by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Zelda Greenberg, author of “The Art of Bouncing Back,” gave the Jacksonville Women’s Council of Realtors tips on how to bounce back from personal and professional challenges at the organization’s meeting last month at the San Jose Country Club.
Greenberg knows what it’s like to have to bounce back. Her family’s business in Jacksonville, Fraden Produce, was ruined in 2004 by a tornado. She had just been given the keys to her new office and now it was destroyed.
“In what took 100 years to build, one tornado took 10 minutes to destroy,” she said.
Greenberg led the firm through a difficult restoration period until it was sold in 2008.
“Just like in today’s world, change has happened,” said Greenberg. “You have to learn to embrace change. You know what I figured out? Change happens every day no matter if the economy is good, bad or indifferent.”
She said it is that internal dialogue that you have with yourself that will determine if you are going to bounce back or not.
“You have to say, I’m going to stay positive,” she said. “I don’t care if my business was ruined. Things will get better because I believe in what I am doing.”
How do you stay positive when things aren’t going so great?
“Be very specific about what you want to do,” she said. “I’m going to make a sale today or I’m going to make a sale in the next month or I’m going to meet so many people that can give me so many referrals. You have to focus and be very specific. So, when you get up in the morning, you have a choice to be in a good mood or a bad mood. It’s your internal dialogue.”
Don’t let all the other factors that come into your life affect you, she said. When the papers start stacking up, e-mails pile in and phone messages accumulate, you have to decide what will help you get to your goal and focus on tackling those tasks first.
“You are in focus and you know what you need to do,” she said. “That’s what successful people do. Stay focused and have a very positive attitude. Have an internal dialogue that says I’m in control.”
Greenberg said it important to have faith in something and trust your own instincts. Also, building relationships is key to bouncing back. With networking, you can help them get what they want, so you can get what you want. Join groups, do something no one else is doing, give constant contact to customers and make yourself visible.