Just recently my husband and I brought a new puppy into our lives. This is Rubble, an 11-week English Cream Retriever. While he’s undoubtedly adorable (I may be a little biased), these past few weeks have been particularly trying on our fresh marriage and lives as a whole.

A few nights ago, while lying in bed (wide awake) listening to his peaceful breathing just inches away from his crate, I realized that there are multiple similarities between raising a new puppy and starting a new career.

Setting a schedule.

The day that we brought him home, we watched him explore his new surroundings. But after the novelty wore off, he kind of looked at us like “well, what’s next?” Great question, Rubble.

Like a new career, we quickly realized that setting a schedule would be imperative. Without an agenda, things will flounder. From day one, determining when you’ll be in the office, how long you’ll spend prospecting, and even when you’ll take breaks will help things run as smoothly as possible.

Learning to be efficient.

There were a few days where we felt like we couldn’t get anything done. We would spend hours obsessing over little details, and before we knew it, the day was over. We had to learn to take the free time that we had, and make the most of it. For instance, while he’s sleeping, we’ll do housework.

When it comes to a career, being efficient is key. Your time is money, and you need to be as productive as possible. Relying on automation to help manage leads and e-mail campaigns from the gate can help you maximize your time.

Running on little sleep.

Okay, call us naïve, but we were not expecting how this little terror would affect our sleeping patterns. Gone are the days of hitting snooze until 9am on the weekends. Although sleep is an intricate part of life, we’re still breathing and fully functioning!  Yes, getting up at 3am to take him outside is frustrating, however, we now realize that the reward—a well trained and housebroken pup—is far greater than the risk.

For a new career, the reward of working grueling hours on limited sleep is success. Working into the wee hours of the morning will give you the upper-hand over competition, paving the road to the top.

Accepting failures.

Failing in life is often inevitable, but that doesn’t make it sting any less. Going a week without him chewing on the furniture only to hear my favorite pillow being ripped to shreds is tough. But, it’s just a minor speed bump.

With a brand new career, minor setbacks are bound to happen. Maybe you’re not seeing the results on social media that you hoped you would see, or a listing appointment doesn’t go as well as you had hoped. But like anything else, it takes time. If you’re not willing to accept failing, you’ll never get anywhere.

Celebrating small victories.

With a puppy, the little things are the big things. It’s the look on his face when he finally starts to understand a new command, or it’s making it all the way around the block without him trying to gobble up his leash.  Trust us, we celebrate them all, and you should too.

If you’ve prospected for weeks, and only have one listing, stop moping and start celebrating. You’ve accomplished something. It might not feel like a lot, but it’s something, and that’s so much more than when you started.

At the end of the day, change is the most constant variable in life. With any new addition to your life (a new puppy or career) comes an immense amount of change. But learning to adapt and dive headfirst will only make you stronger in the long run.