Today, I’m stepping outside my normal lane. Why? Because an issue has been weighing heavily on my heart and mind, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. When you pick up a cheap T-shirt, grab a morning coffee, or upgrade your phone, forced labor is probably the last thing on your mind. Most […]
Category: Lead Yourself
Personal performance, mindset and daily habits for real estate leaders, agents and students. You can’t lead others further than you lead yourself. Start with Action Produces Data. Theory Produces Opinions.
Stop Waiting for Motivation: Act Your Way Into Believing
The real estate industry is obsessed with “mindset.” We spend millions on keynote speakers trying to change how our agents think, hoping that if we just inspire them enough, their actions will follow. Change your heart, and your actions will change. But what if that model is completely backward? Psychologist George Simon inverts this approach. […]
Character Under Duress: Good Intentions Don’t Run a Brokerage
I was thinking about my father recently, God rest his soul. Whenever I faced a setback, a difficult task, or a situation I wanted to quit, he’d look at me and deliver his famous line: “It builds character.” I wonder if we’ve lost that in today’s society. Today, when things get hard, the default instinct […]
Acting Differently First Can Change What You Believe and Feel
Over 40+ hours on planes, trains, and automobiles over the last few weeks gave me time to reflect on something I’ve learned across 20,000+ hours helping teams improve their business processes, and from my top three influencers in the counseling field. We usually assume change works like this: change your heart, and your actions will […]
Resets Are Built on Rules, Not Feelings
What I learned from Joe DeSena (Mr. Spartan) and others: The market shifts. Rates move. A deal you were counting on dies at the closing table. A top producer you spent six months recruiting ghosts you on signing day. And then comes the feeling. The slump. The “I’ll get back on the phones Monday.” The […]
Lessons In Real Estate from Yoda
Twenty-six years in real estate teaches you a lot. Some lessons came from mentors, some from mistakes, and some, I’m not ashamed to admit, from a little green Jedi. Here’s what Yoda got right. You’re Never Too Wise or Too Old to Learn Something New No matter how skilled you become, there’s always more to learn. […]
Adam Smith Didn’t Say What You Think He Said
I was reading part of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations recently, and someone looked over and said what is that? I said, The Wealth of Nations. From 1776. Ever heard of it? They said no. So I walked them through it. Not the whole book just the core principles. Division of labor. Self-interest and […]
I Wrote This Down in December 2019. It Still Works Today.
The end of 2019. I’m prepping for my 9th Spartan Race: 13 miles, 30 obstacles, several hours on the course and I’m not as prepared like I normally was. But I showed up anyway, because the only thing I refused to let beat me was the “drunk monkey” between my own two ears. That December […]
The Privilege of Getting It Wrong
My family history is Swedish. Which means going to IKEA for me isn’t just a furniture run it’s something closer to Old Home Week. The meatballs. The lingonberries. The assembly instructions that somehow, eventually, make sense. There’s a comfort in it I can’t explain to anyone who didn’t grow up with that heritage. So when […]
Your Market Didn’t Get Soft.You Did.
There’s a moment in a Spartan race, and if you’ve done one, you know exactly what I’m talking about, somewhere around mile eight, soaking wet, covered in mud, muscles telling you every logical reason to stop, where something shifts. The comfortable version of you gets quiet. The real one shows up. I’ve been thinking about […]