Tag: Goal Setting

A few of my readers have asked me to re-cap what happened in the U.S. Senate today – here is my take: 

On March 12, 2026, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in an 89–10 vote. This landmark bipartisan legislation led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) represents the most significant federal housing overhaul in decades.

The bill combines the Senate’s “ROAD to Housing Act” with the House’s “Housing for the 21st Century Act” to address the national shortage of nearly 4.7 million homes.

Executive Summary

The primary goal of the Act is to boost housing supply and lower costs by cutting federal “red tape,” modernizing aging housing programs, and incentivizing local governments to reform restrictive zoning and permitting rules. While largely praised for its supply-side reforms, the bill includes a controversial provision targeting corporate landlords that has sparked intense debate among industry stakeholders.

Key Highlights & Provisions

1. Restrictions on Institutional Investors (Section 901)

The most discussed addition is a provision titled “Homes are for People, Not Corporations.”

• The Ban: Prohibits “large institutional investors” (entities owning 350 or more single-family homes) from purchasing additional single-family properties.
• Build-to-Rent (BTR) Mandate: Requires institutional investors to sell build-to-rent homes to individual buyers within seven years of construction.
• Controversy: Critics, including the National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argue this will stifle investment and could slash single-family production by 40,000 units per year.

2. Cutting Regulatory Red Tape

• Environmental Streamlining: Categorically excludes certain low-impact projects (like infill and rehabilitation) from rigorous NEPA reviews to speed up construction.
• Pattern Book Grants: Provides funding for cities to adopt “pre-approved” building designs, allowing developers to bypass lengthy permit approvals for standardized housing types.
• Rural Housing Reform: Streamlines the joint review process between HUD and the USDA for projects receiving funding from both agencies.

3. Modernizing Federal Grants (HOME & CDBG)

• CDBG Flexibility: For the first time, allows Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to be used for new housing construction (previously limited to rehabilitation).
• Incentive Adjustments: Starting three years after enactment, CDBG funding may be adjusted by 10% based on a community’s actual housing production.
• HOME Program: Expands income eligibility to better support “workforce housing” and authorizes funds for infrastructure (like water/sewer) adjacent to housing projects.

4. Supporting Diverse Housing Options

• Manufactured Housing: Updates federal rules and provides grants (via the PRICE program) to preserve and maintain manufactured home communities.
• RESIDE Act: Authorized to help local governments convert vacant or abandoned commercial structures into “attainable housing.”
• Public Welfare Cap: Increases the cap on bank “public welfare investments” from 15% to 20%, encouraging more private bank capital to flow into affordable housing.

5. Unexpected Provisions

• CBDC Moratorium: Includes a temporary ban on the Federal Reserve issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) through 2030, a priority for some conservative lawmakers.

What’s Next?

The bill now returns to the House of Representatives. While the House passed a previous version 390–9, leaders like Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-AR) have signaled that the Senate’s new investor restrictions and the removal of certain community banking provisions may require further negotiations or a conference committee to reconcile the two versions.

“Successful repetitions build competence. Failed repetitions build resilience.”

Read that again.

We talk a lot about confidence in this business. We talk about the mindset it takes to knock on a door after a rejection, to pick up the phone after a dead lead, to walk into a listing appointment after losing the last three.

What we do not talk about enough is where that confidence actually comes from.

It does not come from winning. Not entirely.

Winning builds your skill. It teaches you what works, sharpens your process, and gives you the evidence that you are capable. Every closed deal, every funded loan, every signed contract is a data point that says you know what you are doing.

But winning does not teach you what to do when it falls apart.

That is what failure does.

Every deal that blew up at the title table. Every client who went with another agent after three months of your time. Every rate lock that expired at the worst possible moment. Those are not just painful memories. They are proof that you survived. That you came back. That the ground did not swallow you whole.

When the next hard thing comes, and it will, your brain does not just ask “can I do this?” It also asks “have I been here before?”

If the answer is yes, the fear shrinks.

This is why veterans in this business carry themselves differently. Not because everything went right for them. Because enough went wrong and they are still here.

Do not waste your failures. They are building something in you that success never could.

Your pipeline is full. Your calendar is stacked. You have three offers pending, two listings coming, and a referral partner who wants lunch this week.

And somehow, nothing is moving.

