally or anything. People just everyone likes to think that their way is the best. And if someone challenges that they’re challenging that person’s identity in a sense. So I think the first thing that I want to say to your listeners is it’s okay if it’s hard, because I wish I would have had that warning because I’ve seen people even to this day.

Melanie

They’re like, oh, yeah, you outgrow your friends and it’s great. La la la. You’re leveling up and they aren’t. But I don’t I think that totally misses over the huge emotional piece of that. And when it is your best friends or your close family members, it’s really hard, even when you are sure of yourself. If the people people that love you most in this world are like, hey, are you sure about that or what you’re doing is silly or wrong or whatever they say, it can be really challenging.

Melanie

And again, I think that’s why it’s so important to have mentors. You don’t even need to know them personally, but have people in your life that you can look to that are already doing what you want to do because that will be your anchor. I think that’s how I did it, because a big thing that I tell myself again, even to this is if I wouldn’t want to switch places with them, I won’t take advice from them. So it’s like if someone is single or unhappy in their relationship and they’re trying to give me a relationship advice, it’s not the same as taking relationship advice from an elderly couple that’s been happily married for 40 years.

Melanie

Yes, but that can be really hard when that advice is coming from someone that you know is well intentioned. Really just I’ve learned that not all advice is the same. And I’ve had to learn to check that when it comes in to say, okay, have they built a business that I’m trying to build? Or have they built a relationship that I’m trying to build? Or have they built a health routine that I’m trying to build? And if the answer is no, then I don’t want to listen to that.

Dan

I love that. I think that’s such a good template. Have they built a blank that I’m trying to build and to say, I think this is how it’s gone in my own life. My own entrepreneurial journey is that you still can be burned with people who don’t get what you’re up to all the way. It’s just they’re not the people that you go to when you have a problem. Or maybe they’re not the people that maybe you talk about other aspects of your life. You talk about your family, you talk about you relationship, you don’t talk about your business, you don’t talk about your career as much just because it doesn’t find resonance, sometimes even creates pushback.

Dan

But I think that that framework you just offered have they built a blank that I’m trying to build? And if not, then talk about other things related in other ways. I think is really, really helpful framework?

Melanie

Yeah. Thank you.

Dan

You mentioned mentors, and you said even if you don’t know them personally, which I think is a really great way to think about mentors. And I want to just get your thoughts on how do you find mentors who are your mentors and whether or not you don’t need to give me names? I just like, how do you think about mentorship, I think, is really the question I want to hear you talk about.

Melanie

Yeah, that’s a great question. I grew up as a total book worm. So even like, I joke that my best friends in middle school words Harry Potter and and run because I probably spent more time with them than any real human. And I think that’s really where I developed this idea that they don’t you don’t need to know them personally to have a relationship with them. And that sounds weird when you think about that. But it’s like then when I transferred that over into the non fiction books and world, I was reading books like Brene Brown is someone that I’ve read all of her books.

Melanie

And you see the common theme. And you feel like you kind of get to know them because most people have their core beliefs and their core teachings. And if you consume enough of their content, you kind of get a sense of, you know, you can kind of answer the question for them almost on their behalf because it feels like you know them. And so for me, and I think this all ties together, too. It’s like finding an example. Like the opposite of that template is finding someone who does have a business that I admire, who does have a lifestyle that I admire, who does have a relationship that I admire, whatever that is, and then seeking those people out.

Melanie

And then it’s just about trying to find everything that they’ve ever published or released so that you can learn from them as much as possible.

Dan

I love that it’s such a helpful way to think about mentorship, because often the way mentors are talked about kind of like this older best friend forever who’s successful in everything that they’ve ever done. And you just want to be exactly like them in every way. It’s really unhelpful narrative because those people one rarely exist like a person that you actually would want to emulate all aspects of their life. Right. And then to like, even if there is someone who has a degree of success in a way that you want to emulate, to actually be in a place where you can have a relationship, a two way relationship with that, it’s very rare.

Dan

It’s really hard to find those people. And I think what you’re saying is just really resonates with me. That mentorship doesn’t have to be a giving coffee once a month or whatever. Exactly. There’s books, there’s podcasts, there’s a million ways to look learn from someone, even if they don’t know you exist. That can also be a way to be mentored, which is just a really helpful framework. So again, thank you for that. I hope that I take that to heart to follow that who is building the blank that you’re trying to build, and then how can you learn from them?

