Not a fan of cheese sandwiches? It’s okay. You have options!

The story goes like this: a man was in the office lunch room, opened his lunch bag and sighed, "No, not a cheese sandwich again!" Next day, same thing: "No, I can't believe it, another cheese sandwich!"

Then a coworker chimed in, "Why don't you tell your wife to make you something different?" The man looks up from his sandwich and says, "I make my own lunch."

Let me ask you a question: How do you like your own "lunch" these days – in other words, your life?

If you're not where you want to be, let me suggest a trip to the nearest mirror. Now, if you feel like your problems are the fault of someone or something else, please quit reading now. I won't be any help to you. But if you're willing to look in that mirror and admit you're responsible for you and all the situations you sometimes find yourself in, please continue reading – you're the kind of person I like to do business with.

If you remember one thing from this article, please make it this: The most important choice we can make today – and every day – is to adopt a positive attitude and take action.

That's one of the most important lessons I've learned after helping REALTORS® with their businesses over the last 20 years. It all boils down to attitude. You have a choice on how to react to every single thing that occurs in your life.

And here are three other traits of successful REALTORS®:

1. Masters of time management. Every top producer I've ever met understood just how valuable time is in the real estate industry. They came to learn through trial and error which tasks yielded the most return on investment of their time. Then they created an ideal weekly schedule and followed it religiously.