This time of year, it seems a lot of real estate agents quietly wind down and just start to make plans for the holidays and New Years. They figure, it’s the slow time of year, so why not take it easy? Plus they’ve worked hard all year. They simply write off this last month or so and  look ahead to 2014.

So what is a conscientious agent to do? Easy, seek professional guidance from the greatest television program of all time, according to TV Guide – Seinfeld, the 90’s sitcom that was supposedly a “show about nothing.” Don’t believe it? Don’t believe me? Well then, maybe you should check out philosophy professor William Irwin’s book “Seinfeld and Philosophy.”

And he is not the only one; there are many Seinfeld books along these lines; just check Amazon if you don’t believe me. So what can we learn from Seinfeld in this situation, or more specifically, the genius of George Costanza? I believe the answer lies in Season 5 Episode 22 of Seinfeld, simply titled “The Opposite.”

In that episode, George Costanza, distraught from another failure, walks into Monk’s café to meet Jerry, and comes to the conclusion that every decision that he has ever made in his life has been wrong, and that his life is the exact opposite of what it should be. Jerry convinces him that “if every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.” So, right then, George decides to start doing the complete opposite of what he would normally do.

He orders the complete opposite of his usual lunch, and then he notices a beautiful woman staring right at him. So he continues to do the opposite of what he would normally do and walks right up to her and introduces himself and finds out she was only staring at him because he happened to order the exact the same lunch as her. He says to her “My name is George. I’m unemployed and I live with my parents.” To his amazement, she smiles and agrees to date him.

Well, I’m here to tell you that the “George Costanza method” can work for you too right now. It’s so easy – just do the opposite. So whatever you’re doing right now, don’t cut it in half – do the exact opposite; double it! Don’t wind down; ramp up. Don’t slow down; speed up. I have made a commitment to myself and my broker to double my efforts for the next 30 days to set myself up now for a great 2014.

I would even argue that now is the best time, because most of your usual competition is not even around; they are not doing it, they have already packed it in for 2013. So it only makes sense to do it now to take advantage. I promise you, if you do it now, you will be the master of your own domain in 2014!

Jay Zwelling is an agent with ShowcaseMiami Realty in Miami. He can be reached at:

Email: jayz@showcasemiami.com
Cell: 786-546-3906
Office: 786-762-3080
Fax: 786-472-7144