GRIT is an overall mentality. Life is a mental game! If you don’t ever quit you don’t ever lose. There are people who have nothing but are happy, the only way to do that is “Grit” or by being mentally strong.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Isaac Rosenberg.
Isaac Rosenberg was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and always had a dream of working with tall buildings. After just two years and over 200 transactions in the NYC market, Isaac decided to join Compass, a technology-driven real estate company. When Isaac is not working he enjoys staying active and fit by starting his day in the gym and enjoys bike rides on the Hudson.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path?
Of course, so glad to be here! Since I was a little kid I always loved tall buildings! I always wondered who lives on the top floor? What are the views like from there? About 5 years ago I was hired by a commercial real estate lender to help grow his business, which lead me to look at real estate deals and I thought, “That’s what I want to do!”
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
I think the journey never stops; we always face hardships along the way. I always compare initial hardships and fears to the first day/week/month of any job I ever had. When I started in real estate all my colleagues asked me “How did you get so lucky to get that client or get that deal” The answer was always… when you went to the beach… when you took two days off… when you decided you needed a break cause things weren’t going well, I kept working and working, 12 hour days 7 days a week for months on months cause I knew what was on the other side of all that work! I once heard a line from Grant Cardone, “The harder I work the luckier I get” (I play that over and over in my head).
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
What’s my alternative? It feels so much better when it was hard to get! I think about it just like I think about fitness, NO PAIN NO GAIN if it was easy everyone would do it! I fear not living up to my true potential.
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
I don’t think we ever reach “success” I just think we get better at pushing through. My workouts in the gym today are 10x as hard as it was when I started in the gym but I’m just as exhausted at the end. Grit gets you to the next level!
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)
1) GRIT is an overall mentality.
Life is a mental game! If you don’t ever quit you don’t ever lose. There are people who have nothing but are happy, the only way to do that is “Grit” or by being mentally strong.
2) Mental Toughness Teaches GRIT
We believe everything we tell ourselves if we tell ourselves something long enough you will believe it. I decided to tell myself I am mentally tough and nothing can stop me. I decided to tell myself that I’m happy! I now believe that!
3) Fitness Teaches GRIT
David Goggins says that humans give up when they are only 40% of our real strength. I believe most normal people give up way before 40%, I think the people Goggins hangs with give up at 40% and they are the top percent of athletes or navy seals, and I always work to push myself to be in that top percent.
4) Dedication to Diet Teaches GRIT
I started a vegan diet just so I can prove to myself I can do anything I set my mind to.
5) Dedication to Health and Wellness Teaches GRIT
I quit drinking or any foreign substance 4 years ago cold turkey and still haven’t had any just to prove to myself that I don’t need it to make me feel good.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?
So many to choose from… but also none that I think overall changed anything. I learned along the years that you can never count on anyone because no one owes you anything, and if you wait for it, it will never come; if and when it comes you are grateful for it.
I’m always grateful for my family (who didn’t help my career). If I had to choose one person real estate related I would say, Joseph Friedman who was the COO at Nooklyn (the first real estate firm I worked at), he did help me, but I worked my ass off to get his attention and to prove to him I was worth it.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’m not sure, I always want to give back and impact people in a positive way but I haven’t done enough yet since you have to ask me this question.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Absolutely! I think any time you help someone find a home, be it a 12-month rental or a home they buy that they will live in for years to come, helping them find the right home and make the process as easy as possible always helps! There are a few other exciting projects in the pipeline that I can’t talk about yet.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I listen to Gary Vee (Gary Vaynerchuk) a lot; he has taught me so much. The most important thing(s) I’ve learned from him is that we each have our own journeys and life is not a race. I’ve also learned from him to not judge others, but to try to understand them. I think that’s an important message, we need to be more caring and understanding with each other, but also on the same note… I don’t like when people complain or are “victims” but are not willing to put in the work to change their situation. But on the same note, I understand that we are all on our own journeys and you never know what might be holding someone back.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Everything you want is right outside of your comfort zone” — Anonymous
I know that in order to grow in life I have to step outside of my comfort zone; if it were easy everyone would do it.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
@TheIsaacRosenberg on Instagram or Isaac Rosenberg on any other platform.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Thank you for having me! Your questions inspired me!
Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success, with Isaac Rosenberg of Compass was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
