by markjohnson | Aug 12, 2019 | Action, Coaching, Don't Settle, Goal Setting, Goals, Growth, JPAR, Real Estate, Success, Taking Action
K minus A equals 0
K plus A equals W (Winning)
I’ve coached a few folks that told me, “I want to produce more… my desire is to be more consistent.” Some have been saying this for way too long. Why… fear. Fear keeps our behavior inconsistent with our goals.
Those of you that know me, know I’m a life-long learner. Although I agree with life-long learning, I agree much more with a life-long application – taking action – on what we’re learning.
At the end of the day, the winners are the doers.
Figure out where you want to go, start with the end in mind, and work your way backward to the moment at hand.
Example… what would happen if for every 12 people you know you set a system to touch them 33 times throughout the year? Could that “system” create 1 new transaction for every 12 people in your database?
What would happen if you added 1 new contact to your CRM everyday… and that contact was then touched 8 times in the first 8 weeks of meeting them and then 33 times during the next year? What would happen?
Here’s the best of the blog series, the highest engaged post about taking action:
Number 1:
5 Lessons From The Death Crawl Scene In “Facing the Giants.”
Too often our own perception, surroundings, and beliefs get in the way of victory and success. Or said another way, the meaning we assign to things becomes the lens through which we see the world.
Number 2:
What Would Happen If You Never Tolerated Inaction In Yourself?
There is a common mistake that often happens to too many of us. The mistake has to do with the difference between being in motion and taking action. They sound similar, but they’re not the same.
Number 3:
Tired Of Not Getting What You Want?
Ever wonder why so many of us have to hit rock bottom before we find a breakthrough?
Number 4:
If Information Was Enough…
If information was enough, we would all be top performers in our profession, exercise every day, eat more vegetables, be within the government height and weight standard, and have a ton of money saved for the future.
Number 5:
3 Steps to Mastery
Who doesn’t want to be a better agent, better team leader, a better entrepreneur? If there is one concept that can lead to more powerful performance with immediate impact… this is it: “It’s difficult to control our thoughts and feelings, yet we have total control of our actions.”
In summary, information overload creates a lull in productive activity, so let’s look at three simple, fuss-free steps to get you the results you need:
Step 1: Move beyond the learning phase. While knowledge is a powerful thing, don’t make the mistake of thinking your good intentions count. It’s time to stop procrastinating and trust the tools you have to start taking positive steps.
Give yourself permission to execute on the things you know now… nothing good happens when you wait.
Step 2: Skip out on perfection. Perfection is a stall tactic. Typically, nothing big and drastic needs to happen in your routine. Small changes are what really count.
Just take action, now!
Step 3: Execute an action plan. Knowledge is only power when combined with action.
What actions can I take? Here’s one approach to consider:
Daily
- 5 or more check-in calls that create 1 or more appointments
- 3 or more personal notes
- 1 addition to your database with an “8 touch campaign” over the next 8 weeks
Weekly
- Grab a beverage of choice with a top client or prospect that creates 1 or more new appointments
- Host at least 1 business to business networking session
- Complete 7 pop-bys that create 1 or more new appointments
- At least one video about local events or local market conditions
Monthly
- Start of the month and mid-month eReport of value to your database – with video content that creates appointments
- Targeted FB or Google ads that create appointments
- Strategic text messages to an opt-in database that create appointments
Knowledge plus action is power. Figure out where you what to go, start with the end in mind, and work your way backward to the moment at hand. #GO #GSD
by markjohnson | Jul 26, 2019 | Goal Setting, Goals, Growth, Guide to Success, JPAR, Real Estate, Success, Sucess Goals
Success comes in many ways and forms. Gandhi was successful for leading India into independence from the British. Mother Teresa was successful giving hope to the poorest of the poor. Warren Buffett is successful for investing and building long-term business ventures. Recently I ran across an article that outlined over 20 years of research on success. The study found there are certain core activities, beliefs, and attitudes that are shared by those who succeed
The basic formula:
- Get clear about what you don’t want.
- Get clear about what you do want.
- Visualize and feel the outcome.
- Clear your mind of self-limiting beliefs.
- Take action.
The six most common characteristics:
- Resilience – the ability to keep getting up despite being knocked down.
- Self-control – the ability to subdue one’s impulses, emotions, and behaviors in order to achieve longer-term goals.
- Emotional awareness – Emotional awareness is the ability to recognize your own emotions and those of others.
- Creativity – the ability to perceive the world in new ways using two processes: thinking and producing.
- Optimism – does not take failure personally but keeps on trying until he succeeds and expects positive outcomes
- Sociability
So where do you stand? Once your beliefs and actions are aligned there are no limits.
“Thoughts lead to purpose; purpose drives action; action form habits; habits create character; character defines destiny.”
by markjohnson | Jul 19, 2019 | Appointment Setting, Best Practice, Checklist, Goal Setting, Goals, Goals for 2019, JPAR, Real Estate, Sucess Goals, Taking Action
(more…)
by markjohnson | Apr 22, 2019 | Checklist, Goal Setting, Goals, Goals for 2019, Mastery
Nearly everything can be boiled down to some core task, some essential component, that must be mastered if you truly want to be good at it.
