Recently, I posted about the Great Deceleration – that demographic shift coming between 2035 and 2045 where household formation drops to a century-level low. If you missed it, the punchline is simple: the “more people more houses” engine that has powered our industry for 70 years is finally running out of gas.
So, I’ve been thinking: If I’m a real estate investor standing here in 2026, and I can see this cliff coming, what do I actually do about it today?
If the “rising tide” isn’t going to lift all boats anymore, you’ve got to build a better boat. Here is how we pivot from betting on growth to betting on utility.
For decades, the “bread and butter” play was the 3-bedroom suburban starter home. But look at the math: the birth rate is down, and the “Headship Rate” (the Fed’s way of saying “people living alone) is struggling.
The new “starter home” is actually the Senior Downsize. By 2035, every Boomer is 70+. They don’t want to mow three acres anymore, but they aren’t ready for a nursing home.
The Move: Look at 1-2 bedroom “Active Adult” rentals or properties that allow for ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units). If you own the high-quality, low-maintenance unit in a good neighborhood, you own the highest-demand asset of the 2040s.
2. The Rise of the “Multi-Gen” Floorplan
Affordability isn’t just a “phase”; it’s a structural reality. We are seeing a permanent shift toward families “doubling up.”
The Move: Stop looking for “standard” houses. Start looking for properties with two primary suites, finished basements with separate entrances, or “casitas.”
The Logic: You’re looking for a house that can support two “Consumer Units” (as the BLS calls them) under one roof. These properties will be the most resilient because they allow two incomes to split one mortgage.
3. Follow the “New Americans”
As I mentioned in the last post, by the late 2030s, natural population growth goes negative. That means 100% of your new tenant pool will likely come from immigration.
The Move: Get comfortable with ITIN lending and niche community marketing now. If you don’t have a strategy to serve immigrant communities, you are effectively opting out of the only growth segment left in the market.
4. Transition to “Service-Heavy” Real Estate
In a world with fewer new households, you can’t just buy a house, sit on it, and wait for it to appreciate 10% a year. The “easy money” is gone.
The Move: You have to become a Housing Provider, not just a landlord. Whether that’s mid-term rentals for traveling healthcare workers (who are in high demand as the population ages) or “service-plus” rentals for seniors, the profit will come from the service you provide, not just the dirt you own.
The Bottom Line: Utility Wins
The Great Deceleration isn’t a death sentence for real estate; it’s just the end of the “accidental” profit era. The winners of 2035 will be the people who stop asking, “How many people are moving here?” and start asking, “How are the people already here actually living?”
It’s about Utility over Appreciation. It’s about building for the “Silver Tsunami” and the “Multi-Gen” family.
PS: What’s one property in your portfolio right now that fits a “multi-generational” or “senior downsize” model? If you don’t have one, how could you pivot?
There is no national real estate market in 2026. There are many, and they are local.
The Sun Belt Boom has fragmented. The Coastal Strongholds are resurging. And the notion that a single headline number can describe the U.S. housing landscape has finally met the data that disproves it.
Consider two places that share the same name: Orange County. One is a supply-starved fortress of equity. The other is a cautionary tale of rising carrying costs. Same name, mirrored realities. The sharpest illustration of just how far apart the American housing market has pulled.
1. California: The Supply-Starved Citadel
California remains a powerhouse where a chronic lack of new building permits continues to insulate homeowner equity. Home sales continue to outstrip supply, and the Market Action Index has been climbing for several consecutive weeks, a signal that pricing pressure is building, not easing.
Orange County, CA (The MVP): OC leads the state with a median list price of $1,949,499. Inventory has held steady at around 1,828 homes, while the Market Action Index sits at 45, firmly in strong seller’s market territory. Homes are moving at a median of 49 days, and there is no meaningful relief on the supply side in sight.
The Playbook for Agents: Equity Harvesting. With median rents in OC hovering around $5,500, the conversation with high-equity sellers isn’t about whether to move. It’s about how to port that wealth into their next chapter before inventory tightens further. Show them the math. The window is real, but it isn’t permanent.
