Prevention Over Pressure: Sustainable Success in Real Estate
- Apr 2
- 27 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
Real estate is built on momentum, results and resilience. But sustained pressure without protection eventually takes a toll - on performance, decision-making, culture and well-being.
In this interactive session, Steve Hodgson will explore how mental health and performance are directly connected in the high-pressure work of real estate. He'll show you that the secret to long-term success is found in prevention over pressure, not sustained pressure without protection.
Watch this insightful webinar as Steve provies practical strategies and tools to help you support your long-term success.
Drawing on his background in real estate leadership and Mental Health First Aid, Steve unpacks the early warning signs of stress and burnout that often go unnoticed until productivity and wellbeing decline.
Steve Hodgson, a former Real Estate Agent and Principal, witnessed and experienced firsthand the emotional toll that often sits behind the results. Now, as a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and founder of Beyond The Noise Collective, he blends this lived experience with practical wellbeing strategies to strengthen mental health literacy and build psychologically safer workplaces.
What You’ll Gain:
• Insight into the early signs and symptoms to help you avoid and reverse burnout
• A clear understanding of the difference between healthy pressure and harmful overload
• Practical strategies to protect energy, focus and emotional resilience
• Tools to strengthen workplace wellbeing and psychological safety
• Simple daily habits that support sustainable high performance
This is not about removing pressure - it’s about managing it wisely.
Steve Hodgson, of Beyond the Noise Collective, is talking to Kylie Davis, of the Rise Initiative.
Kylie:
The Rise Initiative recognises the traditional owners of the land on which everybody here today is gathered, both virtually and in real life. And, we acknowledge owners past, present, traditional owners past, present and emerging.
So I'm… so, Steve, we're so excited to have you here today. I'm really looking forward to this presentation. Steve is a former principal and a real estate principal and agent. He's had many years on the tools, so he knows, firsthand, of what he's about to talk about today.
And he is now a mental health trainer and first aid instructor, but he's also a really fabulous RISE influencer and he's passionate about wellness and wellbeing. So, Steve, welcome. I'm going to hand it over to you. It's great to have you here.
Steve:
Perfect. Thank you, Kylie. It's amazing to be part of the RISE initiative and I want to thank you, Nick and the board, which is growing and also the Influencer Network. There's so many phenomenal human beings as a part of RISE, all playing their part and it's just lovely to see that shift.
To wellness and wellbeing and focusing on mental health within the real estate industry. So, congratulations to you and the board and everyone involved.
Kylie:
And I do have to jump in because I have been very naughty and forgotten to acknowledge MRI Software, who are our sponsors of the wellness webinar and allow us to… give us the momentum to do this every month. So, big, big shout out to… MRI, the team at MRI.
Yeah. Pia.
Steve:
Alright, I'm gonna share my screen. Well, welcome everyone to this month's What Rise Wellness webinar.
Kylie:
I'm not seeing it yet.
Steve:
Oh, you're not saying it? No. Not yet. Okay, it says my screen is shared. Let me try that again.
Kylie:
Alright, ignore that, that's gonna be a Manila thing.
Steve:
Okay, cool. Alright, I'll start this again. We're good now?
Kylie:
Yep.
Steve:
Okay, brilliant. So thank you for everyone tuning in to this month's Rise Wellness webinar. I'm really excited to dive into the information. For me, as Kylie said, I'm a mental health first aid instructor, started in real estate in 2003 and hit burnout in 2018. So I've been through the rollercoaster journey. And today is really about focusing on the individual experience of real estate and making sure that we build our wellness and wellbeing to build that sustainable success into a long-term real estate career.
I think over the years, what I'd… what I developed was some tools and some strategies, but since I've stepped out of the industry, I have reflected and had a unique view, I suppose, looking back into the industry. And that's why I'm so passionate about working with organisations and individuals to work at… to focus on their wellness and wellbeing.
One of the first things I always look at is when it comes to wellness and wellbeing in the industry, there's two players. There's the organisation, what their responsibilities are and then there's the individual responsibility for wellness and wellbeing.
Now, from an organisation perspective, what was maybe nice to have, or an option, now is a legal requirement for organisations under psychosocial laws and wellness and wellbeing and mental health to actually support their team members and their networks and their organisations, to make sure that the workplace and the environment takes into account many factors, obviously wellness and wellbeing and mental health being one of those factors.
