I’ve had a number of calls lately with clients who feel like they are caught in a “bad luck” streak. Between deals falling through at the eleventh hour and a sudden lack of momentum, I can hear it in their voices: the mindset is ripe for a tanking.

When the scoreboard isn’t reflecting your effort, the natural human instinct is to pull back. We want to protect ourselves. We hunker down and over-analyze every mistake, trying to “think” our way back into a winning streak.

But here is the truth about the real estate and lending business: Luck is a volume game.

Stop Over-Analyzing, Start Moving

You cannot think your way out of a slump. You have to work your way out of it. Activity isn’t just about hitting a raw number on a spreadsheet; it is the only way to break a cycle of stagnation. While strategy is the blueprint, activity is the engine.

When you lean into activity during the hard times, you aren’t just “staying busy” – you are generating the data and friction necessary to sharpen your skills.

Reframing the “Bad Luck”

To win the mindset game, you have to change how you view the struggle:

• “Bad Luck” is just Data: It’s a signal that you are in the middle of a cycle. Statistics dictate that if you keep moving, the numbers will eventually swing back in your favor.
• Failed Deals are Real-World Friction: Every deal that falls through is a masterclass in closing. It’s the friction that sharpens your edge for the next one.
• The Struggle is Muscle Soreness: In the gym, soreness is proof of growth. In business, the “uphill” feeling is proof that you are building the capacity for a higher level of success.

Force the Luck to Change

The “Best Practice” targets we aim for – whether it’s high appointment rates or closing ratios – aren’t reserved for the lucky. They are reserved for the persistent.

Don’t wait for your luck to change before you decide to increase your activity. You must increase your activity to force the luck to change. Luck isn’t something that happens to you; it’s something you create by increasing your surface area for opportunity.

The Challenge: Be Like Water

As Bruce Lee famously said, “Be like water.” When water hits an obstacle, it doesn’t stop. It doesn’t get frustrated. It flows around it, finds a new path, and keeps moving toward its goal.

The breakthrough you are looking for – that next recruit, that next loan, that next listing – is usually just one “touch” away.

• One more new conversation.
• One more appointment.
• One more direct closing question.

Who’s ready to change the narrative today?

We’ve all been there. You sit down at your desk, open the CRM, and the list is staring back at you: past clients, recruiting prospects, and referral partners. These are the people who actually drive your business.

But then, that little voice creeps in. “I know I should make these follow-up calls today… but maybe I’ll just tweak my listing presentation graphics instead. Or maybe I’ll reorganize my folders.”

The graphics are shiny. The graphics feel like “progress.” But let’s be real – the graphics aren’t what pays the bills. The connection is.

Success in real estate – whether you’re running a brokerage, recruiting top talent, or closing MLO deals – isn’t found in a revolutionary “hack.” It’s found in the fundamentals. You know them, I know them, and our competitors know them. The difference? Most people find the fundamentals too boring to practice routinely. We chase the “finite” win, but the real game is much bigger than that.

Stop Trying to “Finish” the Game

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how work is endless. Exercise is endless. Parenting, marriage, investing, and leadership? All endless.

In our industry, we are often obsessed with “The Close.” We treat the transaction or the new hire like a finish line. But if you approach an endless game with a finite mindset, you’re going to burn out.

The objective isn’t to be “done” with your lead gen or “finished” with follow-through. The objective is to settle into a sustainable daily lifestyle that allows you to make incremental progress on the areas that matter.

The Shift: From Task to Practice

If you’re feeling the weight of the “endless” nature of follow-up, try shifting your perspective:

• Embrace the Mundane: The highest-performing agents and recruiters aren’t necessarily more talented; they are just better at being “bored.” They’ve accepted that the daily ritual of outreach is the price of entry for an extraordinary life.
• Sustainability over Intensity: You can’t sprint a marathon. Instead of a massive recruiting push once a quarter, find a rhythm of three meaningful follow-up calls a day that you can maintain for a decade.
• Enjoy the Practice: Since the work is never truly “finished,” look for ways to enjoy the daily practice. Find the joy in the conversation, the nuance in the relationship, and the satisfaction in the routine.

The Bottom Line

Don’t get distracted by the “new and shiny” because you’re tired of the “basic.” Your past clients, your prospects, and your partners are waiting to hear from you. The basics are where the legacy is built.

Let’s stop trying to reach the end and start mastering the middle.

I came across an article in The Atlantic recently that’s been rattling around in my head. It hit on something I see constantly, whether I’m standing in front of a classroom or sitting across from executives and top recruiters. We’re all chasing what we call the “good life.”

Here’s the thing about real estate and closing services: the “good life” starts feeling like a treadmill pretty quickly. You know how it goes. You grind through the long hours, land that monster recruit, crush your production goals, or finally push through a nightmare deal. For a moment, you get that rush. “I made it.”