2. Florida: The Stasis Zone
Florida is navigating a “Triple Threat” of surging insurance premiums, rising HOA fees, and new structural regulations that have effectively ended the quick-flip era. The macro story is still attractive, weather, tax structure, quality of life, but the investment calculus has changed.
Orange County, FL (The Mirror): Here is where the OC comparison becomes instructive. While its California namesake sits at a Market Action Index of 45, OC Florida registers a 34, neutral and drifting. Inventory holds at 3,053 homes, and the median days on market has stretched to 84. Most telling: 40% of active listings have already taken a price reduction. This is not a market in freefall, but it is a market that has lost its momentum.
The Playbook for Investors: Know Your Carry Costs. Price reductions are a lagging indicator. The real risk in OC Florida right now is the spread between acquisition cost and total carrying cost once insurance, HOA, and debt service are calculated. Target properties where that math is transparent and predictable. Avoid anything with deferred structural exposure.
3. Texas: The Builder’s Battlefield
Texas has shifted into a buyer’s buffet, and the scale of it deserves a moment of context. Statewide inventory currently sits at 118,382 units. To put that in perspective, California, a state with roughly the same population, has 40,958 units available. Texas has nearly three times the inventory in a market where the median list price has stalled at $360,000 and homes are sitting for a median of 98 days. The Market Action Index of 31 reflects a market that is technically still in slight seller’s territory but feels nothing like one.
The pressure valve here is the builders themselves. Facing standing inventory and softening demand, major homebuilders are offering rate buy-downs that push effective mortgage rates into the 5.5% range, a level that changes the affordability calculus meaningfully for first-time buyers.
The Playbook for Buyers: Negotiate Everything. With a MAI of 31 and prices flat for several weeks, buyers have genuine leverage, something rare in the post-2020 market. Use the inventory depth to negotiate on price, rate buy-downs, closing costs, and upgrades simultaneously. Builders are motivated. Meet them there.
4. NY Tri-State: The RTO Renaissance
A year ago, the conventional wisdom was that remote work had permanently repriced the calculus of proximity to New York City. That thesis is being stress-tested. As corporate return-to-office mandates have solidified, demand for commutable suburban inventory has surged, and the market has responded.
Statewide inventory sits at a critically low 13,811 units. The median list price is $625,000, and the Market Action Index of 38 reflects a persistent seller’s advantage that has been strengthening for several consecutive weeks. Nearly 50% of homes in the NY Metro sold above asking price in the past year. This is not a market in recovery. It is a market in acceleration.
The Playbook for Agents: Speed Is the Product. At current inventory levels, well-priced properties are not sitting. The agent who builds a pre-market pipeline, connecting motivated sellers with pre-approved buyers before a listing goes live, will outperform the one waiting for the MLS to do the work. In this environment, preparation is the competitive advantage.
2026 Market Intelligence Snapshot
Data verified against Altos Research Real-Time Reports
Market
MAI
Median List Price
Inventory
Median Days on Market
Price Trend
Orange County, CA
45 / Strong Seller
$1,949,499
1,828
49
🟢 Rising
Orange County, FL
34 / Slight Seller
$568,900
3,053
84
🟡 Flat
California (State)
41 / Slight Seller
$749,000
40,958
70
🟢 Rising
Florida (State)
31 / Slight Seller
$490,000
93,425
91
🔴 Softening
Texas (State)
31 / Slight Seller
$360,000
118,382
98
🔴 Softening
New York (State)
38 / Slight Seller
$625,000
13,811
91
🟢 Rising
The “Tariff Tax” on New Construction
Every market, regardless of temperature, is absorbing the same upstream shock: tariffs on lumber and steel are raising the floor on new construction costs, and those costs are being passed through.
The National Association of Home Builders estimates that recent tariff actions have added approximately $10,900 to the cost of a typical new single-family home nationally. Broader industry studies push that figure higher, with some estimates landing between $17,000 and $22,000 in added costs for average new construction.