Now, from an individual perspective, which is what I'm going to really focus on today, is what you can do. What can you control when it comes to your wellness and well-being?
Being part of the industry, whether you're a principal, whether you're a leader, whether you're an agent, a property manager, on reception, whatever role you play, what you need to know is that each and every one of you play a leadership position in the wellness and wellbeing of not just yourself, but also your colleagues and also spreading that awareness throughout the network. Now, one thing I will say to you today is don't overwhelm yourself. As I go through the slides, as I provide some stories, I provide some content, I provide some tools and strategies.
What I would say is just maybe pick up one or two things to implement. Things that you can implement personally. There might be certain things that you go, oh, wow, I didn't know that, or I wasn't aware of that. And it might just provide a little bit more self-awareness. And once you have more self-awareness, you can actually have more awareness of others, which brings more empathy, compassion, care and understanding to not only your colleagues, but also your clients and those in the greater community.
So, when I started in real estate in 2003, I did my training, as we all do and we got our registration. Now, what do they teach you? I know what they taught me. They taught me compliance and process, legal obligations, risk management, contracts and settlement, how to market a property, all those functional capabilities and those practical elements that we needed to kind of tick the boxes to get our certificate and launch into the industry.
But what did they not teach us?And 23 years later, most of the organisations, RTOs are still just teaching the practical elements of it. And when we talk about prevention, one of the passions for me is really prevention needs to start at the beginning. And over the years to come, I'd really love to see more RTOs and organisations in that starting phase really start to work on building on how to handle rejection, how to build emotional resilience, managing the rollercoaster that the real estate industry can be.
Preventing burnout, building a sustainable career based on wellness and wellbeing. I think sometimes when we get… When we kind of market the industry in real estate, we kind of sit there a little bit and we don't want to, I suppose, put out there that, oh, people in the real estate industry, if I get into real estate, I might… have some pressure, I might have some stress. We kind of focus on the money and the cars and all the materialistic things, the commissions and how good life can be, but we kind of shy away from some of those topics and some of those discussions, which if anyone knows me and I run a podcast, some of the uncomfortable topics and conversations I love having, because through that discomfort.
Through those uncomfortable conversations, As an industry, the real estate industry can actually move forward. Through that discomfort and actually get comfortable and actually make a real impact and difference to the careers and lives of people that are working within the real estate industry.
Down there it says, we get trained on the mechanics of the job, but not always on how to handle the human experience of it. And I think as an industry, not only as RTOs and organisations, but as networks and as officers. Leaders need to look at how they are adopting certain tools and strategies, running different workshops and sessions and engaging with different facilitators on how to help people manage that human experience of an industry that can be very, very interesting at times.
A good friend of mine, Tim Jack Adams, some people may know him, he headed up GreenX7 and if you've ever met him, he'll always ask you, how's your battery? And this is something that I find really, really relevant in life. For those of us as real estate… in real estate, I know when I was in real estate, what did we focus on?
The one thing we do before we go to bed most nights, we make sure our phone's plugged in, because our phone is our communication. It's how people contact us. We also plug in our laptops. We plug in our smartwatches and for those out there with the electric cars, what do we do? We plug in our cars, because we don't want them to run flat. But the interesting thing is do we give as much priority and do we give as much focus to ourselves as we give to our devices? So, I'd like to ask the question. Now, there's a QR code on the right-hand side of your screen. It says, how's your battery? Now, this is a link that you can use. It's supplied by GreenX7 and Tim. You can use now, switch, answer a range of questions and it will give you what your current battery percentage is. Now, across many organisations that Tim facilitates these sessions and also I've facilitated some recently as well.
The average for a room or an organisation is around 67%, is where most of the battery percentages come in. The interesting thing is, if you do this exercise and it's an exercise that you can run with your teams, you can run regularly and as individuals, you can also run, like, just when you're feeling, I've got to check in, how's my battery? And it will give you a score on physical health, nutrition, mental health and attitude, purpose. Sleep, friendships, relationships and fun.
Now, it's always interesting to work out what is the lowest I suppose, battery percentages of that. Now, across the board, Does anyone listening know? Where… what… What they think would be the biggest ones that are low, or those that are completing that.
What would be the two lowest elements of that? Now, what I can tell you is the two lowest elements are sleep and fun. So we need to have more sleep and fun. And they're two things that across the board are things that people are really, really struggling with. And going back to organisational versus individual responsibility and accountability when it comes to wellness and wellbeing. If you sit on your phone and you're scrolling till 2am and you come into the office the next day and you're tired.
