Wow, did I kick off this week with a wonky start! Headed to a meeting in the city without my phone. Forgot to email my kid’s teacher. Forgot to call my accountant. Neglected to brush my hair or put on makeup. I might as well have strutted into that midtown office with my bathing suit still on.
The first day back can be rough. It is the middle of a transition, the first day after a long weekend, the shift from one season to the next, the ordinary chaos that comes when you are moving from one state to another. The truth is, transitions are rarely tidy. They are liminal spaces, those in-between zones where you are not where you were, and not quite where you are going. And in real estate, transitions are the very ground we walk on.
That is why this week calls for grace, not just for yourself but for your clients too. Even if you feel ready to hit the ground running with the fall market, many of the people you work with are still wrapping their heads around back-to-school routines, new schedules, and the simple shock of shifting gears. Everyone is moving through their own messy middle.
This is the heart of our business—helping people move through the mess without losing their way. Clients are not just buying or selling a home. They are moving through endings and beginnings. They are closing one chapter and trying to picture the next. There will be missed emails, forgotten calls, last-minute panics over chandeliers or school zones. The job is not to make it all neat. It is to hold their hand through the messy middle.
Coaching Corner: Navigating Transitions with Presence
If transitions feel bumpy for you, imagine what they feel like for the people you guide. Psychologists call it “transition shock.” Even when change is chosen, the brain experiences it as a disruption. Cortisol spikes, decision fatigue sets in, and small things feel overwhelming. This is where your presence matters most.
The best agents do not just manage transactions. They manage transitions. They normalize the bumps, remind clients of the bigger picture, and stay steady when emotions run high.
And the same applies to you. When your week starts off sideways, or when the market does, the work is not to fix every detail instantly. It is to remember that these awkward, unfinished moments are part of the process. You do not have to arrive polished. You just have to keep moving with grace.
So if your own “bathing suit in midtown” moment shows up this week, take a breath. Smile. Trust that you are still in motion. The best work we do often happens in the messy middle, and the grace you bring there is what makes all the difference.