Dan

I think, is a good template to follow. Thank you as well.

Melanie

It’s worked out pretty well for me that far.

Dan

Yeah, I love. I love it. How do you think about words like purpose, meaning, fulfillment, calling? Even when it comes to work, any of those words that are in your vernacular, you choose the ones that fit.

Melanie

This is a really great question. All of your questions have been great for me ever since I can remember. I wanted to make a difference in the world and live all those words, my calling, my purpose, everything. And I think I mentioned it felt like a really big assignment, and I would meditate and Journal and do all these things to try to figure it out. And for a lot of my life, I felt like I wasn’t living up to my full potential and doing all the right things.

Melanie

And now I do feel like I’m totally in the right place at the right time, doing everything. But it’s so important, or it was so important for me to do all of those things that led me here. And I think I probably wasted a lot of time beating myself up while I was running my marketing agency. I was good at it. I was helping a lot of people. I was living a good lifestyle, but I still was really hard on myself. Like, is this what I was meant to do?

Melanie

Like, is this the best thing I should be doing with my time? And it was at the time because it taught me all of those marketing skills that I now use to help myself and to help my agents and to do. Like I said, what I now is fully in line with my purpose. And it’s very possible that that will change in five or ten years from now. And I’ll be doing something else. And I’ll say I am so grateful that I had those years doing the real estate stuff.

Melanie

So if I could go back and talk to younger Melanie, I would say, hey, you’re doing your best and you’re building so many skills right now, and it’s okay if you’re not living your purpose or whatever in this moment, because I think it’s too zoomed in. Yeah. We have a whole life to live and a whole life to make a difference and to help people. And when you’re 21 years old, or even if you’re 40 years old, you hear stories all the time about 70 years old, 70 year olds that discover their passion for the first time at 70.

Melanie

And I think it’s never too late and everything will lead you to the place you’re supposed to go.

Dan

I love that. That is so good a listener. Listeners are struggling with those questions and feel like that, am I doing this? Or maybe I’m not like that fear. Am I wasting my potential wasting my time? I think everyone needs to just rewind and re listen to that. I’m curious. That question of is this what I was meant to do because you were going through that process. Where did that question come from? What was driving that question?

Melanie

That’s a good question.

Dan

Yeah. Maybe it’s a tough question, but yeah, I’m curious if there’s any stories related to that or people or cultures. I don’t know, institutions.

Melanie

Yeah. Interestingly enough, I think it does come back to my view of mentorship and all of these people that I was listening to and watching and reading. A lot of them were talking about living in their purpose. And so since I admired them in so many ways. I thought that that’s what I needed to do as well. And I think it’s the same for anything. Everyone has their own timeline. And some people might find their dream business at 20 or they drop out of high school to build it.

Melanie

And now it’s Facebook or whatever the story is. But some people, they try a couple of things and then everything brings you closer. That’s what it keeps coming back to is you don’t need to have anything figured out. I don’t think there is any such thing as quote, figuring it all out. Just keep trying and pursuing it.

Dan

Yeah. I think as you put it in your story, it’s like you didn’t know if you’re doing it right at the time. Maybe my words not yours, but in hindsight, it all is adding up. It’s what has brought you here. I think that’s really beautiful and really great. Really great way to retell your story. I think.

Melanie

Thank you.

Dan

Yeah. I’ve heard Seth Godin talk about a similar question to this. And I’m going back to you as the big question. The weight of is this my purpose? It is my calling. And it was in the Q and A. Someone asked him, there’s so many big problems in the world. How do I choose just one? And what he said is that you have to start by forgiving yourself, forgive yourself for not doing the perfect thing in order to free yourself to do the good thing. And I just thought that’s just such a such a helpful way to think about these kinds of words, like purpose and meaning calling, because you’re probably never going to do the perfect thing.

Dan

But you can do good things and those good things. Then we’ll ultimately could add up to be the perfect thing. Absolutely.

