There are a few things that make me feel old these days. Helping my kids with their math homework is one. Apparently, long division now requires a flowchart and a working knowledge of origami. Retraining a lifetime of linguistic habits to get they/them pronouns right is another. And then there’s social media, where I can spend an hour making a Reel that gets 14 views while a stranger eating a sandwich gets two million.

I’m not opposed to change. (I do have questions about the math.) But it’s unsettling to find out that something you’ve always known, and in some cases gotten pretty good at, doesn’t work quite the way it used to.

Now imagine that feeling when the stakes are higher. Nobody’s livelihood depends on long division. Yours depends on something you’ve spent years mastering.

That’s the frustration I keep hearing from many of the real estate agents I coach. They’re staying in touch with clients, following up on leads, and showing up consistently, just as they always have. Only now the same effort doesn’t produce the same results, and it’s hard not to wonder whether you’ve lost your touch.

But what if you’re not the problem and the rules have simply changed?

This is a tough market. Mortgage rates are still high, inventory is tight in a lot of places, and buyers and sellers are both wrestling with economic uncertainty. Add geopolitical chaos, anxiety about what AI means for our jobs, and a general reluctance to make big decisions, and it’s no wonder people are sitting on their hands. Those are real headwinds, and no amount of positive thinking or clever Instagram content is going to make them disappear.

So yes, sometimes it really is the market. You can be a terrific agent, do everything you were taught to do, and still work twice as hard for half the momentum. That’s frustrating, especially when you’re used to being good at what you do.

You don’t have to surrender to it, though. I think it helps to separate the fundamentals of your business from the methods you’ve used to practice them. Relationships, follow-up, and being knowledgeable and useful to your clients aren’t going out of style. How you earn attention and turn conversations into business might need to change.

Experience is valuable, but it can make us reluctant to question the approaches that made us successful. We know they worked because we have the results to prove it. What we don’t always know is whether they’re still the best way forward.

That’s a more useful question than “Is it me or is it the market?”

What’s changed, what’s still working, and what am I willing to do differently?

The hard part is figuring out what actually needs to change.

When business slows down, I often see agents respond by doing more. More calls, more content, more networking events, another lead generation platform. They’re throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, mistaking activity for strategy. And because they’re working harder than ever, it’s difficult to notice they may not be getting anywhere.

Others hunker down and wait. They tell themselves things will pick up when rates fall or buyers get their confidence back. Maybe they will. But waiting isn’t much of a business strategy either.

Neither approach starts with the question that matters, which is what problem you’re actually trying to solve. Before you add another tactic or drop one that’s been working, you have to understand what’s changed, what hasn’t, and where the opportunities might be hiding.

The agents who do best in a tough market aren’t always the ones working the hardest or making the biggest changes. They’re willing to take an honest look at their business and ask better questions. Are my relationships as strong as I think they are? Am I reaching the right people, or just the people I’ve always reached? Am I giving a good strategy enough time, or hanging on to an old one because it’s familiar?

Those aren’t comfortable questions, but they’re a lot more useful than wondering whether you’ve lost your touch.

Maybe that’s the opportunity in a tough market. When business is booming, it’s easy to confuse momentum with mastery. A harder environment makes us look more closely at what’s actually driving our results.

You can keep what still works. Just be willing to question the rest, and why.

The answer to “Is it me or is it the market?” is usually some of each. Figuring out which parts are which is the work.