Foreign. Hey so welcome back to the podcast. I think about you a lot. it's laying in bed the other day thinking imagine what you are experiencing right now the headwinds now I'm not saying it's got you down I'm not saying that the world has got you like oh I'm never gonna sell a house again, but we have to look at the reality right I looked at market conditions, higher interest rates, less demand and I know that can have an impact on some people's psychology.

It can certainly have an impact on at times our certainty right. creating that that sense of uncertainty like what do I do today and I thought about like other businesses in my 30 plus years, three decades of doing this other industries that have gone through and I actually thought about the other day. think about my guest today, um how the Cleveland Cavaliers must have felt if you know that team after LeBron James brought a championship and then left to my Los Angeles Lakers But I think about like how the people in Cleveland must have felt after that unbelievable Rush of Victory and experience and we did it right like we finally did it and then it feels like the world fell apart. Some people in our industry could say between you know, call it June or July of 2020 during the pandemic when all of a sudden real estate became just on fire all the way through.

Really? until depending upon where you are in the world March or maybe April of 2022, 20, you know, 22 and all of a sudden higher interest rates, inflation and all these things kicked into gear. Well it would feel like winning the Super Bowl and then wondering what do I do for a living I know maybe not you listening right now, but I guarantee there's someone listening right now that knows exactly the feeling I'm referring to and that's why I've asked my buddy Alan Stein to come in and talk about how do you go from the climb to the highest moment and how do you not drop off but it said sustain that and maybe even raise the bar and again. So Alan welcome to the show Man oh man, it's so great to be with you I'm looking forward to a fun convo for sure for you know I have to say I'm I'm literally like I'm like a podcast Luna kid listening all the time you know and I'm I'm listening to Ed Mylett interview you big shout out to Eddie Mylett and then like the next day Trey Willard texting like hey man, you got to meet this guy and then Phil Jones hey you got to meet this guy and I'm like all right, the universe is clearly telling me something, download the audiobooks, start listening and I was like there's just so many insights in your work to help any person that I'm talking to today to like we all go through it right? like in your own career in your life. You You hit these moments where you're like I'm unstoppable and then at times we feel very stoppable.

So for get people some context, who is Alan Stein what kind of brought you to this moment? What did you do before so we can get into what you do now? Well, first and foremost, the reason I wrote the book was because I was feeling stoppable. So I wrote the book because it was the book I needed to read and it was the advice that I needed to follow and I find it both liberating and therapeutic to research and study the very things that give me issues. So yes, one thing I say all of the time in full transparency. Uh, that what? I share on stage and what? I share on page.

I'm not coming from a place of Mastery right? These are all things I'm working on, right? right? But I have a beautiful distinction. Well, thank you and I and I found some things that have helped me and I'm really excited to share these with the folks that may be feeling some of the pressure of these headwinds. But yes. Quick synopsis: Yeah, basketball was my first love.

Fell in love with the game at five years years old and I am so grateful that here four decades later, basketball is still a major passion and pillar of my life. Yes, I spent the first part of my life as a dedicated player, then became a very dedicated performance coach and then became in the current iteration keynote speaker and author, but still drawing on all of the lessons and principles and mindsets that I learned through the game and I teach folks how to apply those to their businesses and their lives. My friend listening now knows the the correlation between sports and business is very real I don't care if you have if I bring Mel Robbins on right I ring you on like anybody will say Run plays that work which is something I talk about all the time. Absolutely so So let's talk about what people are dealing with right now is: hey, I used to be at this level and and they're still winning.

The person listening right now they're like I'm still winning. But yeah, when you go from winning at this level to winning at this level, that that decrease in winning, it's still winning. Yes, but it's a decrease. Yes, how do we help people reset their psychology, reset their mindset and get back to that like I am Unstoppable The market is the market.

Yes, there's nothing I can do about that. but I can be my best self every single day. How do we do that? The very first thing I say is folks need to give themselves a little bit of Grace and a little bit of space to feel how they're feeling. and I have nothing but massive empathy and compassion.

for anyone that feels stuck that feels stoppable. that feels like I'm a little bit less than where I'd like to be. Yeah! So I always start with that. How do I do that though like I mean I I Get it? yeah I get it Like okay I need to take a day and just say look, fairy, relax, stop beating yourself up like what is it? What's that? What's the hack? What's the pattern? What's the player run I Think I could make a compelling argument that the things we say to ourselves, our self-talk and our self-narrative are the most important things we will ever say.

So we have to start learning to talk to ourselves the same way we would talk to a friend or a loved one. Yeah, if you called me up tonight and I know we're new friends. but if you called me up tonight and said I'm feeling stoppable I'm feeling stuck I'm struggling. Yeah, the very first thing I would do would be to try to comfort you to let you know I believe in you but I care about you and that you got this.

The last thing I would do would add shame and guilt would be critical would pile it on Yet a lot of high drivers, a lot of ambitious people. That's the first thing they do to themselves right? And they take these negative feelings and they either try to resist them or suppress them or ignore them which I don't recommend. But then they start being very critical and they start stacking on the shame and guilt and that only weighs them down. So the first thing you have to do is just let it go.

