Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Everybody in this industry, especially when they first start, they say they're passionate about real estate. They love looking at homes. They grew up looking at TV shows. every time when I hear this, it's also the same agents that go four, six months without closing a deal. Passion is cool, but it's not really what's going to get you moving forward in the business. obsession So today we're going to talk a little bit about the differences between the two. And like always, have Sharif today on the podcast. Good morning, Sharif. How you doing?

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Morning, Peter.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Good morning. Good morning. dive right into it, Sharif. So before we even talk about the differences, I kind want to see how your day goes on day to day basis. I I know for fact that me and you are obsessed about this business, So what does obsession really looks like and what does passion look like to you?

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: I think passion is more emotional, right? you said before, it's the excitement you feel when you're really interested in something or you feel like things are going well. But obsession is true. That's what we have, right? ⁓ it's really a commitment to something, right? Something you're passionate about that you're committed about as well. And what keeps you showing up when things get boring, difficult, and frustrating. And trust me, I can vouch for that for sure. know, passion sparks the interest, but that sustains the effort, right? And the takeaway here is that passion starts the fire, but obsession keeps it burning, right? So that's really what ⁓ the whole are between being passionate and being obsessive about something.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Totally agree. And I think just to add to that, think passion just, and you said it, it's very emotional, right? So when somebody is emotional about something, they will only react to it when it gives them good feedback. I believe that at least that's what I believe, right? So they will only love real estate in this example if real estate loves them back. If a happens that actually ends up a smooth closing. But if a client is fresh, is frustrating or is a difficult client, and there's a lot of back and forth. At that point, they typically say, ⁓ I hate this business. that's not going to get you going very far. With people that are obsessed, they obsess about every little detail. They obsess about how can we make this better next time? How can we make sure that this process is a lot smoother for everybody else on the team? And almost something that you think about 24-7. When you're obsessed about something, that's really something that goes on your goes in your mind. You're thinking about it all the time, not just when you feel like thinking about it and when you're feeling good. I think that's the biggest difference here too. And, and that's how most people win, right? Like if we're talking about professional athletes, right? They don't only go train or love the game when they win the game, right? They are obsessed about training. They wake up earlier than anybody and keep dribbling no matter how good they are and how many awards they won, they're still practicing. want to improve even if it's just a very tiny percentage, but they're obsessed about winning. They're obsessed about getting better every single day. And in this business, you have to do the same, right? So go ahead.

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Yeah, it's definitely something that you have to like, you know, differentiate the two, right? Passion is temporary, right? Obsession. Now that's consistent. That's something that you'll do day in and day out. And many people feel that, you know, when you're passionate about something, that you are actually consistent with it, but that's not the case, right? People are usually passionate about new projects, new business ideas, new opportunities. but you're exactly what you just said. When the challenges show up, that passion fades, right? You gotta be obsessed about it in order to keep it going, right? Because obsession, it doesn't really rely on the excitement, right? It definitely relies on discipline and consistency, right? Like every day, day in and day out, you're doing the same exact task, you're obsessed about it. And really, consistency beats excitement every time.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Yeah, yeah. And I believe just like you said, you know, it starts it. thinking about what you just said, passion just starts ⁓ career or starts the idea, but obsession keeps you in it. But I think also just to say this in a different way, passion is the reason that you get into it. Obsession is the reason that you stay and win, right? Without obsession, you're not going to be able to stay in the field for a very long time. And you're going to go through this highs and lows a lot with

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Hmm.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: estate where like sometimes you're like, I don't feel like doing this anymore or I have a great week in the next week. I'm not going to make calls because I had one difficult client, right? So you have to be obsessed. You got to be obsessed about data. You have to be obsessed about every little detail and how it can improve next time around, right?