That's not the organisation's responsibility. That's your responsibility. So some of the things and we'll go through some of these slides and I'll give you some tools and some strategies that you can put in place to help your wellness and wellbeing and take responsibility and accountability for your own wellness and wellbeing. But this is a really good way. They talk about the, I suppose, work-life balance.
I think most people listening to this call and watching would say that it's more a work-life struggle at times and a juggle. So, sometimes you'll find that your battery percentage will be on physical health.
It might be great but there'll be something else, because you're focusing on your physical health, there'll be something else that's lacking a little bit as well. So it's always a great tool to keep this QR code, keep this link and use it into the future, when you just need to check in.
What are some priorities, or what are some elements that I may need to kind of just work on to just make sure that your battery percentage is high? And that you are plugged in and making sure that you recharge and reset regularly. As I said earlier and we all know, I know from my experience as a real estate agent, it is a rollercoaster ride. And not only is it a rollercoaster ride in the industry, as we know, there's so many outside factors at the moment when it comes to fuel prices, the economy, cost of living, everything like that. So many people are on this rollercoaster ride and when it comes to wellness and wellbeing, but also mental health, when people are showing up into the offices, they're carrying a lot of weight that is outside the office and that's something that we've really got to be aware of in this industry. It is a rollercoaster ride, some… you know, if you're in sales, you can start the morning by having an offer accepted, a settlement at 2pm and two deals crash. And it can be an up and down rollercoaster ride just in one day. So, it's really important to remember, it's a rollercoaster ride. But you do have the steering wheel a little bit and as we go through a few of the next sections.
I'm going to give you some tools and strategies to hopefully make that rollercoaster ride a little bit more stable at different times and control what you can control and not focus on what you can't.
I think one of the things that I really focused on in my career was towards the end, making sure that, you know, the highs don't get too high and the lows don't get too low. So, it's not about, I suppose, calming… calming the excitement, or calming the jubilation at getting a record sale, or a contract, or something that puts us up. But it's about not getting too high or I kind of suppose, hitting too much of a peak, because if we hit a really high peak.
And then we hit a really low. There's a really big gap between our emotions and how we feel and that can really have a big impact. But if we're kind of, you know, a little bit more stable, we're celebrating our successes and that's a big thing as well in the industry, is to celebrate your successes.
I know, as a real estate agent myself, when I was in the industry and I know it's across the industry as well, if we put a goal or achievement in place and when we hit that goal or achievement, we've already set another goal and achievement. So, we don't actually celebrate the success a lot of the time and this is great for organisations and individuals, but we don't celebrate the success, we already feel like we failed because we haven't hit the next goal or achievement. So it's really important to make sure that we feel that success, that we feel that achievement and then we reset, refocus and move on to the next level.
From a real estate perspective, this is one of the big game changers in my life that I have worked out, looking from outside in and also looking into my life. But in real estate, what you can't control. Can't control market conditions. Can't control economic factors, offers failing or deals crashing, the actions of others. But what you can control is your actions, your mindset, how you manage stress and how you show up.
Now, here's the thing. I know there were many times I would sit there and I would get a call and a contract had crashed or I know people sitting in property management when there's a… there's an issue with a tenant, or something happens to a property, or there's something that's going on. We can sit in that moment and we can actually… it can spiral a little bit, right? Because we focus on the problem.
We focus on the environment and the scenario that's happening right there. But at the end of the day, when I hit a problem now, when I hit a challenge and I encourage you to do this, ask yourself, what can't I control and what can I control? Because we waste so much time and energy on focusing on what we can't control.
So let's… let's focus on using that energy, using that mental, I suppose, capacity to actually focus on what we can control. So rather than problems, it's working about what's the solution. So I'd love to ask the question and I'd love you to reflect on this, you know, after this webinar as well, what things are you currently wasting time and energy on that you can't control? Answering that question may just shift that perspective, shift that energy and be able to give a different perspective as you approach a problem, or you approach something that is going on right now or in the days and hours ahead.
Now, in real estate and throughout the world in any organisation, we all have coping mechanisms with stress, with anxiety, whatever happens. Now, as a mental health first aid instructor, I know that, you know, if we look at the statistics out there at the moment, is that from a female perspective more, they're more prone to anxiety and depression when it comes to the statistics out there. From a male perspective, we've got coping mechanisms that are actually, I suppose, masking a lot of the statistics as well, because from a male perspective, a lot of the time there's more substance use, more drugs, alcohol and those other things as well.