The regional variance is where it gets striking. One California-specific study found that tariffs could add over $68,000 to the cost of a baseline new home in the state. In a market where the median list price is already $749,000, that represents roughly 9% of median value added before a single buyer negotiation takes place. It is the hidden floor beneath an already elevated market, and it is one reason why existing home values in supply-constrained markets remain structurally protected even as transaction volume stays compressed.
Bottom Line: Geography Is Destiny
In 2026, the national headline is a fiction. The agent or investor still reading national averages is navigating with the wrong map.
If you are in the Northeast or Orange County California, you are competing for scarce inventory in a market where equity is compounding and speed wins. If you are in Texas or Central Florida, you are operating in a war of incentives, standing inventory, and careful carry-cost math.
The professional who masters their local reality, who can explain the Market Action Index, the tariff pass-through, and the specific dynamics of their ZIP code in a client conversation, will outperform the one waiting for the national narrative to simplify itself.
It won’t. Learn your market.
Data sourced from Altos Research Real-Time Market Reports and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) tariff impact analysis.
I spent time recently with Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, along with my undergraduate and graduate real estate students. While the headlines are busy chasing clicks, Lawrence and I dug into the actual data moving the needle for 2026.
My biggest takeaway? The inventory shift is happening faster than the media realizes.
We are currently seeing the lowest mortgage rates in three years, and policy makers are finally considering significant capital gains relief for homeowners – a move that could transform the market by removing the financial friction of selling.
Here are the three “Signals” you need to know:
The “Lock-In” Effect is Cracking: The spread between current market rates and those “unicorn” rates of 2021 is finally narrowing. Sellers no longer feel “trapped” by their 3% mortgages, which is expected to unlock a massive wave of pent-up inventory.
The 10-Year Treasury Disconnect: While inflation is stabilizing, the spread between the 10-year Treasury and mortgage rates is still wider than the historical average. As this gap continues to shrink, we anticipate even more downward pressure on mortgage rates throughout the year.
The Wealth Gap: The data remains undisputed—Americans build long-term wealth by owning real estate, not renting it. Homeownership remains the primary engine for middle-class financial security.
In a market defined by noise, I’m committed to bringing my clients and students the signal.
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.
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 this business, the most dangerous number is one.
One lead source, one niche, one referral partner. If that single pillar crumbles due to a market shift, a policy change, or a competitor, your entire production floor collapses. We preach this to our agents, but as leaders, recruiters, and high-performance MLOs, we often fall into the same trap. We rely on one method of talent attraction or one “reliable” source of business until it dries up.
The goal is six sources of leads. That is the system for a bulletproof business.
But here is where the “Spirit is Willing, but the Schedule is Weak” dilemma kicks in. How do you manage six different channels without losing your mind?
The All-or-Nothing Trap
Most leaders fail to diversify because they try to launch all six sources at 100% intensity simultaneously. They treat it like a massive time investment that has to happen all at once.
The result? They spend Monday planning, Tuesday gets hijacked by a closing crisis, and by Wednesday, they’ve abandoned the new channels to retreat back to what’s comfortable.
Applying the MVD to the Six Sources
To win, you have to lower the floor. You don’t need to master all six sources today. You just need to ensure the Minimum Viable Day (MVD) for each isn’t zero.
Your MVD is the bare minimum you need to do to keep each channel alive. It’s the smallest action that maintains momentum and prevents any single pillar from going dark.
What Does This Actually Look Like?
Here are examples of what an MVD could be for different lead sources:
Referrals: One “thank you” text to a past client or partner.
Recruiting: One LinkedIn reach-out to a potential candidate.
Database: Two birthday or anniversary calls.
Social Media/Video: One 60-second raw update posted.
Networking Events: One email confirming attendance or one follow-up from a recent event.
Content Marketing: One comment on an industry post or one idea captured in your notes.
On a day where your schedule is a train wreck, you don’t skip. You hit the MVD. You keep the neurological and professional momentum alive across all six pillars so that no single pillar is carrying the weight of your entire future.
