Hey welcome back to the podcast, i can still say happy new year so happy new year, whether you're listening to this in january, or i don't know september october, uh huge. Thank you again for uh, listening to the podcast being a part of my community being a part of my sphere and and driving this podcast success uh through the roof. It really i'm very grateful um. Just thank you.

Thank you. Thank you and more. Thank you. So today, uh my team said: hey.

We have like three things that we keep seeing. You know sort of on all of our social channels, three things that, like topics that we want you to discuss, and they wanted me just to give all my sort of random thoughts. So i'm just going to give you a heads up, i'm going to talk about daily disciplines for 2020.. So if you are in need of a dose of strategy around daily disciplines, you're going to enjoy that conversation, the other one they want to talk about is like burnout and how many people experience burnout last year and just what were my general thoughts on burnout and Then the third one is: i've been talking a lot, especially in the fourth quarter, about scaling yourself right, like team and scaling and getting your haboo your highest and best use.

So i'm going to talk about those three subjects: i'm going to go one at a time. You could skip around or you can go all the way through, so whether you're working out right now, you're, you know listening this early in the morning, you're in the car, i'm just playing in the background uh, i'm just gon na go like spitfire. So, just like ready set go so daily this one's for 20 uh for 2021. uh, i will say i'm gon na i got tristan over here in dallas with me.

In my new little temporary hold up, he set up a little podcast studio. For me, big shout out to you man, thank you, so uh, so i'll, occasionally just you know reference tristan and have conversations with him. So the thing uh the thing that i'm super mindful of right now when it comes to disciplines in 2021, the first direction. I would go: is your personal disciplines and and the personal discipline i would start with, is like time off.

You know. Last year was a weird year like where t people would have typically gone away on vacation got a staycation in well. We had like a 310 day staycation for many of us in our homes in that environment, so we didn't get the sort of emotional or mental relief that we would typically get um. So the first thing i would tell you is all right: i'd ask you to consider when are you on? When are you off right, and i know in our business right like with this device - it's 24 7 at least that's what it feels like.

Probably most of the time, but there is just some power to turning off that device and engaging in last night. I literally would dinner with my wife we're working on all this stuff and you know it's a you know: there's a lot going on right, so we're working on all this stuff and then i was like, let's just take a break, want to play cards and we Played cards for like an hour and a half, and you know what, when you're playing cards and you're chatting one another and you're just you say well what discipline time you're about disney about playing cards with your wife, the discipline of stopping and getting intentional with my Spouse in an activity where a phone wouldn't be relevant, so that goes away now, the sudden we just have this connection and it's fun and we're you know we're both very competitive. So one of my disciplines for you is going to be in 2021. Where are you going to carve out some time for yourself we're going to carve out time for your health and vitality for your relationship if you're single for your prospecting right, like hello prospecting, yes and everything if you're single right with your health, with your kids, with Your friends with your family, you know last year, was just a really busy year and i know um talking with a lot of friends in the business and in other businesses.

They all talked about like at times where they felt like they lost connection with people. So one of the things i would challenge you on is not just like the hey. I want to get referrals from people, but the people that really matter most you in your life, my buddy saul. I don't know if saul's listening this right now i was down in mexico.

Uh, recently, um been going down there for, like 13 years, the same spots like a little family, getaway and uh i'm down there and he texts me and we've been texting back and forth and we finally get on the phone together and we were talking about. Like sort of lessons from you know like this last year 2020 - and he said you know, people got so busy, especially in real estate, hear me my friend. They got so busy in real estate. That relationships became check, mark conversations versus connection and when he said it like, i don't think he was saying it to me like to to rouse me.

I think he was saying it like it's like. He observed it because he's a wise, wise, individual and he probably was digging at me too and that's perfect. That's that's our relationship. I love this guy and, like i took it personal i was like man like.

Okay, that's probably a discipline for me in 2021. Like you know, i got a lot of friends. I got a lot of acquaintances. I got a lot of business partners.

I got a lot of you know like clients and just coaches and teammates, and you think to yourself, like you know, i got to be intentional with people, that's a discipline right being intentional. Not having conversation just be a hey just reach out, want to see how you're doing okay check, in my mind, check. Okay, i'm in communication with mom check, i'm in communication, with my dad check in communication with my kids, my friends, but instead being present. So that's one discipline right, maybe not the one.

You were thinking about uh, the other one i'll tell you and uh tristan just left, i'm not sure where he went. We should talk about him while he's gone just kidding uh one of the big disciplines for me, uh was really upping all my sups, my supplements this year, and i really you know: i've always done it um, but really last year with covid like you know, and I'm no expert, so i'm you know, listen, i'm not a doctor in any way shape or form, but you know the experts seem to say things like upping your zinc and vitamin d. That was a good idea, your nad. That was a good idea.

Don't even ask me to explain nad i used to do these four hour. Nad iv drips and i was very excited to find them in a pill form supplement versus. Could you imagine me sitting in a room for four hours, waiting for an iv drip to go in, but you know there's just so many things that we can do uh from a supplement standpoint like eating healthy. That definitely matters but supplements.

