Do The Next Right Thing!

Winning the Day: Stop Overthinking and Take the Next Step

The fuel and inspiration for today’s thoughts come directly from James Clear, author of the incredible book Atomic Habits. Applying his mindset to our industry completely changes how we operate.

If you run a real estate brokerage, lead a mortgage team, or operate as a top producing agent, you probably spend a lot of time putting out fires. It is completely natural to look at your pipeline, your recruiting numbers, or your profit margins and immediately ask, “What is wrong and how do I fix it?”

But what if that is the exact wrong approach?

Try flipping the script this week. Instead of focusing on the problems, ask yourself, “What is right and how do I grow it?”

Maybe your buyer pipeline is slow, but your top three agents are absolutely dominating their listing appointments. Stop obsessing over the weakness and pour your energy into scaling the strength. Double down on what is already working in your business and build momentum from there.

The Truth About Clarity

As industry leaders, we often paralyze ourselves by thinking we need the perfect long term business plan to move forward. But what of clarity is not about knowing what you want to do with your entire business forever. What if clarity is simply about knowing what you want to do this week.

You do not need to have it all figured out. You just need to know your next step. Make the recruiting calls. Book the coffee meetings with your title partners. Focus entirely on the immediate action right in front of you.

Rethinking Failure

Taking action means you will inevitably hit roadblocks. But how you view those roadblocks depends entirely on the strategy you are executing.

When you are on a good path, it is only a failure if you stop. It is a lesson if you keep going.

When you are on a bad path, it is only a failure if you keep going. It is a lesson if you stop.

You have to know the difference between a tough season that requires persistence and a dead end that requires a pivot. If you are consistently following up with your past clients and not seeing immediate return, keep going. That is a good path. If you are dumping thousands of dollars into a lead generation source that produces zero return on investment, stop. Take the lesson and move on.

Create Your Own Luck

At the end of the day, you cannot get lucky if you do not take action. The best opportunity in the world is just a missed opportunity if you do not reach out and grab it. The agents, loan officers, and recruiters who are winning in this market are not waiting for interest rates to drop or conditions to be perfect.

They are finding what works, figuring out their next step, and taking action.

Now we can go win the day.

Framework: This post is part of Action Produces Data, the coaching framework for consistent production: take the next right action, track it and let the results, not opinions, guide what you do next.

Do The Next Right Thing!

Want help applying this in your brokerage? Book a 30-minute conversation with Mark at calendly.com/mjsession.

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Mark D. Johnson

Mark D. Johnson, MBA, is Managing Partner of Recruiting Insight and the former CEO of the nation's 35th largest brokerage firm, which he grew roughly fivefold to $8 billion in annual sales. A real estate broker since 2000 and a California licensed broker, he is adjunct faculty at Chapman University and South Orange County Community College District, and author or co-author of six California real estate textbooks and the book Up In Your Business. He coaches broker-owners, managers and recruiters on recruiting, retention and leadership.

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