Habit Stacking Your Diversification
Don’t look for a “six-source block” on your calendar. It doesn’t exist. Habit stack them into your existing workflow:
The “Inbox Tax”: You aren’t allowed to open your email until you’ve touched Source #1.
The “Red Light” Rule: Every time you’re stopped in traffic or waiting for a Zoom to start, you execute one MVD task for Source #2.
The “Coffee Commitment”: While your coffee brews or you’re waiting in line, knock out one quick database touch.
The Bottom Line
Consistency beats intensity every single time. If you do the work of prospecting and development at a 2/10 intensity every single day, you will outpace the person who goes 10/10 once a month.
Stop betting your career on the number one. Build the system, lower the floor, and track the results.
TCF+ (Track, Commit, Follow-through, Plus): This week, identify your six sources and define your MVD for each one. Track your daily completion rate to win the day.
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.
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.
I’ve completed 12 Spartan races. Stadium sprints to Beast courses. And in every single race, there’s a moment where my body screams for me to quit. The mud is too cold, the sandbag is too heavy, the hill is too steep.
In those moments, motivation is nowhere to be found.
What carries me through isn’t willpower. It’s a simple code: Discipline Over Desire.
Here’s what Spartan racing taught me about business: the finish line doesn’t care how you feel. And neither does your production goal.
The Danger of Default Wins
In business, there are two types of growth: wins that happen to you and wins you make happen.
When the market is hot, it’s easy to feel like a genius. A new client falls into your lap. A hand-raiser joins your team because of your brand momentum. You credit your skill, but really, you’re just in the right place at the right time.
That’s a default win. And relying on them is dangerous.
If your success is built on market timing or luck, you’re a passenger, not the driver. The second the market shifts, your production falls off a cliff because you never built the muscle to create wins on purpose.
Intentional wins are different. You can explain them. You can document them. You can repeat them. They happen because you did the work, not because the conditions were perfect.
The Problem with “Waiting to Feel Like It”
Most people treat their business like a mood ring. If they feel motivated, they prospect. If they don’t, they reorganize their CRM or scroll LinkedIn and call it “research.”
The result? Inconsistent effort produces inconsistent results.
Here’s what I learned carrying a 60-pound sandbag up a mountain: your feelings are irrelevant. The sandbag doesn’t get lighter because you’re tired. The hill doesn’t flatten because you’re unmotivated.
You either do the work or you don’t.
In real estate, the market doesn’t pause because you’re “not feeling it today.” Your competition doesn’t take a day off because you need a break. The leads you didn’t call this week go to someone who did.
The 2-2-2 System
If you’re struggling with consistency, stop asking your feelings for permission to work. Follow a system instead.
Here’s the simplest one I know: 2-2-2.
Every single day, no matter what:
2 contacts with people you know (past clients, sphere, referral partners)
2 contacts with people you don’t know (cold outreach, new prospects, competing agents if you’re recruiting)
2 follow-ups (deals in progress, pending recruits, leads in the pipeline)
That’s it. Six touches. Takes 30-45 minutes if you’re focused.
On your best day, when you’re fired up and crushing it, you hit 2-2-2 and then keep going.
On your worst day, when a deal falls apart or a top producer walks or you just don’t want to do it, you still hit 2-2-2.
The system is the floor. It’s the minimum standard that keeps your pipeline alive and prevents the start-stop cycle that kills momentum.
Why This Works
The 2-2-2 system works because it removes the decision. You’re not debating whether to prospect today. You’re not negotiating with yourself about how many calls to make. You already know the answer: six touches, every day, no exceptions.
It’s the same principle that gets me through a Spartan race. I don’t ask myself if I feel like carrying the sandbag. I just pick it up and start walking. The decision was made when I signed up for the race.
In business, the decision gets made when you commit to the system.
Your Move
This week, run the 2-2-2 system for five straight days. Track it on paper, in your CRM, or in a text thread with an accountability partner.
At the end of the week, you’ll have made 30 touches. That’s 30 more opportunities than the person who waited to “feel motivated.”
Discipline beats desire. Every single time.
The finish line is waiting. The question is whether you’ll do the work to get there.