Melanie

In your story is even if it isn’t the perfect thing, isn’t it enough to do a lot of good things? You know, I think again, it’s like like I hold myself to an extremely high standard, and sometimes I should be easier on myself for sure. And I think a lot of ambitious and highly successful people want to be doing that perfect thing all the time. And I think it’s totally okay to just be doing the good thing good. It’s still really good.

Dan

God is still really good. And there might not be a perfect exactly if there is. Do we even have the eyes to see it right?

Melanie

And who gets to decide that anyway?

Dan

Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. I wanted to ask is kind of related to that when you think about where you’re going and maybe I’m about to ask you to do exactly the opposite of what we’re talking about. But knowing that there isn’t a perfect thing, a perfect problem to solve in the world or whatever it might be, I’m curious how you would articulate whether you want to call it, you’re calling your purpose, your mission. Do you have a sense of a statement or a phrase or a mantra that you come back to.

Melanie

Yes and no. I think as my journey has evolved, this has evolved to and recently, I actually, this has been a big mindset shift for me because I used to as someone that holds myself to high standards. I wanted to set goals that I could easily achieve because I felt like if I didn’t, then I wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t good enough. And recently, in the last year or so, I’ve been switching that to I’d rather set a bigger goal and give myself the Grace of not even expecting myself to achieve it.

Melanie

But if I get close, the difference between I want to help 100 people, and then I know I can do that. Or I want to help a billion people, and then I’m striving for it every day. But I understand it. Maybe it won’t happen. But along the way, I’m sure going to help weigh more than 100 people because I’m at least going for it.

Dan

Yeah. I love that the aspirational goals that give you the momentum, and that the momentum, though it might be messy, though it might not result in a box you can check is going to have a bigger impact on the world.

Melanie

Exactly.

Dan

I love that because maybe related to that. If you had one message for the world, if I could put a Billboard on the moon that everyone could see every night before they go to bed, what would be your message?

Melanie

That’s a good question. I think. Well, kind of two things related to what I just said. One would be definitely like, there’s no dream too big and your dreams are possible because so much and this relates to everything that I’ve said is my whole upbringing. I was like, okay, I’m going to go to high school, College, get a job. That’s it. You know, you fit into this box, and no one ever really encouraged me to think outside of that box. And once I did, I was like, Holy cow, there is so much more out here, and they’re so I was holding myself back.

Melanie

No one else is holding myself back. But I was and it’s the same thing. You know what I just said? If you say I want to help 100 people, then you’ll probably do that. And that’s amazing. But what if you set the goal a little bit higher and then you’re able to help so many more or whatever your goal is. I want to build ten schools versus I want to build 100 schools. I want to write one book versus I want to write ten books. So I think really just inspiring people to dream bigger.

Melanie

And along with that, the second message is every dream is achievable, because I also think that we’re not really taught to believe in ourselves. And then that’s why we hold the back. But if people just really saw that they can achieve what they think of. Then they would go after it and they would prove themselves right.

Dan

Wow. I love that. I feel like I just need to, like, let that soak in for a minute. Can you just remind that? Say that again? Like, every dream is achievable, but we don’t believe in ourselves. But if we actually pursued them, we could prove that they are. I said it’s so much better.

Melanie

I don’t know if I could say it again, but basically giving yourself permission to dream big. And then once you have that dream, once you have that even seed of saying, okay, I believe that I can write ten books, and then you can prove yourself right. So daring to dream big, and then you’ll see that it’s possible.

Dan

I love that. That is so good.

Melanie

Thank you.

Dan

Like this next level, mindset stuff here is just so challenging for me. Exactly exactly what I need to hear today. So thank you. Thank you for that.

Melanie

Of course, it all starts with mindset. And another thing for me is like, it’s easy to listen to me, say this and be like, oh, well, whatever she has it down. But no, this has been over a dozen years, probably, like in the making. And I’m always still looking towards my mentors and reading and challenging myself. And it’s a journey. And mindset is the root of all of it, because seriously, if you don’t think you can achieve it, you’ll never try it. So just that inkling of like, like, for me, that was what the Thailand conference was.

Melanie

I met hundreds of people that built a business that let them travel the world whenever they wanted. And that was the very first time I ever saw that that was possible. So then I was able to take the first steps to grow that myself. For as before I met those people, I had no idea. So starting a business was terrifying to me because I just was convinced it wouldn’t work.