So one of the things I always say when it comes to coping mechanisms is I… and I work with people on this as well, is that when you come… when you're going home at the end of the night, or the end of the day and… you're having a couple of drinks. Now, if you're having a couple of drinks every night. Is that a coping mechanism? Is that just… and for me, I've got to tell you, you know, I'd have 2 or 3 rum and cokes and maybe sometimes 2 or 3 would turn into 4 or 5. Now, I was never a big drinker but I would always say, ugh, it just takes the edge off. It was a coping mechanism.
So there's a lot of negative coping mechanisms we can put in place, but we can also look at our behaviors and we can have awareness of what those unhealthy coping mechanisms are, which are helping us deal with stress, anxiety and the feelings and emotions that we carry. From work, from relationships, from whatever else is going on out there in the world. Another unhealthy coping mechanism can be doomscrolling, right? It's a way of escaping, it's a way of, you know, kind of dealing with the dopamine and really boosting our levels but, what we know is, long-term, it's actually quite unhealthy.
So, from a healthy perspective, healthy coping mechanisms is, you know, say you go to the pub or you have a couple of drinks at the end of the day, can you switch it to a healthier coping mechanism?
Can you go to the gym? Can you join a yoga class? Breathwork? Meditation? Is there, you know, can you take the family out for a walk? Any of these things are going to put you, a lot of the time, in better environments, because what we know is when there's coping mechanisms out there.
The coping mechanism usually includes an environment. So I would get you to think about what are some of the environments that you need to step out of.
And also, what are some environments you need to step into?
For me, I love Cycle Class and I love going there and the cycle exercise component is probably down the list a little bit of what it gives me, because it's human connection, it's energy and the atmosphere boosts me. It makes me feel good, it boosts my energy first thing in the morning and that sets me up for my day. So just have a think about, are there any coping mechanisms in your life right now that maybe are a little bit unhealthy? And what are some healthy replacements that you can put into there? The other thing is, as well, is that if there are some coping mechanisms, obviously one of the key things is to work out what are they masks? What are the coping mechanisms masking? And do you need to reach out to a GP? Do you need to reach out on the RealCare app? Are there some strategies, some tools, or some professionals that can help you actually manage your stress, anxiety?
So that… You can also put in some extra healthy coping mechanisms and together, they can get you back on track.
Back in 2017, 2018, I did a mastermind and a lot of people in the industry will know Dr. Fred Gross. And at the start of the year-long seminar and mastermind session, he asked the group to take out our journals. And he said, “Over the next 12 months, over the next 8 sessions, I want you all to come up with and build a list of 500 things that bring you joy.”
Now, everyone kind of went, 500 things, that's a lot. It wasn't about the number. What it was about is working out what are all the little things that bring you joy. Because, yes, we can travel and yes, we can get our cars and yes, we can do all these amazing experiences, but it's not about that all the time.
It's about what brings you joy? What are the little things? Your morning cup of coffee. Journaling, breathwork, meditation, going to the gym, going for a hike, going for a walk in the park, gardening, whatever it is.
It's really about focusing on those little things that bring you joy because what I know is that from going through burnout and the effects of depression, anxiety and fatigue, the embarrassment, guilt, all those things that went with it, I know now that I have a toolbox which includes this exercise because I know if I'm not feeling quite right.
It's usually on the days that I need to inject more joy into my life and by having this list, by knowing what brings me joy. Now, there's a number of things that bring me joy walking on the beach. If I'm not having a great day, sometimes it's booking a massage. Sometimes it's, even getting a haircut, you know and there's all these things that can change our state and change how we feel, which then change how we show up in the workplace, how we show up for our family, but also more importantly, how we show up for ourselves and by doing that, it's a really good tool or strategy to, you know, kind of focus on what is important and what brings you joy and can take you from a space where you're not feeling quite right, to where you're feeling better, or sometimes even exceptional. Sometimes people will listen to music, sometimes people will watch a great movie, a comedy, whatever it is and it boosts their mood. So really, really good strategy, really good tool that you can use to boost your mood.
Years ago, I was listening to a podcast and the presenter and it was on a Tim Ferriss podcast and the guest actually said, “When you say yes to something, what do you say no to?”
