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Thinking makes it so

Brandon Donnelly avatar Brandon Donnelly
Cover image for Thinking makes it so

There is a great quote in Shakespeare's Hamlet : "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

The point of this quote is to argue that the universe is fundamentally neutral. When an event happens, it is neither good nor bad; the label is determined by the judgment we ultimately bring to it.

Take snow, for instance.

Here in Toronto, I find that when it snows, people tend to look at it as a bad event. They think of the traffic that will ensue and the work that will be required to clear out walkways and driveways. But I love snow (maybe because I don't have a driveway). Snow is good. As an avid snowboarder, it gets me excited for the winter season.

And right now I can tell you that I'm praying to the snow gods for a dumping or two in Northern Utah. The entire Mountain West region is off to a slow start this season and has had to delay resort openings. My judgment tells me this is "bad."

Now, let's consider the real estate development market.

The prevailing narrative right now is that it's bad. But Hamlet would say that only thinking makes it so. An alternative way to think about the market is that it's presenting a generational buying opportunity .

Like snow, I would call that a good thing.

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Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.