I’LL JUST DO THIS MYSELF!
Full disclosure...somewhere along the way in my adult life, I learned that I needed to “rewire” my neuronal network from negative thinking to positive. SO—I started using positive affirmations.
One of those is, “I see possibilities. I find solutions.” OH—and then there’s this one: “I’m tenacious. I’m resilient.”
BUT...
Ten hours.
TEN hours.
Ten HOURS.
TEN HOURS.
TEN. WHOLE. HOURS.
Did I mention TEN WHOLE HOURS??!!
That’s approximately how much time I recently spent trying to get my Outlook email working properly on my computer again after an update. I enlisted the help of ChatGPT (and you should SEE the length of that chat!), AND—I had determination.
What I did NOT have, ten hours later, was working email. I was NOT going to let this silly computer beat me.
Spoiler alert: It did.
And guess what? I’m currently using ChatGPT to help me edit this blog about the time ChatGPT couldn’t help me fix my email. The irony is not lost on me.
But it got me thinking about those five little words: “I’ll just do it myself.” Why do we do that?
Perhaps it’s to save money.
Or maybe you think doing it yourself will be faster than finding someone else to do it. That may—or may not—have been my mindset during the Great Email Debacle.
Maybe you just like figuring things out on your own. (YEAH—definitely NOT me!)
Of course, there’s a lot to be said for doing things ourselves. We have SO much more information at our fingertips today than ever before. Everything from how to fix a leaky faucet to tiling a backsplash to assembling furniture.
There are YouTube videos for nearly EVERYTHING. And good old ChatGPT can even help you with the instructions for assembling those items that have a bazillion parts and come with tiny diagrams showing parts A, B, C, D...LMNOPQ!
Yes, there can be a real sense of accomplishment—and maybe even a little pride—that comes with being able to say: “I DID IT!”
HOWEVER...there JUST may be some wisdom in knowing when it’s time to wave the white flag.
Which brings me, if I may...to real estate.
Buyers and sellers have more information available to them than ever before. You can search for homes, research neighborhoods, look up property information, estimate values, calculate payments, and find answers to nearly any real estate question—all without ever talking to an agent.
And that can be a GOOD thing. We agents appreciate informed clients.
But I’ve also learned—both in real estate and apparently in dealing with my computer—that having access to information and having experience aren’t always the same thing.
Sometimes the real value of having someone beside you isn’t that they know everything. It’s that they know which questions to ask, what deserves a closer look, and when something that appears simple...probably isn’t.
So, have I learned my lesson? Hmmm…Probably not.
The next time something quits working, I’ll undoubtedly Google it, ask ChatGPT, click a few buttons and confidently announce: “I can figure this out.”
But I may give myself a time limit.
Because ten hours? C’mon, now! Even this stubborn farmer’s daughter has to admit that might have been a tad excessive.
Sandi Downing Real Estate/Keller Williams Greater Omaha
Everything that can go wrong WON’T go wrong.
We bring you ‘peace of mind’
and THAT is PRICELESS!