Now, in the real estate industry and as a former principal, agent and I know you are listening there. Would know that a lot of the time, we can be very yes-orientated people. Will you list this property? Yes. Will you attend this event? Yes. Principals out there and agents will know, you know, will you sponsor this event? Will you sponsor this school? Will you sponsor this organisation, right? It's always about, you know and you feel like and I know I did and I'm sure people will relate. I probably felt in my career very much like Jim Carrey and the Yes Man. It was just yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. You know, there's a lot of things in real estate that ties us to, you know, events and those kinds of things, but one of the strategies and one of the tools I use now is if I'm gonna say yes to something, before I say yes, before I commit to something, I say, what am I saying no to?
Now, in real estate, real estate's really…a great career, it's a really great organisation and it's really, you know, a rewarding industry, right? But it's not the be-all and end-all when it comes to life. So, at the end of the day, we've all got families outside, we've got friends and we've got all these tools and strategies, like exercise, like the things that bring us joy, that we also need to dial into and use and have time for as well. So that's a really good, I suppose, tool and strategy for you to use next time you need to say yes to something. I know for me, I would say yes to events.
But what was I saying no to? I was saying no to my wife and I was saying no to my family. Or saying yes to something, I was saying no to a family event, a birthday.
So now, I get really good at saying no. If someone says to me, can you do this? And I go, oh, that's going to clash with something that's really important to me and is a priority, I say no. And saying no and getting better at saying no.
We'll actually unlock so much power in the way you show up and the way you live your life.
Now, throughout, obviously, you know, life and also, when I was in real estate, is the power of the breath. I'm currently going through as a breathwork teacher and just about to start my Vedic meditation teaching as well.
Two elements and two modalities which have really unlocked so much power in my life. Now, these are two strategies that you can take down and you can utilise when you're going through some str… when you're going through some stress or some anxiety. You know, maybe something's happened in your… maybe something's happened in your life and there's a lot of pressure, right?
So, box breathing is a great one, which is, you inhale for 4 seconds. You hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds and then hold that empty breath for 4 seconds and then you repeat that for 4 to 10 rounds. It will bring your system, it will bring your heart rate down, it will relax you and relieve that kind of, you know, stress or that anxiety that you are holding.
Now, sometimes when you're doing these breath techniques as well and I like to do box breathing, actually, before I go to sleep or the 478 technique as well, which is the second option there. But when I'm doing this breathwork, when I'm tuning into myself, there's always some great things that you can also ask yourself to just change your perspective and change your state.
One of those things that you can really focus on is you can ask yourself a question. What are 3 things that I am grateful for right now in my life?
When things are going wrong, when there are challenges, when you've just had that phone call, or that complaint, or you've had a stressful experience with a negotiation, or a deal's just crashed, or anything. Any number of the things that happen in the industry.
One of the things I want you to do which a lot of us don't actually do, is stop.
If you're in that experience, stop.
Step away from the computer, step away from the phone, go for a walk, catch your breath, do some breathwork exercises, get some vitamin D, because at the end of the day, you need to get out of that environment and you need to change your state. The worst thing that you can do and I was a massive, massive, I suppose, person that did this and I'm sure a lot of people can relate.
We hit a problem.
We hit stress.
We feel anxious and what do we do? We sit in it and what happens? We just spiral.
We don't have a clear mind, we don't have a clear head.
And our heart rate is higher, our breathing is lower, we're breathing in our chest, we're not breathing utilising our abdomen, our diaphragm and our full range of breath.
So, these breathing techniques will really help you not only to calm yourself but also to connect yourself and they bring so much more clarity. I'm sure those listening in and watching that breathwork will know how powerful that breathwork can be. And as it says down the bottom, your breath is always available, no matter where you are. Whether you're in the workplace, whether you're at home, whether you're in the car, the power of the breath can really help.
Health is wealth.
Now, one of the things that I worked out when I hit burnout is that if you don't have your health.
You don't have anything. So at the end of the day, if you want to build a sustainable career in real estate, you have to have health first. Because if you don't have your health, you can't be there for your family, you can't be there in your career, you can't be there for anyone.
Now, in 2018, when I hit burnout, I remember it. I was sitting on the couch, I came home after lunch, I sat on the couch and it was like the plug had been pulled out of the wall, I had nothing. In the days prior to that, I was missing appointments, I was, you know, unlike me, I was not remembering things, my memory was awful. And I was just sitting there, feeling completely drained and just… just like I… I just couldn't operate. At the end of the day, there would have been so many and I know there were so many signs prior to that, that I could have picked up on, but I didn't.