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: It's so true. mean, you hit the nail on head, right? Passion, loves outcomes. Obsession loves the process, right? So passion focuses on results, right? Success, recognition, achievement, where obsession is totally different. It focuses on improvement, practice, repetition, and really learning. those are key. Those are key differences between the two. It's not like you can't have, you can have, you can't have one without the other, but they work together, but passion gets you started. Obsession keeps you going. Right. So people that really, you know, become a great at something, they fall in love with it, right. They, but they don't just fall in love with it itself. They fall in love with the process and getting better at it. All right. So that's the obsession part of it. So Obsessed people enjoy the grind, right? That's exactly what pushes them forward. no that's our guilty fact right is we're obsessed and we enjoy the grind of it. And we're just trying to figure out how to make it better day in, day out, even during the night when we're sleeping, for God's sakes. It's ⁓ always a thought about how to make this better, right? where passion got us into it, where we loved it when we started, but the obsession is what keeps us going.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: 100%. Let's give some examples. mean, you give a few great examples, but to me, like ⁓ to somebody that is studying, for example, comps the before, and they know have a big listing appointment the next They don't wait an hour before the listing appointment to start prepping their comps or prepping their stuff ready. Obsession is somebody that is going to make sure that they have everything ready prior to that listing appointment way ahead of time. Also, obsession is something that, you know, maybe somebody that will replay a call that they had with a client that maybe they lost the listing. They, you know, they didn't say the right things or maybe a client ghosted them that they want to see how they can improve that next time versus passionate. Somebody would say, you know, that the client is just not. ready or they're not a good lead, I'm gonna wait and find somebody that will match my energy type of deal, right? But that's not what obsession is. Obsession is how can I make sure that, can I learn from this and how can I improve on it right away? What other examples I got Sharif that you can ⁓ relate this?

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: I really, it's anything that's like comfortable is usually passion, right? So that's anything that you're comfortable with when you're in a comfortable state, that's passion. But really, mean, things that you're uncomfortable with is what obsession is about, right? So just different processes that you have, or even just like you said, like a listing appointment, just the process of what you're doing within the listing appointment. Like I obsess on that, right? Like I try to improve myself. every single appointment, knowing that there's room for improvement. mean, taking notes, figuring out what I did differently, how I actually achieved signing a listing versus someone walking away and saying they would rather use someone else. Like that really obsesses to me to the point where I'm actually asking them in order to help our next clients. Can you please give me some pointers about what you thought differently about the other agent than you did about myself? Right. That's obsession. Right? So like, just want to know what I can do to get better at it. So right there's an example for you. You know, but it's about being uncomfortable, right? We talk about it all the time. If you want to grow, you got to be uncomfortable. And really, when you get, you know, passionate, that's But it's totally about being obsessed with it is where you start getting uncomfortable with things because you just want to tweak and make it better. And it's really from the inside. Like it simply feels necessary, right? Like you feel it internally, let you just, you're obsessing about it because you want to make it better. But from the outside, it does look a little extreme.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Yeah, it is very extreme. mean, it's something that, you know, it's obviously got its effects, right? Because you're always thinking about it. You're you know, you're thinking about it at dinner. You're thinking about it in the shower. You're thinking about it when you're at events, right? It's almost it's almost 100 % out of all you're thinking all the time. You know, it's good, but it's also obviously got some people may say that it's a there's a downside to it where now you're sacrificing some things where, know, you're not doing things that you maybe really enjoy or go now to grab drinks with your friends or go watch a movie and these things. Right. And I think that is the hard part of that, where, know, at least for me, and I can say this, like ⁓ almost very difficult for me to step away versus ⁓ stay in it. Like most people with are passionate, they find it's the other way around for them. It's difficult for them to keep talking and thinking about real estate. They say, my day off. I'm not going to look at my phone all the time, which again, it's there's there's time for that. obsessed people are always about it to the point where I know you do the Sharif or like if your agents don't. clear out their inboxes, right? You get super obsessed about that and they're frustrated. If they don't reply back in a timely manner to a client, you're obsessed about that and will talk to them about it, right? These are a lot other examples of our obsession.

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Yeah, definitely. mean, but it's also it's like, you know, you got to understand the concept of it, right? What what what people, you know, call obsession, high performers actually call that commitment. ⁓ And that's that's the big difference, right? That's why it looks a little bit different when you're looking from the external in and from the internal out, right?

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Yeah.

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: So people will think that you look obsessed, like you're really, thinking about it all the time. You're not giving yourself a break. It's just like a consistent thing that you're doing. Right. But really what is that really much different than being committed? and a high performer would say that, right? Like they're just committed. ⁓ not really obsessed about it. Right. And that's the big difference is passion. There's like lack of commitment there. but it's great because many people start something because they feel passionate. Right. but very few will continue long enough to even master it. And that's the difference. Passion starts your journey where obsession finishes it. So it's really, it's a big difference between getting average results and extraordinary results, also ⁓ really comes down to obsession on improvement, right? So that's, that's how you get better. You obsess about improving and passion may inspire you in the beginning, but Obsession drives mastery, right? We just want to get better at it. We want to make it as perfect as possible really just analyzing everything that you've done and trying to make it even just a little bit better.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: 100 % and as far as like if somebody is struggling I guess with this and let's say they are obsessed But how do how do they make sure that they still are? Able to put time away for their family I mean, is there something where they're you're I mean, I know you do it at a high level Sharif like you're still able to Obsess and you're very obsessed about the business But you're also dedicating time away for your family for things that are really important to you in your life So how do you do that?