So Alan I hear you and I Know It And I've done that. I've also done the look myself in the mirror and go fairy. Get off your ass. Stop being a candy ass.

You need to get out there. You need to man up. So how do you balance the two? Is there a right or wrong? or do you have to do the sort of self-care love first and then flip sort of like the stages of grief? It'll be a little different for everyone. I Try not to look through the lens of right or wrong, good or bad with anything I try to look at everything that works for you.

Yes, very neutral, very sterile lens. So I would never say to someone the way they're viewing themselves is wrong or as good or as bad right. They need to figure out what's right I know what has worked for me because you have to realize in the beginning of March 2020 I Felt massive headwinds as a keynote speaker because on March 13th for the next 48 hours my entire schedule for the year was wiped clean because of the pandemic, right? And yes, there was a little bit of panic, there was a little bit of fear. But then the next thing I leaned into was uh, how can I start adding values to others How can I start doubling down and forging and strengthening relationships And how can I get crystal clear on the long game? Yeah, right now, short term things might be a little bit tough, but I'm not in this for the short term.

I'm in this for the long term and what? I've recommended to clients and the same medicine that I take myself learn to refocus on the next play so that the 30 months where things were raining money and it was great that's now over, you can't be focused on that. We have to move to the next play. focus on what you have control over control the controllables which is your attitude and your effort right and then refocus the lens on the process. Yes, you've got your North Star you've got where you want to be 1, 5, 10, 20 years from now.

But refocus that lens on the process and let's start getting. let's let's invest in that now. and when I started making investments in others, making investments in relationships, and then double down on basically my own self-care and my habits and my mindset. That's when things started to escalate and now that things are getting better, I'm reaping the benefits of the seeds that I planted when things were dark and that's what I would recommend to your audience.

You don't know how long this is going to last? No, but if you plant these seeds now, it will get better and they will Bloom at some point. So make sure you make the effort to do that. It's so interesting as you're saying this for my friend listening right now. If you were with me during the pandemic, you remember me saying you got to take care of you and you got to take care of your loved ones and you got to take care of your clients.

That's first and foremost. then you have to load the Canon You better keep doing the work. load the Canon sort of metaphorically like continue to Market continue to deliver value. This isn't about asking people if they want to buy or sell right now.

it's just more like hey, Alan checking in. Are you okay? absolutely And everyone that did that in kind of, let's call it end of March April May June Their referral business skyrocketed through the roof in the real estate industry. With that said, we're talking about going from this incredible level that they had. No, you had no control of this.

this was just the market just took off and went for a meteoric run. Some of them now still feel like you know hey I went from winning the Super Bowl to to like losing and they're still making a fortune but they feel like they're losing. So the first things you're saying, you got to give yourself some Grace right? Second thing I heard is you got to ask yourself some better questions to empower both the short term and the long term. How do I take control? What do I need to focus on short term and long term I Hear all that is there? A third move that you found once once I get back in the groove.

You're like it's the first. Phone call is the hardest of course the 10th one's kind of easy. Yeah, do you know what I mean So so I'm now I don't know. Three phone calls in seven text messages in I'm back to doing what I know I need to do.

Call it the basics. fundamentals. Call whatever you want. It's called working.

It's called Helping clients. It's called building a business. but we still run into these these losses. These of course I took the shot and then I missed or worse I took the shot and I made it and then I stopped.

What have you learned in business and in sports to get that person back on defense as quickly as possible or get ready to take another shot? Well, it is that concept of next play and I use the term next play. it's A. It's a kind of a trigger for myself that anytime I find myself focused on something that is in the rear view mirror, then I know that I'm not looking forward. so you have to wipe that slate clean.

Yeah, if you take a player like Stephen Curry I mean he's the greatest shooter of all time for a variety of reasons. but one of the reasons is he has that next play mentality, right? It doesn't happen very often because he's such a good shooter, right? But statistically, it's happened just a few times where he could miss the first seven shots of a game. Yeah, but he shoots the eighth one with the confidence as if he had made the previous seven. He doesn't bring baggage from the past and allow it to affect his performance in the present.

Yeah, so he shoots that eighth one with the confidence that it's it's going. He never shoots a shot without the belief that it's going in. Okay I want to unpack how? but I want I want my friend here listening in our world. the person listening right now on they let's say they do an open house and the first three people that walk through are like I'm just looking I just you know I'm just curious, just kind of I'm not really interested I already have an agent they give them.

they basically just no no no no no right? The problem is they sometimes take that personally right? and then the next yes walks in and they treat them like a no right one of my clients I was with yesterday. Um, demand is down on all the portals realtor.com and Zillow and Trulia right demands down Interest rates are up. It's it's cause and effect, right? Sure, and yet intent is really high right now. But when all you're thinking about is demand is low and nobody's buying and things aren't as fast and I've got too much time in my hands and I'm not sure if this is working right now.

