Growth Mindset - Winning The Day

Four Factors You Need To Create Any Outcome

02/01/202307/22/2023 Mark Johnson 1 Comment

As a real estate professional or affiliate service provider, do you ever wonder,

“How can I be more outcome focused?”

If the answer is yes, you’ll find value in this post.

The latest numbers show roughly 2 million licensed real estate agents in the United States. That’s about one agent for every 52 households. About 65% of these agents (1.3 million ) choose to be held to a higher standard and join the National Association of REALTORS^®.

What’s the difference? That title REALTOR^®is essential to know because it separates the professionals from the rest. Becoming a member requires adherence to a strict Code of Ethics and agree to be held accountable by a local board. All agents are agents, yet not all agents are REALTORS^®; there is a difference.

As you can imagine, professional real estate sales is a competitive space. Not too long ago, nearly 5.3 million homes sold in the US annually, which means, on average, the typical agent closes three transactions.

‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started’ ~ Mark Twain

Productivity matters as today’s modern consumers want to be confident that they deal with a full-time professional, not a hobbyist. Productivity matters to the top producing associate as they desire to be surrounded by other high-producing full-time professionals.

Iron sharpens iron is the mindset for peak performance.

There are four factors you need to create any outcome.

First is a solid Mindset
Second is a strong Game Plan
Third is sales Skills
Fourth is a complete set of Tools

Mindset is #1 because, without it, you are paralyzed. You can have the best strategy, yet you will struggle to execute consistently if you are not in a growth mindset.

A solid game plan is second, as all top performers I’ve studied have one. A start-to-finish step-by-step checklist that is simple to follow and execute. Now you may have seen these two great quotes about planning from Dwight Eisenhower, a 5 Star General, and our 34^thPresident:

“No plan ever survives the first contact with the enemy,” and “In preparing for battle, I have found that planning is useless, yet planning is indispensable!”

Meaning the skill of being adaptable – quick on your feet – is critical to success in any endeavor.

Skills come in third, as we all need the skills to execute the game plan. One of the four critical skills for the modern sales professional is understanding “why they buy.” Once you have mastered why they buy, your results will skyrocket.

Fourth, what’s in your tool bag? Tools help you uncover and serve buyers, sellers, and investors. Tools can help you automate, eliminate, or delegate critical tasks. Top performers have essential systems for operations – a CRM, for example – and marketing automation.

Teams. One of the trends in professional real estate sales is teaming up. It’s hard to go solo; even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Teams outproduce an individual and create a better consumer experience for the client and a better quality of life for the agent. CoRecruit recently released a comprehensive guide covering the six factors to master before you create a team, part of which is covered in the blog to team or not to team.

Some suggest that professional coaching makes a difference in your performance; our survey shows that to be true. Yet, our survey also showed that being an active member of a small weekly accountability group can be just as effective. Those agents that participated in both – coaching and small groups – created exponentially higher earnings.

There you have it, four ways plus a bonus way to be more productive.

A solid mindset,
A well-thought-out game plan,
Persuasive skills,
Tools designed for productivity,
And teaming up.

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count” ~ Muhammad Ali.

Mindset, Game Plan, Skills and Tools — Mindset, Game Plan, Skills, and Tools

It’s Not Necessarily How Hard You Try; Ask Avis

01/31/202302/03/2023 Mark Johnson Leave a comment

It’s not necessarily how hard you try; ask Avis.

The top 1% know you can spend an inordinate amount of effort inefficiently and gain nothing, and sometimes you can invest less effort more efficiently and gain plenty.

Choose more often what’s important over what’s urgent.

The best entrepreneurial drug: momentum. And the hardest part of building momentum is starting. A barrier to starting: the daily whirlwind.

Start with the “not to do list!”

Why?

There are few things as pointless as doing something well that shouldn’t be done at all.

#100DaysOfSuccess

PS: Looking to increase your real estate team or office recruiting game? Book a demo to find out how we can 5X your ROI.

Start With The "Not To Do" List! — Start With The “Not To Do” List!

Persistence Is Difference Than Pressure

01/30/202306/17/2024 Mark Johnson 2 Comments

Persistence is different than pressure!

The top 1% understand that persistence is much different than pressure and that you must expand your perspective to be persistent.

One study shows – in a service business – 2% of sales are made on the first contact and 80% of sales between the fifth and twelfth contact.

Only 25% of “leads or inquiries” ever receive a second contact.

Persistence is the key to your success.

In a study specifically related to real estate sales, sales professionals that made three attempts vs. those that made five or more attempts had more than a $100K difference in annual income.

Persistence is easy when you believe in something and your value.

Pressure is when you just want to make a sale.

One works, and the other does not.

You’ll Get Knocked Down And Then Get Up Again

01/29/202302/03/2023 Mark Johnson Leave a comment

“You’ll get knocked down and then get up again” is more than the lyrics of Tubthumping by Chumbawamba.

The top 1% know that there are so many outcomes we can’t control. Even Epictetus (55 – 135 AD) wrote, “control what you can and let go of what you can’t control.”

Every high-performing individual I’ve worked with – in one way or another – runs their business or charity with this mantra: “some things are up to us, and others are not!”

We can’t control the market.
We can’t control the opinions of other people
We can control our daily routines
We can control our response to events
We can control the meaning we attach to things

That’s what the top 1% have mastered:

Some things are up to us, and others are not.

You’ll get knocked down, and it’s up to you if you get up again.

#100DaysOfSuccess

PS: Looking to increase your real estate team or office recruiting game? Book a demo to find out how we can 5X your ROI.