And then, what, three days later? Gone.

Our brains hit reset almost immediately. That massive win? It’s just your new normal. And there you are again, sprinting toward the next high. It’s exhausting. And honestly, it’s not sustainable.

A Reality Check from the 13th Century

The article referenced some philosophy from Thomas Aquinas that seemed to nail this exact problem. Back in the 1200s, Aquinas was asking why humans never feel satisfied. His answer? We spend our lives chasing four things that we think will make us happy, but they just leave us wanting more.

Looking at our industry, from high-performing agents to closing pros, it’s wild how little has changed. Here’s what Aquinas said we chase:

• Money: We treat wealth like it’s the endgame. But a commission check? That’s just fuel to keep working. It’s not a finish line.
• Power: We want control. Control over the market, control over our territory, control over being the biggest name in the zip code. But power for its own sake doesn’t fill anything.
• Pleasure: The weekend getaway, the expensive dinner, the “treat yourself” purchase after a brutal week. Aquinas called this a distraction. And he was right. It’s fleeting.
• Honor: This one hits home in real estate. We chase awards, titles, recognition. But Aquinas argued that honor is just what other people think of us. If we’re more focused on the trophy than the person we’re actually serving, what are we doing?

Flipping the Script

The article also talked about something I love discussing with my students: the satisfaction equation. Most of us are taught to focus on getting more. But satisfaction isn’t about what you have. It’s about the ratio between what you have and what you want.

Satisfaction = What You Have ÷ What You Want

If your wants keep expanding faster than what you’re achieving, you’ll always feel behind. No matter how much you earn. No matter how many offices you open. Aquinas would probably say the trick isn’t just accumulating more. It’s learning to want less. To be content with what you’ve built while you keep building.

Leading Differently

There was one more idea from Aquinas that stuck with me. He defined love as “willing the good of the other.”

Think about that in a business context. How often are we focused on what a recruit or client can do for our numbers? Aquinas is saying: flip it. When you genuinely care about someone’s growth and well-being, not as a means to an end, but as the actual goal, everything shifts. The energy changes. The trust builds. And that foundation doesn’t crack when the market turns.

Final Thoughts

We need to stop waiting for the next milestone to give ourselves permission to enjoy the work. The market’s going to do its thing. Rates will fluctuate. Deals will fall apart. That’s the business.

But if we stop expecting our titles and bank accounts to deliver perfect happiness, we can actually breathe. We can enjoy the imperfect happiness that’s available right now. We can be the professionals who care more about the person than the profit.

When you stop chasing that high so desperately, real success tends to stick around.

In our industry, we’re obsessed with the “Plan.”

We spend weeks on annual forecasts, GCI targets, and recruitment quotas. These are useful, but they are often just guesses dressed up in spreadsheets. We script every objection and map out every touchpoint in the funnel – all necessary work, but it lacks the one ingredient that actually saves a business when things go sideways.

The reality that every Broker-Owner, high-performing agent, or MLO eventually admits is this:

The market doesn’t care about your plan.

Interest rates don’t follow your calendar. Inventory doesn’t always respond to your marketing. And legal or technological shifts can rewrite the rules of the game while you’re mid-presentation. If your success is tied to a specific scenario playing out exactly as you envisioned, you aren’t prepared – you’re lucky.

The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario, but a mindset that can handle uncertainty.

The Trap of Specificity

When we plan for a specific outcome, we develop tunnel vision. We become so committed to “the way it’s supposed to be” that we miss the signals that the world has changed.

My fighter pilot trainer friends call this “target fixation.” It happens when a pilot becomes so locked onto a target that they lose situational awareness and fly straight into the ground. It is a lethal mistake in the air, and it’s dangerous in business.

For a CEO or a top-tier agent, a rigid plan creates fragility. When the market shifts ten degrees to the left, a person stuck in target fixation panics because their map no longer matches the terrain. A leader with an uncertainty-ready mindset doesn’t need the map to be perfect. They have a compass, and they know how to navigate regardless of the weather.

What “Mindset Preparation” Looks Like

To move from “scenario planning” to “uncertainty readiness,” you have to shift your focus from outcomes to capabilities. Here is how that plays out across the office:

1. For the Broker-Owner / CEO: Stress-Test Your Systems

Instead of just forecasting growth based on last year’s numbers, build a business that is “anti-fragile.”

• The Practical Move: Conduct a “Pre-Mortem.” Gather your leadership and ask: “It’s one year from today and our brokerage has failed. What happened?” If the answer is “rates hit 9%” or “a competitor cut splits to zero,” look at your current overhead. Preparation means having a “levers” list – specific expenses you can cut or new revenue streams you can activate within 30 days of a market dip.