One of the things I did is really focused on getting a GP check and committing to a GP check annually. So every 12 months and I don't care what date it is, I do it on the anniversary of my stepdad's passing, which was in 2013 in May. So around May, June, I always go and get my blood tests.
Now, going through mental health and going through the journey that I have. I'm really in tune to it. If I don't feel right, I put my hand up and say, “I need help,” or I book in with the GP.
Now, since then, I've also got a maintenance team and my maintenance team is my GP. I have a 6-monthly catch-up with my psychiatrist and I have a 3-monthly catch-up with my psychologist. I didn't stop those things when I improved, I continued those things as a maintenance element. And it's just like…If I were to ask you all, how many of you have serviced your car in the last 12 months?
Now, I asked an organisation the other day, how many have serviced their card in the last 12 months? Every hand in the room went up. There's about 50 people in the room. When I asked how many people had gone and had a medical checkup or a check-in with their GP in the last 12 months. It was only 2 people that put their hands up. Whether the car's worth $60,000, $100,000, $200,000, half a million, it's far less than the value that is on your life and your health.
So, at the end of the day, we give, like our battery with our phones, our smartwatches, our cars, we give more importance to charging those and we also give more importance to our car than we do to ourself. So, if there's one thing that you can take away from today. If you haven't seen your GP in the last 12 months, please do. And also know that when you go to your GP, sometimes, as a mental health first aid instructor, I will… I say this to people, sometimes you might be feeling a little bit stressed or anxious.
You might be feeling a little bit depressed. But at the end of the day, if you go to the GP, you get a full range of blood tests. Sometimes it's not a mental illness, sometimes it's not a mental challenge. What is affecting you is that you have a deficiency. Sometimes it can be low iron, sometimes it can be low in vitamin D and there can be other indicators and elements that you might be deficient in. You might just need some supplementary, you know, help to actually, you know, build those levels up again, so that you can feel better.
Now, as I said, I've got a maintenance team. Now. When I got back from traveling last October, it didn't feel quite right and it was actually my 6-monthly catch-up with my psychiatrist. I said to my psychiatrist, “Just, you know, still feeling a little bit of the fatigue and, a little bit more than usual.” And he said, “Oh, well, I'll look at your blood tests from June… May, June.” I looked at him and he said, “Oh, your vitamin… vitamin B12 and your iron wasn't checked.” I went, oh, okay, alright. I said, “Oh, well, next time I go to the GP, I'll check that.” I had a bit of discomfort. I said to the… I said to the GP on my next visit, which is about 5 or 6 days later, I said to him, “Look, I've got this discomfort, can we do some tests? And also, can I get my B12 and iron tested?”
Three days later, back in the GP, low iron, drastically low iron, sent for a colonoscopy and after more testing, more biopsies, I was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in December; had surgery and I currently just finished my third cycle of chemotherapy. So at the end of the day, you've got to listen to yourself. I've had so many people that have said to me, Steve, but the more they look, the more they'll find. Great.
Because just like mental health, physical health is the same.
Prevention. Early detection, because it is so much cheaper to focus on prevention and that early detection than it is to focus on intervention. If I didn't listen to myself, if I didn't follow up to the GP, I would be going into blunt tests next May-June and it probably would have been all over Red Rover. So, for someone that is very much in tune with their body, someone that raises the awareness of our physical health and making sure that we look after it and that we check in when we don't feel quite right, I still…even though I get the checks, I still was diagnosed with cancer. So if you're not getting the checks, if you're not getting your 12-monthly updates, please do so.
One of the things in any organisation or any industry but I think the real estate industry is really crucial is that… finding a buddy; finding someone that you can ring and I would say if you don't have someone that's close in the industry or someone that you're really close to, I'm talking about the person that, if you feel not great, if you're feeling depressed, or you're feeling low, or you're feeling stressed, or you need to vent, who's that person that you can ring and who's that person that has your back?
Now, if you don't have that person, today, I want you to ring a good friend or catch up with a colleague in the lunchroom or catch up with a colleague, you know, for a coffee and say, “Hey, if you're going… if I'm going through some struggles or if I'm not feeling quite right, no matter what it is, can I ring you? And I'd really like you to be able to ring me.”