Then a yes walks through the door and you treat him like a no I know the person listened like now they know what I'm talking about. Absolutely. How do I switch that? How do I How do I miss seven shots in a row Miss Seven appointments in a row Miss Seven opportunities. Get a signed contract in a row and walk into the eighth with the same bravado, the same confidence, the same skills.

How do I do that? You learn to untether from results, You learn to untether from external metrics. and I know this is very counteractive. That's hard for people. Yes, the real estate game is very externally metric driven, as is the game of basketball, right? The team with the most points on the scoreboard when the final buzzer goes off is the winner.

So I understand the external metric, Yes, But it doesn't mean that you have to derive your value, your self-belief and your self-confidence from that. See, when you can learn to love the work, When you can learn to love doing the open house, When you can learn to love serving someone that may not buy from you anyway, then you've already won in advance so you're not. You're not rolling the dice and saying if they buy then I've won and I feel good if they don't buy I've lost then I feel bad to me I don't want to be on that roller coaster. Yeah so I've learned to love the work, love the process, and this is hard and I know I love Masters Yeah, but if you can learn to love the actual work in the process, eventually you'll start getting the outcomes you desire.

But I believe the outcomes are a byproduct of loving the work and doing the work the right way consistently. Yeah, especially during the Unseen hours. Someone I agree with you 100 I've always fall in love with the work and the Money Follows that's the way I was conditioned early on. Fall in love the work.

Do the work. You may not like it. it's a grind making 100 phone calls a day or whatever it may be It's a Grind but if you fall in love with it, the money will always fall. The challenge is someone listening right now is going to go Yeah, but Steph Curry still gets 40 million dollars a year if I don't kill I don't eat so how do I balance that? Any insight on that? Well, and and I live in the same business right now.

My business primarily is made through keynote presentations and corporate presentations. and if people don't hire me to speak then I don't make you don't either. Yeah, I've I have such belief in the process that if I do what's right, eventually the outcomes will start to line up in my favor. Yeah, now when there's things going on that are outside of our control, like you said things in the market interest rates right, we don't have any control over that and anytime we obsess or worry about things outside of our control, it means we can't put that emotional energy into the things that we can.

So we once again, we have to learn to untether. And I'm not implying this is easy I know I'm saying this in a very matter of fact a million years. I You know control. the incurables, focus on what you can control and there's a reason why.

The the most extraordinary mentors and parents. and you know, like leaders say that stuff because it's true. Yes, the how is hard, the how is very hard. Yeah, yeah, and it's I Want to go back to something we were talking about before we even hit the hit record.

Is this concept of uncertainty? Yeah, and that word has been used exponentially more often since the pandemic hit for sure. But I Want to let folks know the future has always been uncertain? Yes, yes, there's been times where we've lulled ourselves into thinking there's a level of security and certainty, but there never has been. The future has always and will always be uncertain. You and I cannot predict with 100 accuracy even what's going to happen later this afternoon, much less what's going to happen six months or a year from now.

So the first thing we have to do is learn to be comfortable in the face of uncertainty and know that we don't know what's going to happen. Yeah, not easy to do, but is imperative and we can't because we can't resist what is having a level of acceptance over what is going on. See, Ultimately, we increase our stress when we wish things were different than they were in the moment. So the more we sit around wishing that interest rates would improve and the market would improve and that inventory would improve.

That's what causes our stress. We're fighting against reality, right? That's a fight you will lose 100 of the time. Yes. so learning to say what's going on in the world right now is not my preference and we're allowed to have preferences.

Trust me. I've got a lot, right? right? But I don't control that. What do I have control over? well I Control relationships I control how much value I add I Control open houses I Control all of these things and that's what I'm going to put my focus on and I just have to have the belief that over time yep, things are going to start to work out in my favor. You're You're like speaking my business love language.

I I Tell I posted a couple weeks ago Uh, 70 30. Which one are you focusing on the the 30 of the transactions that aren't happening in the market or the 70 of the transactions that are happening in the market right? Like it? It's it's just it's hard. This is a really good podcast. I think we am right now and someone's gonna go.

It's exactly what I needed to hear right? Like reset my focus on what I can control over and over again. What are you most proud of from the book? What's the thing that people talk about the most from both books? What I'm most proud of was as I mentioned before, I wrote the books almost as a self-healing process and I'm proud of the fact that I've been able to execute and implement the very things that I'm asking others to do. Yes, I always want to my life to be congruent on or off camera with my beliefs and my core values and I'm I'm proud that I do that most of the time. Not perfect, but I've put most of these things into practice and I've seen my life get better as a result.

and that's why I'm adamant about sharing it because I want that to be something that that other folks experience. Yeah, it was very much my second book this one right here. Life by design It was like okay, yeah, I've done. You know, whatever.

30 40, 000 hours of coaching. But you know when you're coaching somebody professionally personally, you're as you're saying, you know you might want to after we've impacted. you should consider. Let's look at this: adding this into your schedule.

