by andrew | Aug 6, 2018 | BluePrint Of Success, Freedom, Goal Setting, Independence, Master Mind Group, Priorities and My Time, Productivity, Success
As a coach, as a leader both in the military and private enterprise, I’ve often wondered why do people say they want to change yet never do? It seems from my experience, it is our human nature to rely solely on willpower in creating change in our business and our lives…but what if we are thinking about it all wrong?
In Willpower Doesn’t Work, Benjamin Hardy explains that willpower is nothing more than a dangerous fad – a fad that is bound to lead to failure. Instead of “white-knuckling” your way to change, he suggests we need to instead alter our surroundings to support our goals. JP wrote a great outline of how to “alter your surroundings” in the blog article: 7 Steps for Success in Real Estate Sales. Each of these 7 steps is a practical way to alter your surroundings, create confidence and crush your goals.
You see, working with so many of you… I know you want something bigger for yourself… I do, you do, your loved ones do. You want to feel more in control, you want more transformation of your business. If you are relying solely on willpower, here’s what I know: “willpower alone simply is not an effective approach to change.”
Spiritually, I’d rather rely on my higher power than my own power.
Motivationally, I’d rather rely on my WHY power than my willpower.
Behaviorally, I’d rather create environments of positive stress and high demand vs. staying in the status quo.
The story of John Burke… John was nominated for a Grammy for the best new album. One of the songs on this album was titled Earth Breaker. Here’s the interesting thing, Earth Breaker was a song Burke didn’t even know he could write or play when he started it. When he composed the music it was beyond his current musical ability. Yet that is exactly what he wanted. He wrote a song he couldn’t play and then took immediate action to practice and practice, over and over until he mastered it.
Writing a song beyond his skill level was as a “forcing function” for Burke. It created conditions with more advanced rules than he was accustomed to living. He had to GROW into the environment he created for himself. The moment Burke decides he is going to pursue a new project he immediately decides and takes 7 decisive actions.
- He decides when the project will be completed and by when it will be released.
- He works backward from the release date, mapping out all key milestones.
- He calls that day to schedule studio time.
- He pays up front to ensure he gets his preferred studio date and time.
- Organizes his personal calendar and schedule to support the project.
- He passes on other opportunities that would be a distraction from his main project.
- He declares his new project publicly, creating an expectation and accountability from others.
Burke CREATES conditions that force him to succeed by taking immediate and decisive action.
So what’s holding you back?
What action can you take NOW?
If you are not in a weekly mastermind group, I’d encourage you to create one TODAY.
Are you role-playing with a partner the most common questions, the most common objections, and the most common tripwires daily? If not find a partner and start TODAY.
Here is what I know… “the business world rewards action, not thought.”
If you need coaching and accountability… either in a group setting or one on one basis, schedule a consult today at www.travisrobertson.com/jpar
#WinTheDay
by andrew | Aug 1, 2018 | Appointment Setting, Best Practice, Goal Setting, JPAR, Mindset For Success, Productivity, Success, Success From Scratch, Sucess Goals, Top Agent, Top Producer
In this week’s episode of “Success From Scratch” Amber Harper, from JPAR San Antonio shares how her career in real estate started at 20 years old. Amber shares how her initial feeling of fear held her back and what she learned to build “trust” with her customers by conquering both her business is growing and a success.
“Don’t be a secret agent, be a SPECIAL agent!”
-Amber Harper, JP and Associates REALTORS®
by andrew | Jul 30, 2018 | Best Practice, Goal Setting, Mindset For Success, Productivity, Success, Sucess Goals, Top Agent, Top Producer
Why do most efforts to change fail?
According to Harvard professor Dr. John Paul Kotter – and confirmed by my experience in coaching – efforts to change fail due to a lack of a STRONG sense of URGENCY. In his book, “A Sense Of Urgency” Kotter states:
Change efforts most often fail when those desiring to change do not create a high enough sense of urgency for making a challenging leap in a new direction. Urgency, urgency is key. Urgency is the state of mind that creates IMMEDIATE action in your new direction.
Once you have determined your desire, take action. Any action. A small steps, a medium step or a large step. Taking action and taking more action is the ONE THING we must all learn to cultivate in order to achieve higher levels of success.
If you believe what you have in mind will make a difference, then I just have two questions. What are you waiting for? What’s holding you back? Whatever it is, push through it today and TAKE ACTION.
Share with someone right now, the action step you are committed to taking… and ask them to help hold you accountable.
