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There is a dirt road in Bihar, India that cuts through a 300 foot mountain. The road is 30 feet wide and 360 feet in length with the cliffs extending 25 feet into the air.  It connects a small village to a nearby town providing the residents with access to doctors, schools, food and supplies. It is a humble road, unmarked with any signs of the incredible story behind it’s creation. 

In 1960, after his wife was injured while scaling the rocky footpaths of the village, Dashrath Manjhi had to travel 70 km to reach the nearest hospital.  

Upon his return to the village, he decided and shorter path needed to be created, and so he sold his three goats and began a 22 year construction project to carve a road through a mountain.  

When he began, he was called a madman.  

From 1960 to 1982, Manji worked from early evening until late in the night, using fire to heat the rocks.  He would then douse them with water which cracked the boulders.   With his sledge hammer and crowbar, Manji reduced the hillside to rubble hauling it away inch by inch, stone by stone. 

The impossible, made possible.  One man chipping away at a mountain to benefit the people of his village.

The Navy Seals have a little joke that asks: 

“How do you eat an elephant?” ”One bite at a time.”

This phrase serves only to point out that impossible things only seem impossible when you stand back and look at them from the perspective that something is too large or to hard or to complicated.

Last February, when I made the decision to take on the real estate world, it never occurred to me I would fail.  I didn’t look at the mountain or the elephant.  I didn’t look at the 400 page text book and think I wouldn’t be able to accomplish the task. I took the mountain of knowledge page by page, chapter by chapter and studied the information the instructor provided.   

Unlike Manjhi, I did not do it alone, my wife, my parents, my friends all pushed me.  They offered financial and emotional support so I could be where I am today.  After I completed the course, there were other milestones to face, other mountains to reduce to rubble with my fire and my crowbar.  I had to learn the business of real estate, I had to learn to market myself and compete with 16,000 other agents in the Charlotte area.  I had to stand out and I had to be different.  It’s not easy to get up everyday and create content for social media.  It’s disheartening to see your blog only has 10 followers, and you wonder, why should I write this, if no one will read the words? It’s not easy to feel like the work you are doing is for nothing.  There is rejection and frustration and emails from people who simply don’t want your help.  Your flyers and business cards go into the trash, and the ad you created gets skipped over.  

It’s hard to be told no over and over again, or told what you are doing is the wrong approach and that’s not the way it’s done.   

It’s hard to be called a madman. 

And then, your phone rings and a friendly voice mentions your name.   A referral from a friend or an email comes through congratulating you on your closing. On your desk is a ‘Thank You’ note from the mortgage lender of your last transaction who is writing to simply tell you what a wonderful job you did. 

On Facebook, a stranger recommends you as a local expert and you see your marketing video getting 2,000 views.  Suddenly, those voices once doubting you are praising your approach. Quickly, the villagers can see your progress, and like magic, there is a road before them, they could not see before.  Little by little, I have made my way through this process.  I did not do it alone and there are many people to thank.   However, I am doing it my way.  Which may not be the right way.  It may not be the way other’s have done it or the way other’s with do it in the future.  But this is my road.