Yeah, the whole time every coach is going I need to add that my schedule I need to do more of that I Need you know like it's everyone listening right now knows what I'm talking about right when you're when you're helping a buyer make a better decision right? When your accounts them to act or not act, you're also. it's like an internal external experience because you're like this is also me I need to get my ass on the phone. Also like I need to commit more right? or stop doing stuff that doesn't work right? Yes, um so I love that. Looking back, take me, take me back to the very beginning of your speaking business.

there might be somebody listening right now that Alan is like they got their real estate. Think about the blessing of this. they got their real estate license in like April of 2022. it's it's like the person that will say to me all the time at events I'm like hey when you get in the business they're like 2007 July and I'm like oh right after the Lehman Brothers meltdown the whole mortgage Market included we went straight into a massive recession I Make the argument for people that when you start during hard times, it's way better than starting during nothing but an ascending Market because all you're used to is nothing is easy but easier.

Yes, a different kind of hard you with me versus starting in a high interest rate challenging environment. You went from basically being performance coach, helping people with Fitness and Nike camps and Lebron James and Kobe Bryant and all this stuff and you're like I do what I'm gonna do I'm not going to become a professional speaker. That was an easy transition right before I I want to double down on something you just said and then I promise that I'm going to get back to that. The best coaches and the best players that have ever been around intentionally make their workouts and their practices 10 times harder than the games will ever be right because they want that.

As you said, things will have the the illusion of being easier. They make conditions so adverse during workouts and practice that the games almost become a delight and they lean into the fact that when things are tough, that is my best opportunity to improve. So that's the switch that I would want your your listeners to to make is to say if things are going to be tough and we don't know for how long right this is the best opportunity for me to strengthen myself right to get better to plant these seeds. And and I've always believed that when things reverse, that's your best opportunity to increase market share because even a bad agent can sell houses when everybody's Selling Houses right? But you have to be really good at what you do when things are tough.

Yeah, so take that challenge head on. Be thankful for an opportunity to work on your craft when things are less than ideal because when the pendulum swings back and and things are good again, you will be absolutely Unstoppable unshakable and unbreakable. But you have to get those reps in now. And yeah, and and that's so I Had only been speaking for a couple of years when the pandemic hit and completely upended my business and I had to make the shift to doing everything remotely and virtually yeah, and that was really hard I feed off of the energy.

That was why I wanted to come here to do this in person because I knew being in the room with you and seeing you you know shoulder to shoulder would be a much better experience and I prefer to do in-person speaking engagements. but when that was not an option, yeah, I had to lean into the fact that all right, I need to sharpen up my communication skills when I'm doing things remotely right, that what I was doing on stage in front of an audience is going to be nuanced different than I can do virtually yes. But I leaned into it and I embraced that. Yeah, and I worked on skill sets.

you know, giving a 45 minute Zoom presentation when you get zero feedback, you can't see or hear anyone right is really hard, right? But now that the world's open back up and I'm back on stages, Oh my gosh, it's absolutely amazing Exactly what you when you can perform and and all my clients know because so we were on zoom in like 2016 2017 Yeah you're ahead of the curve I Literally just told. well we just we just want to have better. We were always over the phone yeah and like you know for me from 1992 doing business coaching to you know literally 2016 like why are we doing video face-to-face is always better. You see people's eyes Expressions what's going on right? Like yeah, you get more right? So when when it hit I'm like just do all your presentations on Zoom you have a zoom and they're like oh yep.

but then it was the better lighting. better you know, making sure I've got a good microphone. all the little nuances. Sure, how do I learn to share a screen and present You're speaking my love language my clients because a lot of my customers the person listening right now.

yeah this is their Market Of course they know this is the time. This is the time when when the people that were selling a house now and then are gone. Yeah, this is when the cream. Rises All those cliches.

All those examples. That's exactly what we're seeing right now. 70 of all the volume and transactions in every Mls in the US is basically managed by the top 25, but the top 10 percent do 51 of all the business. My goodness, right.

So like the group you were with last night, yes, you know three thousand deals, 2800 deals. You know a thousand deals, 500 deals he was at. We had a little cocktail party last night at my house. After a mastermind, that group is like this.

We've been waiting for this Market But they still need these skills. Of course they still need these skills. So and I could feel that in the room. It was palpable.

Yeah, just the mindset and the approach of the people in that room. all of whom I was meeting for the very first time. Yes, but within 30 seconds of a conversation, you could see their eyes light up. They love the challenge and they lean into adversity.

Yeah, and really, that's just the mindset. Yeah, you know the way our body receives excitement and anxiety are very, very similar. But we can just tell ourselves because people ask me, do I get nervous before I take the stage Yeah and the answer is no I get really excited I get the butterflies I get the Palms sweating. but I know that I'm prepared and I've done my work in the Unseen hours to go out there and kill it on stage.

so I'm not nervous I'm excited Yeah I'm like a cage lion like put me on that stage because I'm so excited to share and it's the same mindset that I want your listeners to have. Yes, things may be tough for the next little bit, but I Love tough I want tough I want to lean into tough because tough is what's going to separate you for me? Yeah and that? Yeah. So I'm I'm excited for the opportunity that you're you're gonna have to work on that excitement. Yeah I'll try to bring more energy next time.

