Having just come back from our three-day marketing systems training, the Gateway seminar, in Orlando, I have an observation I wanted to share. As always, wonderful people attended the event. All seemed normal, except that I noticed a real sense of fear among many agents right now. It was thick in the room. Attendees were concerned with the state of business, which is understandable as the market normalizes.

Is fear gripping you? Does it all seem hopeless?

It's true, the market is off from where it has been, and people are leaving the industry in response to this. But this is actually good news for those of us who're serious about long-term success. Their exit results in a more normal number of transactions per agent. A silver lining indeed, and don't you forget it.

In the seminar, I asked participants to look to the left and right of them. I told them that one or both of the people they see won't be in the business next year. But will you be the one who leaves? Does this thought stir you or frighten you? And what are we really afraid of? The truth is that those who exit are likely the ones that should have never been in the business in the first place.

This is the time for the strong, not the weak, in our industry. Now is the time to do a gut check to see how committed you really are.

Let me know what that voice within says about all that I've posed here.