You are tolerating more than you think. We put up with, accept, take on, and are dragged down by people’s behavior, situations, unmet needs, crossed boundaries, unfinished business, frustrations, problems, and even our own behavior.

So what are you tolerating? Take a couple of minutes to write down stuff you that you are putting up with. Not the stuff you can’t change or have no control over, but things like that 5 lbs that hangs around because it really doesn’t bug you enough to motivate you to go to the gym. Or that pile of papers that has sat on the corner of your desk for the last 3 weeks.

As you think of more items, add them to your list. Do you have to do anything about them? No, not really. Just becoming aware of and articulating them will bring them to the forefront of your mind and you’ll naturally start handling, eliminating, fixing, growing through, and resolving these them.

 Carpe diem,

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We can all admit that it has been a bit tougher to make the same lifestyle in today’s market versus a few years ago.  I have seen a number of 25 year + veterans decide to cash out and retire just because they “know how hard I need to work to make it in this market and don’t have it in me.” 

I have watched the markets cycle and it is in these markets that the pros gain their biggest market share gains.  The dollars may be harder to come by, but these markets are necessary because it forces us to dig in get good at our skills, work harder and evaluate everything we do. 

What do you look to for strength when the going gets tough?  Why do you do what you do?  What keeps you disciplined enough to go do the things you dislike to get the things you want?

Carpe diem,

The threat of a consequence is a very effective push structure, since human beings are genetically designed for “fight or flight”, when threatened. So, consequence works well, but it is expensive to our bodies, minds and hearts. Pleasure is a better, more sustainable, less costly approach. This is not peacock-feather hedonism, instead, it’s more like joy. Joy happens when your whole person is engaged (mind, heart, soul, body), integrated and working together seamlessly. What would your day be like if you were motivated by pleasures instead of avoiding or attempting to stay one step ahead of a consequence? We’re pulled by pleasures, but we’re pushed by consequences.

Carpe diem,

There are two main reasons why some of our greatest agents aren’t achieving the completely realistic benchmark of 50% for referrals from their active clients.  First, Most of us assume that our clients know what to do and understand our love for referrals.  What we forget is that our clients are not in the Real Estate business and need to be educated on how to recognize the “referral moment’ and what to do when it arises.  If we incorporated a simple dialog at our first meeting together saying – “Now that you have made a decision to buy or sell, you will notice a strange phenomenon, much like when you bought your last car (got married, had a baby, etc).  When you were looking at that car and first got it, weren’t you amazed at how many others you saw around?  The same thing happens in real estate.  As you begin looking and throughout this process you will start seeing other people that are looking to buy or sell.  All I ask is that when those situations come up that you remember me.” 

The second is that we do a great job minimizing the great job we do.  Our standard of excellence is a part of our service package and has become old hat to us.  The challenge is that our clients have no idea that our service is exceptional because they don’t have a standard to measure it against.  Overcoming this is easy, especially since the service is there.  We need to start weaving opportunities to tell our clients the truth.  Drama happens in every transaction, and while I am not advocating dragging your clients through the drama, I am simply suggesting you communicate it to your clients with how you saved the day.  If we can also enlist our strategic partners (escrow, title, mortgage, inspectors, TC’s, etc.) to simply drop a note, phone call or comment to our clients to the effect of “I work with a lot of different agents, and I have to tell you how fortunate you are to be working with one the very best.”  You clients feel like a million bucks and it creates an atmosphere for them to say “wow” and tell a friend, or two or twenty.

Carpe diem,

Here are a few of my notes from a seminar by Pat Summitt on Leading to Win

• Recognize that not all are made like you
• Have a great passion for what you do
• Everyone is key
• Teach the importance of the team
• Chemistry of the team is essential
• Motivation is not an issue if you have passion
• You win in life with people
• Discipline yourself so no one else has to
• You have to want to be perfect
• Learn to laugh at yourself
• It is not easy being good
• Create an environment of success
• Enjoy the process

Carpe diem,

Take back control of your time by using the 4D system for tasks.  Evaluate each task and assign it one of the following “D’s”

1.            The first “D” represents “Do it.” These are the things you want to accomplish during the next few weeks. After identifying these tasks, prioritize them so that you start with the most important task first.

2.            The second “D” represents “Delay it.” These are things that you want to do, but can delay until later.

3.            The third “D” represents “Delegate it.“ These are activities and tasks that you can get someone else to do.

4.            Finally, the last “D” stands for “Delete it.” This is stuff you don’t really need to do. Cross them off your list.

Carpe diem,

Quantity and Consistency leads to Quality.  It is very difficult to do anything with enough consistency and repetition that you don’t develop some amount of proficiency over the course of a few months.  Most of us fall guilty of not sticking with something long enough to see it through. 

I truly believe you don’t need to be good at everything, especially in prospecting.  Show me someone who does a little FSBO, a little expired, a little door knocking, a little updesk, a little of this and a little of that and I will show you someone who is getting mediocre results.  There are only a few productive prospecting avenues (vs marketing where the field is almost limitless).  Find one that works for your personality and do it with enough consistency and quantity and you will soon find yourself excelling and becoming the panel speaker for the subject.

Carpe diem,

There is nothing quite as powerful as a person who knows who they are.   Confidence is important in any endeavor.  It is essential in real estate.  Where does your confidence come from?  Is it rooted in your skills, your experience or is it rooted in something deeper?  Your identity is the foundation of everything in your life and business. 

Who are you and why? 

Carpe diem,

If you are going to do any new initiative, whether it be prospecting, dieting or any other daily habit, do it in 90 day commitments.  Most of us try to bite off a life change in one swallow.  The government has learned this lesson and employs an active strategy to combat it, whenever they have a bill that is going to be tough (like a new tax), they will propose it as a temporary fix.  Once everyone gets used to it, they extend it into permanent legislation.  They know it is far easier to extend something that you are used to.

Reward yourself for consistency over 90 days.  Work hard for that time without focus on results, look up at the end and measure your progress and you will be surprised how far you’ve come.

Carpe diem,

Most of our business lives revolve around getting the job done in a timely manner. This means deadlines, accountabilities, and performance measures. Deadlines are great, because they are motivating. On the other hand, there may be a different approach to accomplishment, a different way to get the job done, than to be “guided” by deadlines. Lack of deadlines is difficult to describe. For me it occurs when I spend my days writing what my intuition tells me to write, working on projects that bring me joy and talking with people who make me laugh. Furthermore, I make a really good living. Deadlines? Sure, I have them, but the fewer deadlines I have, the more I earn.

Carpe diem,