Yes! So when I was listening to uh, the show you did with Eddie the thing that stood out for me was like I'm a I'm a big fan of simplify I think that most people try and do too much too fast right? that like that they're not willing to slowly build the business over time time they wanted like I want it all and I want it now I want an Oompa Loompa daddy like give it to everything everything down and I'm like that's not how the world Works no and when I heard that podcast you and Ed talked about the the sort of the the science of habit forming right break that down for us because the person listening right now there let's just say this goes out in a couple weeks and maybe somebody's listening to this in January I don't know. maybe February maybe February of 2027. they're listening to this and and they're gonna say to themselves, oh yeah, I Started the new year and I'm like, okay, this is the year where I'm going to start working out consistently I'm going to make my phone calls I'm gonna follow my schedule perfectly I'm gonna be the perfect spouse. Here's all my list and what happens to that person within a week or two? We both know the answer.

Yeah, most of them are not doing those things. You probably didn't do anything because it's just overwhelming. So so break down like how to, how do they do it and what's the key numbers they need to be aware of I've been a fan of yours for a while and I love your approach and one of the things I've always been most attracted to is that you like to break things down to be as simplified as possible and I I think complexity undermines execution, so the more simple we can make things the better. I'm a self-diagnosed quote nerd and one of my favorite quotes of all time is if you try and Chase two rabbits, they both get away right? So pick which one you're going after and go grab that Senator And there was a study that I saw and this changed every everything for me because I also was someone who could easily chase the shiny and Chase the flashing try and do multiple things at once.

I Saw a study that was done by a gentleman named John Berardi who started a company called Precision Nutrition Yes and he did a research study and he found that when they had one group focus on changing One Singular Behavior at a time and when they only focused on one Behavior they had an 85 success rate I'm not a gambler I'm not a big better, but you tell me that I have an 85 chance I'm taking all of my chips and I'm all in yeah, all going in I Like those odds, right? But what absolutely blew my mind was in the second group control group. Uh, they had them try and change two habits simultaneously and the percentage of success dropped down to about 40 percent less than half of that original group, right? right? And then just for giggles and smiles, he had a third group try to change three behaviors simultaneously and their percentage of success dropped down to about four or five percent. Yeah, so just by diverting our focus and attention from one to two or one to three, we go from 85 success down to four or five percent. And as soon as I read that I said I'm going to start having singular focus in everything I'm going to change, right? So here's the process that I recommend folks go through.

Do a little bit of a cell phone. obviously you're you're look I'm taking notes please I Love this. Give it to me. Do a self audit, come up with a list of a few things that you think you should start doing and a few things you think you need to stop doing because these things are getting in the way of you becoming the best version of yourself.

And once you have a list of three or four I want you to really reflect and I just want you to Circle one not one on each side. Yeah, just one, just one. Here's something I need to start doing to improve my life or improve my business. or stop doing because it's been undermining it.

Yes, once you've picked one and that is Step Number one: you make a commitment to doing that for the next 66 days. The research is all over the place when it comes to habit forming. 21 days is a lie I mean, but it could be like making your bed 21 days God brushing your teeth exactly and ultimately I don't think the actual day is the number of days is that important? Just more of having a Target in your mind, right? and I like 66 days because it's doable, but it's still a little bit of a stretch. it's just a hair over two months.

Yeah, But you make a commitment to either starting or stopping this one behavior for the next 66 days. I'm old school I Love printing out a paper calendar, getting a red Sharpie and making an X and I'll tell you what. there are very few things in life is satisfying, right? It's putting a red X on a calendar and starting to see that chain of red X's build up. It'll help you give get 100 100.

So that's step two is you make the commitment to doing it for 66 days and then here's the big one. and I Know this is what you and your your Empire and your community do so well. You recruit an inner circle of people to hold you accountable to this. So this is going to be your your.

They're going to help keep the structure accountability Focus Absolutely in it together. Yes! and these people are going to check in with you every single day for the next 66 days to make sure you do what you say you're going to do. Yeah, so let's just say to make this one easy because I think physical fitness is is a visceral example. Someone says I need to start have having more self-care to how I treat my body so that I have more energy and more Focus throughout the day.

So I'm going to make a commitment to go for a walk for 30 minutes every morning. That's just one thing. They didn't buy a Peloton bike, they didn't get a membership to the yoga studio, they didn't have a dietitian come in and buy them groceries. All they're going to do is go for a walk once a day for 30 minutes.

