I have been training for 6 months to run a half marathon (With the market the way it is I can't afford  the full.) I finally ran one this last week and finished in 1 hour 48 minutes. I have thought a lot about the fact that a race is much like the current real estate and mortgage industry.
I started out booming. I had tons of adrenaline and was very successful with my first mile being completed in about 7 minutes. I was on top of the world. The first 10 miles I felt accomplished, I felt like a champ, and I felt like I could run forever. Then, the crash. I first felt feelings of despair at 11 miles. I was pummeled by thoughts of quitting as my legs began to hurt, my breaths became shorter and more difficult, and my overall energy level was down to nothing. I would have quit right there had I not known that the finish line was coming soon.
I guess this is where the mortgage industry sits right now. We all had a blast. We got in with adrenaline, excitement, and huge dreams. We went to conventions where lenders and vendors bought us expensive drinks and took care of us daily. I even won $1,000 from a lender at the Western Regional tradeshow in Vegas playing a game of Pop-a-Shot. What a great time. Unfortunately we all currently sit at mile 11. We have just realized that some of us won't make it. We are exhausted. Some of us wake up every day wondering what we are going to do to continue to provide for our families. We feel abused by all of the things we used to love. The lenders that are left are strict, the guidelines shifty, and the rates acting strange. All this with  $4.50 gas prices. So what do we do?
I would love to say that I finished my race through pure determination and good ol' fashioned gusto. I didn't. I did finish the race, but I did it because the guy running beside me cared about me enough to slow his pace down and talk me through it. He told me I could do it. He told me I couldn't quit, and that I had it in me to finish this thing. He told me that soon we would be done, and the pain would be over. He believed in me. That's what got me through that race. That guy was my brother. When we finished the race they announced over the loudspeaker, "Here come the Perry brothers, Jon and Ken."
I didn't finish that race alone, and neither will you. Now is the time to grab somebody who has done this before, or who has the positive attitude and can run next to you and tell you that you can do it. In business I have a business partner named Frank who constantly tells me we will not just make it through this, we will use this opportunity to grow in knowledge and relationships, and we will come out of this better than ever. If you don't have a mentor, get one. If you work in an office with tons of negativity and pity parties, leave. You can't afford to run this alone and you can't afford to run next to people who are planning on quitting. Together we will make it through this. I have a 1/2 Marathon medal to prove it!