Blog > Big Decisions Don't Move Fast
A lifetime spent around old timers taught me patience.
Not the kind you talk about. The kind you learn because there’s no other option.
I didn’t realize how much that would matter later, especially in my real estate business. Decisions to buy or sell large assets don’t always happen fast. And they shouldn’t.
Deciding to sell a family-owned farm sometimes takes years, not weeks. Long before a sign ever goes up, the decision has already been turning quietly. Around kitchen tables. During long drives. After harvests. After funerals. Often these conversations don't get finished.
I once negotiated the terms of a purchase agreement for four months.
Four months of waiting. Talking. Listening. Letting things breathe. Some would’ve pushed harder or walked away early. Old timers taught me that forcing things usually costs more than waiting ever does.
They were patient because life required it.
Growing food was slow. You planted and waited. Harvest came when it was ready, not when you wanted it. Correspondence was slow too. Letters took days or weeks. Decisions were thought through, not rushed.
There were no microwaves. No cell phones. No instant answers. If you wanted something done right, you stayed with it.
Old timers didn’t rush because rushing didn’t help. You couldn’t hurry rain, crops, or people. Trying only made you tired.
That carried into how they handled big decisions. Land. Equipment. Family matters. They took time because they understood the cost of getting it wrong.
In real estate, impatience shows up fast. People want answers immediately. But the best outcomes often come when you give people room to think and don’t mistake silence for disinterest.
Old timers knew that quiet doesn’t mean nothing’s happening.
Sometimes it means someone’s thinking.
Patience doesn’t look productive from the outside. But it saves you from mistakes you don’t even know you’re about to make.
They didn’t call it strategy.
They called it sense.
And it’s served me well ever since.
Dennis Prussman,
Premier Land & Auction Group
Real Broker, LLC,