2. For the Recruiter: Hire for Coachability, Not Just Production

If you only recruit based on an agent’s past volume, you are buying yesterday’s success. In an uncertain market, you need agents who can adapt.

• The Practical Move: Shift your filter. Instead of just hiring for “production,” hire for “coachability.” If your top producer refuses to learn a new buyer-consultation framework because they are stuck in 2021, they are a liability in a shifting market. Look for the “pivoters” – people who view a market shift as a logic puzzle to solve rather than a catastrophe to endure.

3. For the High-Performing Agent: Diversify Your “Lead Alpha”

The most dangerous number in an agent’s business is the number one. One lead source, one niche, one referral partner.

• The Practical Move: Audit your business. If 80% of your closings come from one specific lead source, you are at the mercy of their plans. Mindset preparation means spending 20% of your time and budget on an “experimental” lead pillar (probate, geo-farming, or video content) that has nothing to do with your main source. You aren’t doing it for the immediate ROI; you’re doing it so that if your main pillar collapses, you aren’t starting from zero.

4. For the MLO: Move from “Product Master” to “Problem Solver”

When rates are low, everyone is a genius. When things get weird, the market moves toward the MLO who can handle complexity.

• The Practical Move: Stop leading with rates and start leading with “scenarios.” Prepare your mindset by mastering three niche products you currently ignore (HELOCs, non-QM, or renovation loans). When a buyer gets cold feet because of a “what if” scenario, your value isn’t your rate sheet. It’s your ability to pivot them into a product they didn’t know existed.

Uncertainty as Your Competitive Advantage

Most people in real estate are waiting for “clarity.” They want to see what the Fed does, what the lawsuits do, or what the economy does before they make a move.

That wait is your window.

While your competitors are paralyzed by the lack of a clear plan, a mindset built for uncertainty allows you to keep moving. You don’t need to know exactly what the finish line looks like to take the next step. You just need to trust that you and your team have the skills to handle whatever is around the corner.

The goal isn’t to be fearless. The goal is to be functional while the rest of the industry is waiting for permission to act.

You’ve seen it happen.

A new agent joins your brokerage, sits next to your top producer for six months, and suddenly they’re closing deals like a veteran. Meanwhile, another agent (equally talented on paper) works remotely, attends the occasional sales meeting, and struggles to gain traction.

What’s the difference? Proximity.

The Fire and the Water

Writer C.S. Lewis put it this way:

“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire. If you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.”

Lewis was talking about spiritual life, but the principle applies directly to business. You can’t learn a listing presentation by reading about it. You need to sit in the room while your top agent delivers one. MLOs don’t master difficult conversations through theory. They need proximity to deals, to underwriting challenges, to client anxiety in real time.

But here’s what Lewis understood that most of us miss: proximity isn’t just about getting close to the right things. It’s also about creating distance from the wrong things.

Which brings me to two questions that could reshape your business in the next 90 days.

Two Questions That Change Everything

Question one: Which activities, if doubled, would make your business meaningfully better?

Question two: Which activities, if halved, would make your business meaningfully better?

Sit with these for a minute. Your gut already knows the answers.

If You’re a Broker Owner:

What if you doubled your one-on-ones with your top 20% producers? What if you doubled the days you spend recruiting versus managing?

And what if you halved the administrative tasks you should have delegated six months ago? What if you halved the transactions you’re still touching personally?

If You’re a Recruiter:

What if you doubled your conversations with passive candidates? What if you doubled your time at industry events where top talent gathers?

And what if you halved the time you spend on agents who are never going to move? What if you halved the generic outreach messages?

If You’re a High-Performing Agent or MLO:

What if you doubled your prospecting hours? What if you doubled face time with your sphere and referral partners?

And what if you halved the appointments you should be delegating? What if you halved your time on social media consumption versus creation?

The answers are uncomfortable. And clarifying.

The Proximity Principle in Action

Here’s what this looks like practically: your business six months from now will be a direct reflection of what you doubled down on and what you cut in half this week.

If you want the results your top producer has, you need proximity to how they think, how they handle objections, how they structure their day. Reading their scripts isn’t enough. You need to be in the room.

If you want a breakthrough in recruiting, you need proximity to the conversations that convert, not just the theory of what should work.

If you want to scale, you need distance from the low-value tasks drowning your calendar.

Lewis was right. You become what you’re near. And you drift from what you avoid.

Your Move

This week, take 15 minutes and answer both questions for your role. Write down your top 5 activities by time spent. Run each one through the filter:

If I doubled this, would my business meaningfully improve? If I halved this, would my business meaningfully improve?

Then make one change. Double one thing. Halve one thing.

The fire is burning. The question is whether you’ll have the discipline to stand near it and step away from the water that’s drowning you.