You’ll Get Knocked Down And Then Get Up Again

Successful Thinking

01/28/202302/03/2023 Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Successful thinking.

David Schwartz said it well:

“Where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches or pounds, or college degrees, or family background; they are measured by the size of their thinking.”

From Maxwell: When Jack Welch would tell A GE employee that an ongoing relationship was more important than the sale of a single product: bigger picture.

When parents are fed up with poor grades or other difficulties and one reminds the other – this is temporary – bigger picture.

Why not think bigger?

How? Maxwell says:

Don’t strive for certainty
Learn from every experience
Gain insight from a variety of people
Give yourself permission to expand your world

#100DaysOfSuccess

PS: Looking to increase your real estate team or office recruiting game? Book a demo to find out how we can 5X your ROI.

Fear vs. Focus

01/27/202302/15/2023 Mark Johnson Leave a comment

The top 1% understand this:

Fear causes you to lose your focus
Greed causes you to lose your focus

The remedy?

Do the opposite:

Hope creates focus
Generosity creates focus
Alignment with your purpose creates focus

From 1957 till his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. traveled over six million miles. He spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice – leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964).

Steve Jobs, renowned for his ability to focus, memorably explained that “focusing is about saying no,” so you create more time for your primary yes.

What do you need to say no to?

#100DaysOfSuccess

PS: Looking to increase your real estate team or office recruiting game? Book a demo to find out how we can 5X your ROI.

Goal Setting vs. Goal Getting

01/26/202301/23/2023 Mark Johnson Leave a comment

The top 1% are not impressed with goal setting; they are impressed with goal getting.

Reaching new goals – being a goal-getter – and moving to a higher level of performance always requires change, and change feels awkward. Yet the top 1% understand that change is situational, yet transition is psychological. All transitions have an ending, a neutral zone, and a new beginning.

Take comfort in the knowledge that if a transition doesn’t feel uncomfortable, it’s probably not really a transition; it is more like rearranging the same furniture around in the same room.

In transition, disorientation is normal before equilibrium comes back.

What is standing backstage – and might be uncomfortable yet exponentially powerful – in your business ready to make an entrance?

#100DaysOfSuccess

Growth Does Not Just Happen

01/25/202304/03/2023 Mark Johnson Leave a comment

The knowledge you need to reach your dreams isn’t going to track you down and force itself upon you.

Growth does not just happen.
The top 1% have become intentional learners.

There are numerous benefits to becoming an intentional learner: You become more creative, and you develop your own unique perspective and exposure to ideas on how to improve business.

When the student is ready, the teacher arrives!

The Quantum Leap Strategy

01/23/202305/27/2023 Mark Johnson 2 Comments

Consider this:

Today’s smartphone have the same computing power as the whole US government in 1983
3D printing is the only technology where a more complex object doesn’t cost more to make
The average lifespan of an S&P 500 company has gone from 67 years to 12 years today
Autonomous driving cars will prevent 30,000 road deaths in the US alone

Exponential Growth

Exponential growth does not just apply to technology, large or small firms. Exponential growth applies to you and me.

One of the most influential books I’ve read. The book is just 36 pages long yet is packed with practical insight and action-creating motivation. It’s called “You Squared by Price Pritchett,” an instruction manual for taking a quantum leap in your business and life.

Pritchett states, “we don’t have to be content with incremental, gradual change through applying hard work. Rather, we are capable of an explosive jump in performance at an accelerated rate, requiring less effort.” How?

Here is a summary:

Quit Trying Harder – Trying harder only produces incremental gains. A quantum shift is an elegant solution requiring less effort.

Ignore Conventional Approaches – A quantum leap requires an abrupt change in behavior. It requires finesse over effort, simplicity over complexity, a new paradigm, and a fresh perspective.

Think Beyond What Common Sense Would Allow – Quantum leaps require “uncommon sense.” Rethink your thinking. Violate the boundaries of the probable.

Suspend Disbelief – Act as if your success is for certain and proceed boldly.

Focus On Ends Rather Than Means – Having a clear picture of what you want to accomplish is crucial. Solutions will appear. Draw the map as you go.

Rely On Unseen Forces – When you focus on the clear picture of what you want to accomplish and move confidently toward it, unexpected and unknown resources materialize.

Choose A Different Set Of Rules – You can never avoid risk; you can only choose which risks you will take. Risk believing in yourself.

Trust In The Power Of The Pursuit – Dreams begin to crystallize into reality when they are pursued, because the world behaves differently when you go after what you want.

Seek Failure – Unless you are willing to fail, you will never have the opportunity to test the limits of what you can accomplish.

Get Uncomfortable – Quantum leaps jerk you out of your comfort zone. If you aren’t experiencing discomfort, the risk you are taking probably isn’t worthy of you.

Open Your Gifts – Unused gifts are waiting to play a role in your quantum leap; open them.

Fall In Love – Create a dramatic dream that goes beyond the ‘reasonable,’ and then allow it to become your “magnificent obsession.”

Make Your Move Before You Are Ready – You don’t prepare for a quantum leap; you make it… and then fine-tune it as you go.

Look Inside For The Opportunity – Everything else that’s needed comes from inside you, not from anything outside you.

If you take the leap, consider what area of your business is holding you back.

Maybe it’s hiring an assistant, outsourcing that new digital ad campaign you desire but don’t have the skills or time to pursue, or delegating your files to a transaction coordinator? Whatever it is, one or more of the principles Pritchett presents, I suspect, resonates with you, so… just do it!

Take the leap… and see you and your business take a quantum leap.

#WinTheDay