They make the commitment to doing that for 66 days. they print out their calendar, they put it on their desk. they get a beautiful red Sharpie and then they tell the people closest to them could be a spouse, could be an adult child, could be a coach, could be someone they work with, could be a neighbor and say I want you to text me every single morning and ask me if I went for a walk? ask me, did I go outside or walk on the treadmill, ask me how far I went, ask me what I listened to and check in with me and you know one of the emotions that unites all human beings outside of psychopaths is we don't like to disappoint the people that we care about. So you know if I know you're going to text me later today to ask if I went for my walk I Don't want to let you down, right? You're my guy, right? So that that's going to give me just a little bit of extra incentive to do it above and beyond the own personal commitment I made to myself.

and and if you pick one, you do it for 66 days and you get a team of people to hold you accountable. I'm betting everything. I Got on the fact that you are going to change that habit and then the beautiful part is at the end of 66 days. Now you pick something else that has become a part of your life I Now identify as someone who goes for a walk every morning and now I'm going to add when I get back from my walk I'm gonna stack a green smoothie on top of that, right? and I'm gonna do that for 66 days and then after my green smoothie I'm gonna meditate for 10 minutes and over the course of a year you will have added four or five behaviors that are helping take you to the person you want to be or eliminating some behaviors that have preventing you from that.

You'll be a completely different person by the end of 2023. If you're willing to stack bricks like this and you're willing to do this as methodically as I Just laid it out right, but with everything I Just said it's as basic as can be. My own children understand that it's still not easy and I want to make that disclaimer because I don't want anyone to put on the cruise control and say oh, that formula Alan Just shared. Yeah, that'll be easy.

It still won't be easy. On day 13, you're gonna wake up and you're going to want to pull the covers over your head because it's cold and it's rainy outside and you're not going to want to go for that walk. And then if you miss a day and then you start to stack the shame and the guilt on top and tell yourself I'm no good I knew I couldn't do this and then One Missed day becomes two and then you've fallen off. So don't allow that to happen.

Lean into this and know that even though I've just given you the recipe, it is still going to be hard. But lean into hard and I'm telling you Everybody listening can do that. My community knows Choose your heart. It's hard to make phone calls of course.

It's also hard to not have clients choose your heart. Love that, right? Hard to follow schedule. It's also hard to have absolutely no control of your time. Yeah! Choose Your Heart Right So so my, my community definitely gets this.

So I've been talking since since I got that from your podcast I've shared it I mean how many times like you just said events and I'm just like awesome so you got to pick one I think the hardest thing that people have is picking the right one? Yeah, right. So so the business person listening right now is like okay, well like what is that first Domino that when I hit that Domino a whole bunch of other dominoes drop and I love the Simplicity of the start and stop I Didn't hear that on the show like this. This is a good distinction for me. Like what do I need to stop doing professionally? What do I need to start doing professionally and even if it's just for you talking to 10 people every single day that already know you, like you and trust you, we know that 65 of all listings are being taken today.

Yeah, inside of people's past clients in sphere and people that directly refer to them. Yeah, if they just did that in this environment, they're going to win. Yeah, so this this formula: Start Stop. Pick One 66 days.

Simple, Absolutely, but not easy. Not easy. But one of the ways we heighten self-awareness is counter-intuitive as this sounds is. we ask others.

We ask those that know us closely, right? So so have a hard conversation with your spouse, with your children, with your colleagues and co-workers and business partners, and say if there was one, if you could wave a wand and I started doing one thing differently tomorrow, What do you think that one thing should be? Yeah, and you could do that personally or professionally. But remember, we're playing the long game. I'm not saying Tom You're going to change one habit and then just ride off into the sunset. You're going to change a habit every 66 days for the rest of your life.

So even if you don't pick the one, you still have plenty of other opportunities to do that in the exactly so. Don't have this paralysis of analysis where you're you're spending so much time I Got to make sure I'm doing the right one. I Got to make sure I'm doing the right. Well, you're not doing anything right, so just pick one and let's go after it.

And then sometimes as you start to get active, those things will become clear. Yes, a few months down the road you'll go. You know what I think is really preventing me from being fill in the blank. happy, successful, fulfilled I Think it's this thing.

this is the next thing I'm going to tackle? Yeah, and now we can be rather strategic and enjoy it and enjoy the the taking control of your own future. Bingo And for the person listening, remember this is the thing I'm trying to install like that's why I describe it like it's like I'm gonna I'm not gonna I'm gonna let my iPhone go three four installs of new iOS Because like now, my phone is getting slower. things aren't working right. Apps can't be downloaded.

It's the same thing, right? So I need to install this new habit. Yeah, it would be nice if it was like the Matrix you know, hey I need to notify B12 Helicopter right? We'll get there eventually with Elon Musk's Little disc I Think so. but I Want to remind the person listening. This doesn't mean that you aren't learning a new skill, that you're not refining your listing presentation, improving your marketing, getting better at videos, getting better at negotiations.

This is about what's the new habit or ritual that I want to install. That I know is going to shift everything in my life when I do it right? Yes and I I agree with you whether it was intentional or not, always starting first with your health and vitality. Absolutely. Which is Vitality right.

And then everything else can kind of really go from there. We try to compartmentalize these different areas of our life, but they're all interwoven. We're very holistic beings, right? Because one can argue. if you don't prioritize your sleep, your mental acuity goes down, your focus goes down.

What happens when we we tend to not sleep, we become ornery. We become frustrated, we get agitated, right? that's gonna. That's gonna help erode our relationships. That's going to make us make poor decisions from a business standpoint.