#WinTheDay
by andrew | Jul 25, 2018 | Appointment Setting, Best Practice, Goal Setting, Mindset For Success, Productivity, Success, Success From Scratch, Sucess Goals, Top Agent, Top Producer
In this week’s episode of “Success From Scratch,” Measha Montoya shares her secret from creating 5 transactions on her first year and now going for 50 transactions in a year.
“Faith is taking the first step even without seeing the whole staircase.”
– Measha Montoya, JP and Associates REALTORS®
by andrew | Jul 23, 2018 | Appointment Setting, Best Practice, Goal Setting, Mindset For Success, Real Estate, Success, Sucess Goals, Top Agent, Top Producer
This week I had requests to write about, “how to have more joy and fun in my business” and “how to avoid procrastination in my business.” Both excellent topics. I’ll write more about fun and joy in business on another post until then I’m reminded of that famous Abraham Lincoln quote: “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
Do you prefer the pain of discipline OR the pain of regret? Research shows that we regret those things we have not done MORE than we do the things we have done. Can you relate?
What I’ve experienced personally and observed in others is, procrastination blocks us from creating to the fullest the business and life we want. You already know, the main reason we procrastinate is that taking action will cause us a certain amount of pain, a certain amount of discomfort.
Coaching clients have shared with me, “I’m avoiding undertaking certain tasks because of the risk of shame, vulnerability or failure. Taking action means we might be making a mistake or we might fail. Let’s face it, it’s easier to not take action and avoid the pain of looking less than perfect. Thus, many of us instinctively retreat to our comfort zone and miss creating our ideal business. Basically, in trying to protect ourselves from failure it’s easier to erect our own barriers to success. Can you relate? If you’ve ever been in this place – as I have – how do you
get out?
Psychologist calls this a strategy of self-sabotaging. Research shows, that by creating impediments that make success less likely, we protect our sense of self-competence. And believe it or not, we as humans tend to do this more when the stakes are the highest.
So how do we procrastinate less and take action more? Practice, get an accountability partner or join a mastermind group. By taking more small steps that lead to bigger steps you’ll build the “take action muscle.” By creating an accountability partner or mastermind group you’ll have others who can help you discern what is an excuse and what’s not. And consider these 5 action steps:
1. Remember a goal is NOT a system. A system will produce what a system will produce nothing less nothing more. Example, losing 10 pounds by September 1st is a GOAL. Learning how to change your eating habits is a SYSTEM. See the difference?
2. Make your goal tangible and specific. “Grow my business” sounds great but is also meaningless.”Land five new clients a month” allows you to determine exactly what you need to do to land those clients. Always set a goal that allows you to work backward and create a process designed to achieve it. It’s impossible to know exactly what to do every day when you don’t know exactly what you want to achieve.
3. Make it matter to you! If you want to get in better shape so other people will think you look better at the pool this summer, you’re unlikely to follow through. Ultimately, who cares what other people think?
Yet, if you want to get in better shape because you want to feel better, and feel better about yourself, or to set an example for your kids, or to prove something to yourself…then you’re much more likely to stick with it. Now your goal has meaning–not to your doctor, not to strangers at the pool, but to you.
4. Make it positive. “Stop criticizing other people in meetings” is a great goal, but it’s a negative goal. It’s a lot harder to give up or stop doing something than it is to embrace a new and positive challenge. Example, setting a goal like”stop eating sweets” means you constantly have to choose to avoid temptation and since willpower is often a finite resource, why put yourself in a position of constantly needing to choose?
When you pick positive goals, you’ll be working to become something new rather than avoid being something you no longer wish to be.
5. Focus on the process, the DAILY process. All incredibly successful people I’ve worked with have one thing in common… they set a goal and then focus all their attention on the process necessary to achieve that goal. Sure, the goal is still out there. But what they care about most is what they need to do today–and when they accomplish that, they feel happy about today.
So, I’ll ask again, do you prefer the pain of discipline OR the pain of regret? The choice is yours.
Do you have a question, theme or topic you’d like to see in a future blog? Let me know, until then #WinTheDay and remember what Abraham Lincoln said: “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
by andrew | Jul 18, 2018 | Appointment Setting, Best Practice, Goal Setting, JPAR, Mindset For Success, Priorities and My Time, Productivity, Real Estate, Success, Success From Scratch, Sucess Goals, Top Agent, Top Producer
In this week’s episode of “Success From Scratch,” Meghan Pelley from the San Antonio market shares how she applies the art of “stop selling and start listening” to create a business she loves, by design.
“Stop selling and start listening.”
– Meghan Pelley, JP and Associates Realtors®
