Why Struggling is a Great Predictor of Success

by | Mar 20, 2026

According to columnist Ephrat Livni, not all high-performers are equal.

This is especially true when someone attempts to make a transition into the rough and tumble world of real estate.

Getting pushed around by life forces you to become resilient.

Those who aren’t stars in youth and who don’t land the plum jobs early on, must cast about for direction and meaning.

When they find their way, they’re already trained in the mental habits of managing difficulty and re-framing expectations.

The early achievers, by contrast, find later in life that not everything can go right.

They take this hard because they have little practice in managing struggle.

If you must choose between two seemingly high-performing individuals, select the one who had to struggle more to realize their achievements.

During screening calls and interviews, ask questions that would help you discover if a person has had setbacks, overcame difficulties, and demonstrated resilience.

For someone moving into a new career field or changing brokerages, resilience is one of the most important predictors of a successful transition.

 

 

The Simple Psychology of Real Estate Recruiting [2nd Edition]

Unlock the secrets of effective real estate recruiting. Revised to include actionable frameworks for sharper execution and to help you turn psychological theory into a repeatable recruiting system.

The #1 Source of Recruiting Success

The #1 Source of Recruiting Success

Raising follow-up to the level of being the most important recruiting activity requires many hiring managers to make a paradigm change. The interview/recruiting appointment is not the end of the recruiting process–it’s the beginning. It just gives you the right to compete for this prospect’s attention in the months ahead.