Here is what most high performers do in that moment. They add. Another system. Another tool. Another meeting. Another strategy session with themselves at midnight.

Wrong direction.

When performance stalls, the instinct is to do more. But more is usually not the problem. More is usually the symptom.

The best agents and MLOs I have watched work through a plateau did not find their way out by adding. They found it by cutting. They dropped the two clients who were consuming 40% of their energy and producing 10% of their revenue. They stopped attending the networking event that felt productive but never converted. They deleted the apps that created the illusion of work without the output.

Clarity is not something you find. It is something you uncover.

Think about your business right now. Not the version you are building toward. The one you are actually running today. What is on your plate that does not belong there? What are you holding onto because you said yes six months ago and do not know how to say not yet?

A transaction coordinator who is stretched across too many files makes mistakes. An MLO chasing every lead type closes none of them well. An agent who is everything to everyone becomes nothing to the right client.

Subtraction is not giving up. It is getting precise.

The most dangerous word in a high performer’s vocabulary is not no. It is yes, said to the wrong thing at the wrong time.

So before you build a new plan, audit the current one. Not for what to add. For what to remove.

When you need clarity, subtract.

Over the next few posts we will do this together. Simplify. Survive. Stay grounded. Embrace the hard. Build something that lasts.

I was talking to a colleague recently who was convinced the sky was falling. Between the inventory ups and downs and the latest round of law suits and regulatory headaches, they felt like they were constantly playing defense. It is a familiar feeling in our world. If you have been in real estate, lending, or title for more than five minutes, you know that moment when a challenge stops feeling like a speed bump and starts looking like a brick wall.

The natural instinct is to vent, white-knuckle it, and pray for things to go back to normal. But “normal” is a moving target.

Lately, I have been leaning on a concept from Ryan Holiday’s book, The Obstacle Is the Way. The core idea is simple, but it hits hard: the thing blocking your path isn’t just an annoyance. It is the path.

Shifting the Lens

In our industry, we are constantly navigating high-stakes deals and big personalities. We tend to see obstacles as distractions from our “real” work. Holiday argues (drawing from Stoic philosophy) that our interpretation of the problem is actually the bigger problem.

Look at the market shifts we have survived. When rates jumped, some people pulled the covers over their heads. But the high performers I know? They treated it like a masterclass. They stopped leaning on easy “order-taking” refis and finally mastered the art of the tough conversation. They got creative with financing because they had to. As Holiday puts it:

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Recruiting in a Gritty Market

I see this all the time with broker owners and recruiters. When the “top producers” are staying put, you can either complain about a stagnant talent pool or you can innovate. This obstacle forces you to stop selling generic splits and start selling actual culture and better systems.

If it is hard to hire right now, that struggle is just a spotlight. It is showing you exactly where your value proposition is weak or where your training needs a renovation. The difficulty isn’t stopping you; it is showing you where to build.

The Deal Killer (and the Tough Candidate) Are Your Best Teachers

For the MLOs, agents, and recruiters in the trenches: we all have that one “impossible” file. It is the one with the nightmare appraisal or the title issue that feels like a dead end. For a recruiter, it is the candidate who has every reason to stay put or the one who ghosts you at the eleventh hour.

It is easy to call these a waste of time. But looking back at my own career, the “deal killers” and the “ungettable” candidates were my best mentors. They forced me to collaborate with affiliate partners in ways I never had to before. They forced me to solve real business problems instead of just pitching a desk. I did not just get through those messes; I became a better professional because the situation was difficult.

Making it Practical

When you hit that next wall (and we both know it is coming) try to look at it through the three steps Holiday outlines:

• Perception: Drop the drama. It is not “bad” that lead flow slowed down; it is just a data point. What is actually happening?
• Action: Stop waiting for the perfect time to move. If the front door is locked, find a window. What is the one deliberate step you can take right now?
• Will: This is the internal grit. It is accepting the market for what it is and deciding to use this pressure to get stronger.

The Bottom Line

We do not grow when things are easy. We grow when the market or the competition forces us to find a gear we did not know we had. The obstacle isn’t blocking the road; it is the road.

Next time you are feeling stuck, ask yourself: What is this mess trying to teach me that I was too comfortable to learn before?

Source Reference: Holiday, R. (2014). The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph.Portfolio/Penguin.

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.