Vince Lombardi… one of the greatest sports coaches of all time approached the sport from a perspective of “fundamentals first.”
John Wooden and Phil Jackson – other amazing coaches – were known for having a similar obsession with the fundamentals. Wooden even went so far as to teach his players at the start of each season how to put on their socks and tie their shoes. These are professional athletes at the highest level of performance. His objective – care for the players and reduce the variety of minor injuries.
Gentlemen… this is a football!
Lombardi and team took nothing for granted. They began a tradition of starting from scratch, assuming that the players were blank slates who carried over no knowledge from the year before… they began with the most elemental statement of all: “Gentlemen,” he said, holding a pigskin in his right hand, “this is a football.” Each player reviewed how to block and tackle. They opened up the playbook and started from page one. And they won more than any other team.
Aren’t you glad pilots have checklists? Even after hours and hours of detailed training and years and years of practical experience before every takeoff, before every landing and during every flight pilots & crew follow a #checklist.
Checklists are “job aids” to reduce failure… to reduce variation in a process. A method of leaving nothing to chance.
Checklists ensure you get your daily, weekly and monthly tasks done on time, helps you keep track of projects on deadline and ensures you’re organized throughout the day.
Are you leaving your goals, your business to run by chance by “winging it?”
Mastery in nearly any endeavor is the result of deeply understanding simple ideas.
by markjohnson | Apr 15, 2019 | Action, Failure, Goal Setting, Goals, Habits, JPAR, Motion, outcome, Outcome Goals, Performance, Productivity, Real Estate, Taking Action
What would happen if you never tolerated inaction in yourself? Think about that for a moment, what would happen if you never tolerated inaction in yourself?
From the book, Atomic Habits, there is a common mistake that often happens to too many of us. The mistake has to do with the difference between being in motion and taking action. They sound similar, but they’re not the same.
When you’re in motion, you’re planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don’t produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome.
Here’s a couple of practical examples:
- If I outline 20 ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually write and publish an article, that’s action.
- If I email 10 new leads for my business and start conversations with them, that’s motion. When I actually set an appointment that’s action.
- If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that’s motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that’s action.
Sometimes motion is useful, yet it will never produce an outcome by itself. It doesn’t matter how many times you go talk to the personal trainer, that motion will never get you in shape. Only the action of working out will get the result you’re looking to achieve.
If motion doesn’t lead to results, why do we do it?
Sometimes we do it because we actually need to plan or learn more. But more often than not, we do it because motion allows us to feel like we’re making progress without running the risk of failure. Most of us are experts at avoiding criticism. It doesn’t feel good to fail or to be judged publicly, so we tend to avoid situations where that might happen. And that’s the biggest reason why you slip into motion rather than taking action: you want to delay failure.
It’s easy to be in motion and convince yourself that you’re still making progress. You think, “I’ve got conversations going with four potential clients right now. This is good. We’re moving in the right direction.” Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing.
Some ideas to get out of motion and into action:
- Work expands to the time you give it: Set a specific time for each task.
- Set a schedule for your actions: Basic time blocking.
- Pick a date to shift you from motion to action: set hard deadlines.
- Ignore, switch your feelings: “I don’t feel like it” to “Let’s get this done!”
For some goals, setting a daily or weekly schedule doesn’t work as well. This is the case if you’re doing something that is only going to happen once: studying for your broker exam or getting your GRI. These things require some planning upfront (motion). They also require plenty of action to complete them. For example, you could set a schedule each week to study. In a situation like this, research shows it’s best to simply pick a date. Put something on the calendar – like the test date. Make it public. This is when X is happening. In other words, set a HARD DEADLINE.
Research shows that people who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Too many people try to change their habits without these basic details figured out. We tell ourselves, “I’m going to eat healthier” or “I’m going to write more,” but we never say when and where these habits are going to happen. We leave it up to chance and hope that we will “just remember to do it” or feel motivated at the right time.
Hope is not a strategy!
An implementation intention sweeps away foggy notions like “I want to work out more” or “I want to be more productive” or “I should vote” and transforms them into a concrete plan of action.
Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.
One simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this sentence:
I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]
- I will follow up with 4 leads a day for 30 minutes at 9 a.m. in my office.
- I will complete part 1 of my project investing twenty minutes at 10 a.m. in my office.
- I will exercise for one hour at 5 p.m. at my gym.
- I will make my wife a cup of tea at 7 a.m. each morning in the kitchen.
Give your habits time and space. The goal is to make the time and location so obvious that, with enough repetition, you get an urge to do the right thing at the right time, even if you can’t say why.
To put it simply: planning out when and where you will perform a specific behavior turns your environment into a trigger for action. The time and place trigger your behavior, not your level of motivation.
Motivation is short-lived and doesn’t lead to consistent action. If you want to achieve your goals, then you need a plan for exactly when and how you’re going to execute on them regardless of how you feel.
There are some lessons that the only #failure can teach. Failure is not the problem… inaction is… procrastination is.
Let’s commit this week to move from motion to action.
#WinTheDay