Dan

For someone who’s like, yes, I need more. I know. I need to work on my mindset. Where do they where do you suggest they start?

Melanie

That is a big question.

Dan

I know, because mindset is it’s so hard to see it and yourself, right. But in this conversation, we can say if you think about this differently, but when you’re in those patterns, you only think the thoughts that you’re thinking is silly. That sounds like you need. So you need this invitation to think differently. And it’s like, you need to try on a different pair of glasses and see what the world looks like through them.

Melanie

Yeah, it’s really hard, because, like you said, obviously, you’re in your own head. So it’s hard to see that in yourself. But I think journaling is one of my favorite tools for everything and journaling about. Okay, so you see someone successful. And then what are the excuses that you’re telling yourself about why you can’t have that, too. There’s going to be a ton. They were born into this. They have supportive parents. They blah, blah, blah, whatever. And then for each of those things that you write down, call yourself to write down, what if it wasn’t like this, like, is there an alternative explanation?

Melanie

And then for me, a huge exercise that I was doing. Once you notice that you have this belief, I would seek out examples of the opposite. So, like, a big one for me, this is not about business, but a big one for me. For a lot of my life was like, relationships always end in pain or whatever. Relationships don’t last, blah, blah, blah. And then because that was my belief that was the glasses that I was wearing, that was the lens that I always show. So I would see someone cheat on their spouse.

Melanie

And I’d be like, See, I told you so this always happens. But then one day I was like, no, I’m just telling this to myself. What if instead I decided that all relationships are beautiful and enhance each other’s lives and all of those good things. And then very intentionally, I would seek out I examples of that. And every time I saw a couple that was in love and that helped each other out and supported each other. And whatever I would say to myself, like, this is an example.

Melanie

And literally, in my head, I would be like, file this in the category of positive relationships, like, in my head, I had a filing cabinet, and I was like, put this in there as proof. And over time, I start looking for this proof, you’ll start seeing more of it. And then that’s how it just becomes an internalized belief, because now I’m like, oh, yeah. Every relationship ship is beautiful. And I’m not harmonious all the time. But relationships can be positive. Yeah, exactly. And then it totally changes the way you see the world because that’s the thing about our brains.

Melanie

They’re cool, and they’re terrible in that they will do whatever you tell them to do. So if you want to prove that entrepreneurship, this is actually the same one. Entrepreneurship doesn’t work. I would find all the examples of people that say, I invested $100,000, I got a loan, and my business failed. And now I’m in debt and blah, blah, blah. There are stories about failed businesses. Of course, there’s stories about anything in life. There’s going to be failures and successes. But if you start challenging yourself to find the proof of whatever new belief you want to adapt, your brain will go to work for that.

Melanie

And it will find that and it will seek it out. And then as it goes on, it gets easier and easier, and you get more examples. And then all of a sudden, it’s just now internalized in you.

Dan

I love that. It’s so good. So good. It’s such a good exercise. Is so practical to just start by journaling it start by noting your resistance, your excuses, and then start chipping away at them to change them, which is just really good and really good stuff. Thank you for that.

Melanie

Of course it works. It’s the coolest thing too. Once you reprogram your brain and then you can look back at who you were five years ago and the lenses you were looking there and then it’s just like Holy Cali. I did this for myself. It’s so cool.

Dan

And you became a person that you couldn’t have even imagined assisting because it wasn’t in your thought process. In your framework, which is less isn’t just so much fun. I feel like I could go on indefinitely with you because all this is just such good stuff. But I just need more of in my own life for listeners who are feeling the same way. Is there anything specific anyway, they can follow along. You think you’d like to invite them to?

Melanie

Yeah, definitely. I post a lot of stuff about mindset on my Instagram, which is @melanie.ginsburg.realtor Instagram. And then I also have a YouTube channel, which is more about marketing, but I do believe mindset, but as of everything, I take that into every single video, you can’t have success without a good mindset on YouTube. I’m Melanie Ginsburg – Real Estate Essentials. I’ve got of videos there about mindset and marketing as well.

Dan

Perfect. I’ll make sure to get those links in the show notes, so everyone just follow along and click on through there and connect with you and those platforms. Thank you so much for joining me. It’s been so fun.

Melanie

Melanie, thank you. This has been so fun. And thank you so much for having me.