So one could make an argument that sleep could be the Cornerstone to improving every single aspect of your life. So my community to be. say, take your meds, you got to meditate, you got to exercise, you got a diet and you gotta sleep. Sure right? And for many it's just get some sleep.

Yeah, because most entrepreneurs as you know, you know they sleep like babies. They wake up every hour in the hour going oh my God oh my. God I need to write that down I need to call that person right? because we're just. you know, just kind of wired that way.

Uh, by the way, looking at my Readiness score today, uh, 77. not that ready for the day I think you beat me by two I think mine was the 75. but look at Miss ARA Told me that I was not prepared to bring the fire today on your podcast so I chose to politely ignore her. Um, and I'll deal with that later.

Think about this guy. gotta have the switch on. Yeah, like it says sleep I Gotta pay attention my HR you know recovery index I'm like, but again, so let's talk about that for a second. I'm going to tell you why Yeah yeah.

I Had such a a great time with you guys last night and I enjoyed the conversations immensely. Yeah I couldn't turn my brain off last night. My mind was spinning from just some of the ideas and the enthusiasm of the people you attracted into that room. I was like it was like Christmas Eve for little kids I was so excited so jacked up to get up and see you today.

Yeah that I had trouble sleeping but that's okay I still prioritize sleep right? I emphasize it I Still went through my sleep routine to try to get the best sleep I could and it just didn't happen and I'm okay with that. Yeah, yeah, it is what it is. Yeah, we were talking this morning in the car on the on the right over because we're both. you know we wear these aura rings.

So I actually got this from Peter dimondes like oh 20 I don't know. whatever. Whatever it first came out I was like I'm part of abundance 360. yeah, he gave them to everybody.

we all we were basically the test pilots. We were the guinea pigs right to track everything and I'm like, okay, I'm telling him everything about my entire body for the rest of my life. Got it? With that said, you and I talked this morning about routines. Uh-huh right? So so the person listening right now like I am the biggest fan of I used to say like take a record right? You play that record over and over again because you want that beautiful song, you want that hit, You want that beat.

Whatever it is you, you know the vibe that it creates for you. Well, the record is to me. The routine. Yes, what is the best routine for someone to have to put themselves into a peak state So it doesn't matter what my aura ring says because like I look at it.

but I don't say well. Therefore, I've got to take the day off and get some rest. and like I say I still need to go be unapologetically Tom Ferry Every day no matter what. Whether I slept three hours or eight hours doesn't make a difference.

Gotta go right? Yes, How? how have you found routines to be beneficial? And what are some of the things that you would recommend for the listener: If they wanted to not have the past, not have the BS not have the bad night's sleep interrupt them, but instead, hey, run these plays and you'll always be in sort of a peak. State and Bam you can go perform. Ever since I was a little kid, I have craved structure I love consistency and I love routine. That's something I've always known about myself I feel most comfortable and most alive when I can have these when I have my ducks in a row.

Yeah, I certainly recognize that's not how everybody else operates Some people prefer some spontaneity? Yes! so I Don't believe there is a singular best routine for everyone I think everyone needs to prioritize figuring theirs out, right? I've also I love early morning like even when I was a little kid I would wake up super early in the morning that's always been a preference of mine and I know that I have my highest energy before 10 a.m So I schedule my days so most of my critical thinking or most of my physical energy expenditure is going to happen before 10 a.m because that's when I'm at my best. So the most important thing is that everyone listening figures out how they operate. best. Figure out how much sleep do you need to operate at a high level? Could be seven and a half hours could be nine.

But you need to know that. Figure out. You know how much exercise or what types of foods to eat. So a lot of it will be some initial trial.

An error, right? You know? you take somebody like LeBron James I Don't know if the Lakers are playing tonight or not, but let's assume they are. Yeah, do you think LeBron is going to be walking around the streets of LA at five o'clock going I wonder what I'm gonna eat for dinner tonight? Of course not. He knows exactly what to eat when to eat it. He has got everything lined up before he he shows up to the arena to play at a high level right now.

I Bet you that routine has changed since he was a rookie for 20 years. He has figured out some some tweaks to make, but nothing is haphazard. So the most important part is to take control of the bookends of your day. the first 60 minutes after you wake up and the last 60 minutes before you go to bed.

Yeah, everybody talks about the sexiness of morning routines, but evening routines are just as important. I'm all about that. It's the Chicken and the Egg. You know what comes before a morning routine, right? The previous night's evening routine right to get that sleep right.

So start figuring out what that will be and document it. You know, when You have a day where you just feel on fire, you were in the zone. You felt great high energy. You were thinking clearly, yeah, backtrack for 48 hours and ask yourself what did I eat? How much did I exercise? What did I read what's it like? figure it out and then you're going to start to see some Trends You'll start to notice when I go to bed at this time and wake up at this time and I eat this for breakfast I feel more alive? Yeah, well, then do more of that.

You know. One of the oldest adages to success is: do more of what works, do less of what doesn't. If people would just follow that, nothing else that I said this entire conversation do more of what works and less of what doesn't. You will see your performance and your fulfillment.

