Discipline Amidst Distraction - Leaders Edge Training

I am a big believer in taking time off every week to recharge your batteries and enjoy your family and friends, but if you take too much time off, you lose out on business opportunities.

COVID has distracted many of us from our regular work routines and it has knocked many of us off our game. It looks like COVID is going to be around for a while, so getting back to a regular work routine that you can sustain while working from home is critical to your success.

Real estate is one of those professions that gives us a lot of latitude. Some people work too much, but most agents don’t work enough. They find every excuse not to work because life gets in the way (especially if they have kids at home). When I question agents on what they did all week, they often have excuses like:

My parents were visiting
My kids were sick
I had tons of errands to run

Let’s think about this logically. What other job do you know that allows you to NOT work all week because of personal obligations? NONE! So why would you let personal obligations get in the way of your real estate business?

You are your own boss and you choose how you spend your time. But being your own boss comes with the responsibility to use your time wisely. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a personal life, but I am saying you need to schedule your personal obligations AROUND your business obligations or your income will suffer.

We are in the dog days of summer and if you are like most people, you are planning family vacations, weekends at the cottage, backyard BBQ’s and more. The question is…will you take time off, or will you decide to work to make the most of the hot market we’re in right now?

Entrepreneurs work harder than most, not less. If you are looking for a job, real estate isn’t it. Every day you wake up unemployed and your #1 priority is finding someone who wants to hire you. If you don’t, you don’t get paid. The demands by our clients in a real estate transaction require us to be available at odd hours. That’s just real estate.

So how do you stay disciplined enough to work when the rest of the world seems to be taking time off? Where do you find the fortitude to say “no” to personal distractions and stay focused on work?

Here are a three strategies:

1

CHANGE YOUR MINDSET

Don’t look at working nights and weekends as a choice. Expect that you have to work every evening and then when you get the occasional night off, it will seem like a treat. Most busy agents work in the evenings. We work when others are off and committed agents get paid a premium for that.

2

FLIP YOUR SCHEDULE

If you know you have to work nights and weekends, book your personal time for first thing in the morning (e.g. 6 a.m. work out) and make your day off a Wednesday rather than a Sunday. Running errands on a Wednesday while others are working makes you more productive.

3

SET A WEEKLY GOAL

You know how much money you need to earn every year to pay your bills. Break that down into how many listings/sales you need every week to achieve your goal. Don’t allow yourself the luxury of time off until you meet your weekly goal. Taking time off is reserved for people who get results. If you aren’t getting results, you shouldn’t feel justified in rewarding yourself with time off. Everyone can have a bad week when they didn’t get the results they wanted, but if you worked your hardest and it still didn’t go your way, at least you can sleep at night knowing you did your best. If you have a bad week with no results and you didn’t put in your best effort, you should feel guilty for not living up to your full potential.

Our business isn’t complicated, but it takes hard work. After you’ve been in the business for a while it gets easier, but for the most part, hard work wins the day. So what works? Work works! You can’t expect to make an above average living in real estate if you aren’t willing to work hard and sacrifice some personal time. Entrepreneurs are willing to live a few years like most people won’t, so they can spend the rest of their life living the way most people can’t.

My question for you is…how do you want to live your life?

Most markets have very little inventory. Chances are other agents are distracted with family obligations and the virus, so you have less competition. Those who work hard now and get the listings are guaranteed to get paid. The choice is yours…would you prefer a day in the backyard or a commission check?

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training