Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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>4.2K subscribers
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Brandon DonnellyA bias toward action
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyA bias toward action
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2025 was a tough year to be a real estate developer in Toronto. And it was a tough year for a whole host of reasons, not all of which you might immediately expect. In addition to it being challenging (and in some cases impossible) to underwrite new projects, raise capital, sell pre-construction homes and many other things, it was also a challenging market from a psychological standpoint.
Real estate development is a business that arguably attracts "Type-A" personalities. These are people who stereotypically tend to be ambitious, driven, competitive, and impatient. Said differently, they tend to have a strong bias toward action and a strong internal locus of control. I'm certainly programmed this way. I have a real problem with free time, and I'm at my happiest when I'm achieving things. I'm sure that many of you are the same way.
However, when the market is soft or shut off, the primary modus operandi of action gets neutralized. And since people with a strong internal locus of control believe that it is their individual actions that directly lead to successes and failures, this can create a psychological crisis. Am I the one failing? Is there anything else that I could be doing to create action, right now? (Simply waiting could be the correct answer.)
The older I get, the more I realize that an important skill in life and business is managing your own psychology. In fact, it may be the most important skill of all. So, what I have been doing as of late is continually reframing the current market. Rather than focusing on what's not happening, I like to remind myself that this market is surely presenting the greatest set of opportunities that I have seen in my real estate career.
It may not feel like the typical kind of action right now, but everything is strategic preparation.
Cover photo by Jānis Beitiņš on Unsplash
2025 was a tough year to be a real estate developer in Toronto. And it was a tough year for a whole host of reasons, not all of which you might immediately expect. In addition to it being challenging (and in some cases impossible) to underwrite new projects, raise capital, sell pre-construction homes and many other things, it was also a challenging market from a psychological standpoint.
Real estate development is a business that arguably attracts "Type-A" personalities. These are people who stereotypically tend to be ambitious, driven, competitive, and impatient. Said differently, they tend to have a strong bias toward action and a strong internal locus of control. I'm certainly programmed this way. I have a real problem with free time, and I'm at my happiest when I'm achieving things. I'm sure that many of you are the same way.
However, when the market is soft or shut off, the primary modus operandi of action gets neutralized. And since people with a strong internal locus of control believe that it is their individual actions that directly lead to successes and failures, this can create a psychological crisis. Am I the one failing? Is there anything else that I could be doing to create action, right now? (Simply waiting could be the correct answer.)
The older I get, the more I realize that an important skill in life and business is managing your own psychology. In fact, it may be the most important skill of all. So, what I have been doing as of late is continually reframing the current market. Rather than focusing on what's not happening, I like to remind myself that this market is surely presenting the greatest set of opportunities that I have seen in my real estate career.
It may not feel like the typical kind of action right now, but everything is strategic preparation.
Cover photo by Jānis Beitiņš on Unsplash
1 comment
2025 was a tough year to be a real estate developer in Toronto. And it was a tough year for a whole host of reasons, not all of which you might immediately expect. https://brandondonnelly.com/a-bias-toward-action