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: I time block. I mean, I'm going to be honest, there's only two things I really time block on my calendar and everything else falls into place. I time block my call time in the morning and I time block my family time, which is normally between like five and like eight, right? So that's really what you got to do is you got to be fair to yourself and control your schedule and understand that, you know, it's great. to be obsessed about work, but you still have to block certain things like your family time, right? And I'm obsessed about that. Like, how can I get better? I'm my family time, right? Because that's what's most important. That's my why, right? So I want to protect my why as well so that it stays in tune, right? The vision is actually there and ⁓ it's clear, right? So in order to do that, Not only do you have to prospect on a daily basis to keep your business going, but you've got to block time to stay with your family and understand that that time is the reason why you're working so hard. You're working so hard for those few hours in that day just to spend time with your family.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: And that's the thing, the part that a lot of people get confused to is being obsessed just in similar manner with the that they promise other that they give them. And it's not just that, it's also making sure that they're very efficient in the time that they block during that time, even if it's in the business or if it's their family time as well. So it goes back to obsession, right? Where it's like, This is this is how I created my schedule. This is what I want my vision to be just like you said and Not having nonsense get in between and really learning to say no to things that are gonna distract you from that time block Because know a lot of people that put time blocks in their calendar where but then don't really take you know full focus They're not fully focused on that time block a lot of people are time blocking prospecting but they're not prospecting. And then they want to time block their family time and time off. But I feel like they don't even deserve that time off because they never really focused on the time that they were supposed to work. So at that point, like you don't really, you're not really obsessed about it. You're doing it based on how you feel. ⁓ you can, if have nothing else, if you finish, finish your laundry, then you go do, you know, calls there. If you finish getting your errands done, then you go make your calls done. But no, you got to be obsessed about that stuff first and then make sure that you do that stuff also at the same time. It's not, this, if this happens, I'm going to do this.

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Yeah, no, it's totally, it's totally true. mean, like I just mentioned earlier, mean, you know, passion's really about outcomes, right? really obsession about the process itself. So it's improving that process so you can get those outcomes, but not really being so focused on the outcomes, but being more focused about how'd you get there, right? And what can I do better to have better results in the end? Right? So it's, good. to have passion because it can inspire you it can get you to start something, right? But obsession is what carries you through. It carries you through the long seasons, the short seasons, the ups and the downs, where motivation fades and tends to slow, right? But if you're obsessed about it, you'll still keep driving forward. So that's the difference. It's like, are you more worried about the outcome or are you more about the process to get there? And the key. The key analogy that you have to think about is what are you focused on? Do you really want the results ⁓ or you just want to tweak the process and make it better and better every day? And that's,

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: Yeah. And to add to that too, it's, obsession is doing things that are required from you when, when nobody's watching, right? Passion. feel like you're just doing it to just prove a point or in front of people to show, look, I did this right. where, you want to tell everybody around you or ⁓ tell the world, but it's ⁓ obsession is lot, a lot of times it's quiet and it's not like, you know, it's work that nobody really sees. ⁓

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Mm.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: ⁓ on weekends sometimes, evenings and things like that. And the biggest differentiator too, I think.

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Yeah, it's like the silent worker, right? the one behind the scenes that you to those passionate results. It's the obsessive, you know, worker background that actually is tweaking the process and making it better.

Peter Boutros-StunningNJHomes: No, 100%. And that's the thing here that I want to you guys on. Which one are you? And you got to really reflect on this on yourself too. When the market slows down, do you slow down as well? And if you do, then you're passionate. ⁓ If you rejected, do you need the day to ⁓ recover or you dial again that like nothing ever happened? That's passionate, right? Are you studying the industry or are you just participating in it? or are you building something or just showing up just for the heck of saying I just showed up today? So that's the biggest difference. if do like this guys, and if you do have questions about anything, feel free to reach out to us. You know where to find us on YouTube. We'll put the links below. Feel free to let us know what kind of podcasts and what topics you want us to go over so we can create more like it. Thank you, guys.

Sharif Hatab - Sharifsells.com: Bye guys.