It's a really simple thing but if it's definitely someone in the industry which is really good because they can relate to your problems, they can relate to the issues that you're going through and they can be that sounding board. The more we talk, the more we get those. The more we vent, I suppose and get our thoughts and our feelings and emotions out there with someone that can just listen, then we feel better in ourselves.
So, another, I suppose, tool and strategy. It’s a part of a safety plan that I think everyone should have. Who is your buddy? Who's that person that's got your back and who's that person that you can ring day or night? It's really important to have that person.
There's a lot of wellness and well-being resources out there obviously, the Real Care App by the Rise Initiative and what I want everyone to know as well, because as a mental health first aid instructor, I always get people saying, “Oh, but Lifeline, or Beyond Blue, or some of these, you know, contacts” that really, you know, people think they are around crisis.
At the end of the day, it's not. You might be helping someone through, you know, a crisis or a challenging time and you might need some self-care and support yourself. You can reach out to these people and you can reach out and get counseling from the Real Care App.
And it's really important that you look after yourself. And by looking after yourself, then you're able to look after your colleagues, friends, family and those in your community. I think, everyone on this call will know, the new Real Care App but what I would say as we, you know, kind of finish up this session is really about any of the tools or strategies, so for leaders, any of the tools and strategies, any of the slides that we've gone through today, can be really put into regular wellness and wellbeing sessions or topics that can be brought at sales meetings or office meetings that can just keep the conversation going.
That can keep the awareness of wellness and wellbeing in your organisation and really focus on that prevention, really focus on the people behind the performance, so that, you know, the wellness and wellbeing, we can shift that conversation, we can shift the impact that's going throughout the industry.
Thank you all for joining in today. Are you still there, Kylie?
Kylie:
I sure am.
Steve:
You are.
Kylie:
I am, I'm a little… I have a little bit of dodgy internet, but I am definitely still here. Thank you, Steve. That was so awesome! I really…look, honestly, I thought that was the most beautiful way to remember someone who has been really important to us and who has loved us, that on the anniversary of losing them, to go and do a piece of… like, to go and actually make that the anniversary where you take… do some healthcare, I think that's truly a beautiful way
That basically then shows that they're still looking out for you, I guess, by checking in on that, so thank you for that.
Steve:
I've got some friends that I've helped, Kylie, that go and get their medical checks on their birthday.
Kylie:
I'm losing it.
Steve:
And…
Kylie:
So, I didn't actually hear that answer. I'm so sorry.
Steve:
No, what I was gonna say to you was I've got some friends that go and get their medical checks on their birthday and, you know, I think it's the greatest gift you can give to yourself every 12 months, checking in with the doctor.
Kylie:
I'm gonna go off… I'm gonna go off video just to see if that helps a little bit.
Steve:
All good. All good.
Kylie:
But thank you, I thought that was absolutely beautiful and thank you, everyone. Thank you for a fabulous session, Steve and thank you everyone, for the comments. It was great to see some engaging chat. We have one question, Steve. What's your podcast name?
Steve:
Podcast…it was a shared podcast, but now it's Noise of Life podcast. I've just paused it, but on it, there's a lot of great content and I do have a lot of conversations that may be a little bit uncomfortable.
We go through some topics in the past, such as DV, mental health, you know, homelessness, those kinds of things as well. But it's really about giving some insights and getting some tips and tools from other people's stories and other people's lives, so that maybe it might just shift your compass a little bit and, you know, set you into a better traject.
Kylie:
So what we will do is that we will be sharing the link to this webinar and some of the resources that Steve has mentioned. I love the QR code for the, for being able to check your battery. That was really, really helpful.
And we will also send that out to everybody who RSVP'd today and we'll include the podcast details on that too so people can listen to some back episodes.
Thank you so much, everybody. I am thinking… I think I'm on a 56K bit modem now from Manila in Alabang. But great to see you, Steve. Thank you so much for a fabulous presentation.
Steve:
Thank you very much.
Kylie:
We'll see everybody next month for the wellness webinars and thank you to MRI. Thanks, guys.
Extra resources:
Steve Hodgson's Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/27ZhZCzYtc6LruIYE7y9C9?si=ZOJwANI5RhyZP6pfQGsO1Q&nd=1&dlsi=73ece4abad9044a1
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thestevehodgson
Battery Check: https://battery.greenx7.com/
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