The Lone Wolf

I love wolves. They are fascinating and beautiful animals, but the "fake news" gives wolves a bad rap. From Little Red Riding Hood to the Three Little Pigs, and Beauty and the Beast, wolves are made out to be ferocious animals that attack and kill men, women, and children.

Did you know approximately 894 people die as a result of being bitten by a sheep in the US each year? I know this is true because I found the statistic on the internet, so it must be true. It’s a little-known fact that there has never been a documented case of a wolf killing a human in the US.

Wolf in sheep clothing? Pfffff!! Really? Where do they come up with this crap? Sheep in sheep’s clothing is more like it! Why attack wolves? Grey lives matter!

It was a hot morning in mid-June, and the sun was beating down on me as I just crossed 13.5 miles. It was supposed to be a 14-mile run, so I was close to the end, but I didn’t recognize where I was, regardless I kept going until my Garmin told me I was at mile 14.

I looked around and couldn’t see the top of the large buildings that typically stood above the trees. Our group runs in The Woodlands (just north of Houston), it is a beautiful area with trees everywhere. The problem is everything looks the same.

I stayed with the group up until about mile 12 and then slowly got left behind. At first, I could see the other runners, but somewhere along the way, I missed a turn and all the sudden I was completely lost.

I always run with my phone, so I took it out and used Waze to find my way back. I ended up going an extra mile and a half, which may not sound bad, but when I mentally planned to run 14 and did it and then found out I was still over a mile and a half back to my car; I was exhausted and very discouraged.

I used all of the energy I had to finish the run, and now I was still a long way back. It was getting hotter by the minute, and since the sun had risen above the tree line, there was no shade on the stretch back.

The real estate industry has an extremely high agent turnover rate. More than 80% of new agents are entirely out of business within two years from when they started. When I’m coaching new real estate agents, I tell them to hang around other new agents (top producers too, if possible) but at least around other new agents. Energy is contagious and if you see someone else do something you start to believe that you can do it too. Monkey see monkey do.

In the wilderness lone wolves seldom survive for an extended period. Likewise in real estate agents that try to survive on their own rarely survive. The ones that only show up when there is a class or seldom come to the office often find themselves out of business within a short period. Something about being separated from the pack dramatically diminishes a new agents chance of survival.

I found myself in the same boat when running. Once I got separated from the pack, I got discouraged, and everything seemed ten times harder than usual. I got lost and never recovered, everything started to spiral out of control.

I told Darcy, my running buddy and accountability partner, that I had gotten lost and she sent me a basic and straightforward solution to prevent it from happening again: “Stay with the group!” As direct and profound her statement was, it wasn’t that I didn’t stay with the group on purpose. Being a new runner to the group, I was a wolf trying to keep up with a pack of gazelles. The mind was willing, but the body wasn’t.

Some days I enjoy talking, other days I don't want to say a word and just want to listen to Van Halen, Aerosmith or Eminem on full-blast and just get it done. Interacting or not, I always enjoy running with the pack as opposed to on my own.

The goal is to stay with the pack. I don’t know if I can do it, but I am getting better, stronger and faster. I am building my endurance, and one day I will be able to stay with the pack. It might not be today, but it will be soon.

Stay with your pack!

“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book