Skyrocket Don't make things complicated. Look right behind you. plays that work. Yes, that's I mean that's that's my fourth book.

Plays at work, Just run, plays at work. Stop doing dumb. So here's an exercise that I'd love for folks to do. Take a piece of paper like you have here and you draw a vertical line down the middle on the left side of that line I Want you to come up with a very exhaustive list of the things that fill your bucket? Yeah, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually if that's appropriate.

but I want you and it could be conversation with a loved one. Taking a Peloton class, taking my dog for a walk, listening to a podcast like come up with a list of the things: listen to music yes, seeing a friend, right? Any of these things. meditation, prayer, working out, whatever it is. But come up with a list of 10 to 12 things that make you feel alive on the right side of the paper, on the other side, write down how you've been spending the book ends of your day.

not not what you wish you've been doing, not what others have told you you should do, but how have you spent in the last week your morning and evening routine and write that down and then take a big piece of Humble Pie and compare the two sides of the paper and ask yourself, am I doing the things in the morning and evening that fill my bucket and make me feel alive Now even the highest performers in the world will start to find what's called a performance Gap Yeah and it's the gap between what we know we should be doing to be our best selves and what we actually do. Yeah, we can all work to start closing that Gap That's when we see performance start to Skyrocket Yeah, so start taking things from the left side of the paper and start sprinkling them in to your morning and evening routine. You will be a better spouse. You'll be a better parent.

You'll be a better member of your community. You'll absolutely be better in in real estate and running businesses as an entrepreneur because these things feed everything else. So you have to care enough about yourself and care enough about those that you care about to make make those things a priority. And I'm telling you, and you don't have to block off a two-hour morning routine.

Now spend 15 minutes every morning doing something that makes you feel alive and do something at night and sandwich the rest of your day in between that and I'm telling you 2023 will be the best year of your life, right? My crew knows when you feel good, you perform good. when you perform good, you want to take more action. Yes, get amazing results and that thing starts to spy on a real positive flywheel. So this was awesome man.

All right, this was fun As we wrap this up. Um, you've got two insane books. Which one should they read first? which one should they read? I know this is the second book. Thank You By the way, for the signed copy of course.

I Would recommend starting with Raise Your Game and then once you've not, that any of us will ever reach that proverbial. Mountaintop I'll be on the climb for the rest of my life for sure. But I Do know that as you start to make progress, what will derail your progress is an inability to manage stress, avoid stagnation, or beat burnout. That was why I wrote the second book.

So Raise Your Game will teach you how to make the climb, sustain your game, will teach you how to stay there not for years, for decades like you've done right. but most importantly, perform at a high level and love what you're doing. Yeah, because if you don't have joy and fulfillment in your work, then you need to Pivot and find something different. So read: Raise your Game Red, Sustain your game.

And if anyone ever needs me for anything, they can reach out DM me on any of the social platforms. It's always my honor to get back to people and help. This is what I love to do. That's how we connected.

Yeah, serving others is what fills my bucket I Know so I Love trying to add value to others. Yeah, a little fun fact for everyone listening right now. when you see me answering questions on Instagram which I answer thousands of questions every year like just hey, God I'm gonna be on an airplane. it's usually I'm dealing with something in my own life and I switch from dealing with that to what is the answer and then go back to contribution.

Yeah, and the fastest way for me to contribute oftentimes when I'm by myself on an airplane is to say who's got a question. Yeah, so next time you see that, you know there's probably something going on inside my head that I'm working on. Um, you know what this reminds me of if I I don't I say this with the most respect. Sure, it's like the best of Timmy Grover with like the best of Mel Robbins in one book You with me like that's like when I first listened to the audiobook I was like this is so full of just actionable I say easy, easy to comprehend, easy to write down what fills my bucket, you know, and then like oh yeah, stop doing that, do more of that like and I like that you heard me say like I like simplify, simplify, simplify, don't complicate things because most people complicate things and then they don't do anything.

So this has been really good. Man that is. Appreciate. Unbelievable compliment because I have so much respect and reverence for both of them.

I've learned and devoured both of their content. Yeah, so yeah, that compliment is very well received and appreciated. Yeah, well, my friend. well-earned So hey, who do you know that needs to listen to this? You might have a friend, a kid, a buddy A co-worker that may be just hitting the forward on or I don't know.

Maybe it's copy and paste if you're listening to this on the audio, but forward this to a friend. Maybe someone you know that got impacted by the headwinds of real estate and they just like you've told them a couple times with it, sometimes we just need to hit it from somebody else. Yes, writing it. Funny how that works.

Like you know, like we say to our kids, you know you might want to think about and then you say to my son, you should think about and they're like at all guys. pretty darn smart. Maybe this could be that moment. So if you're listening this right now because somebody sent it to you, it's because they love you.

Just heads up on that. All right? Alan We gotta bounce. Thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for listening.

Absolutely follow this guy on social. Get a copy of the book. Most importantly, give you three or four great ideas to act on today. Do that, and I'll see you on the next podcast.

See you soon Foreign.