Like you know. Some people are into them. Some people aren't i'm one of those people that, like i'm trying to supplement what is missing in the food i'm getting or supplement, maybe missing enough sunshine right: vitamin d um, i'm just a super big fan of that, like i'm very regimented. When it comes to that all the supplements i take are in my bathroom right when i get ready, i get out of the shower after i've worked out, i got water there, bang.

I take all my supplements and i get dressed and bang. I put the balance in my pocket and i go to work and i do my thing and around one o'clock then after after some intermittent fasting, then i eat and i take my supplements again: it's just it's a discipline, it's a commitment towards health and vitality. So i challenge you my friend we're 300-ish days uh here in the u.s and canada, and i know longer for my friends in europe and china, depending upon where they're at, like you know, you're hearing all kinds of stories that they're out going crazy and chomping like Crazy and restaurants are packed, and then you hear other stories i i don't know, i'm not the expert. I focus on making sure that i'm personally being disciplined with my health and vitality, working out my supplements getting time off and being intentional with my relationships.

So that's one thought for you on the business side of discipline, tristan we talked about you. While you were gone, i'm just kidding. That's what i love about podcasts uh, no editing just going the the thing that i wrote down under business is, you know, think about it for you and your business. Whatever line of work, that you're in people are involved, strategy is involved, execution's involved and profits are involved and whether that was four disciplines of execution or eos.

I forget you know what book, but that really synthesized it for me like. So what are the disciplines? You have regarding people right so so, whether you're, a solo entrepreneur or you've got a team of five thousand. There needs to be a discipline around helping my people scale, helping my people improve helping. My people write this down, remove the constraints of growth.

That is a discipline. My co and i are working on all the time - is that a constraint of growth is that holding us back, let's be more disciplined to remove it. Let's be more disciplined and systematic to get something in place that speeds things up. So we can help more customers.

We can improve efficiency. We can make work more joyful, like that's a discipline for us, so people is a discipline right strategy, like the discipline of staying on strategy strategy. Excuse me is i'm actually, i think i actually just burped in the podcast, i'm not sure if we should edit that that was horrible. I didn't actually burp, but it was like.

I can feel that am i actually talking about this right now in a podcast. That's probably totally inappropriate sorry, just keeping it real strategy strategy is like this ready. I've got my goals right, so here's the outcomes i want to achieve. I want to generate 500 000.

I want to have a 10 million dollar business. I want to sell this. Many houses i want to do whatever that's the goal. The strategy is how you get there right.

It's the overarching, like i'm, going to do these five things that i believe based on past experience and studying the market are gon na help me get there and then below. That is tactics. Tactics like the how much of what and by when the phone call the email, the video, the right. That's business, right, goal, strategy, tactics, strategy, a lot of people: what happens is they change their strategy throughout the year or they never stick with a strategy? So, if you're looking for a discipline in 2021, if your strategy is i'm gon na get 40 of my business from my database 40 from this online source and five five, five and five from these, and that's the strategy that you've laid out.

That's the plan. You laid out to achieve the goal, a step above that then be disciplined with your strategy, be disciplined with your tactics. Don't change the strategy, alter the tactics, tweak the tactics test, new tactics, but the overarching i'm going to get 40 of my business from my database. I'm going to get 40 from these online sources, i'm going to get five from here, five, mere five, mere five from here.

That strategy should not be adjusting throughout the year. You can add to it. Oh my goodness. This new opportunity just arose, and i want to take it on i'm going to add to that strategy and therefore more tactics and then increase the goal potentially.

But the mistake, i see a lot of people making is they're constantly changing their strategy right their plan it it should i'm not saying it needs to be set in stone, but, my goodness, like you, were smart enough to write your plan. How about be smart enough to follow it? So that's a discipline under execution. I love that word. Look at the end of the day like if, if we want to be successful, this goes down to like that tactical level.

Um. What is your haboo? What is your haboob, what is your highest and best use highest and best use right? You should call it h, but but just didn't sound right, habu your highest and best use execution is, is at the end, it's where the rubber meets the road. So if i say i want to lose 15 pounds, there's disciplines, i need to execute on. If i say i want to sell 100 homes there's this ones i need to execute on, and what you have to understand is by missing those disciplines by missing a day.

Here a day here, a day here a day here, you don't get to the result. What makes people extraordinary is they say five days a week, phil gerdes, who you listened to my last podcast phil. Had you sell 36 homes? My first year i had three primary uh tristan. What did he call him? The the something pillars i'm now spacing on it? Ah, the hustle pillars.

He said i got three hustle pillars: expireds geographic farm and open houses. He said i did expires five days a week from nine to eleven five days a week from 9 11 did not miss that level of execution brought him massive success, having the strategy for a geographic farm and then executing on the two to four mailers every single Month for eight months, like he talked about that execution is what's brought him all that success, and then it allowed him to expand into multiple farms and have even greater reach and grow his business exponentially execution's, where it's at so so i'd ask you to maybe think About this, no one cares how you feel - and you going into this mindset that so many people get into this trap that people get into they're like. Oh, i just don't feel like it today shut up. Who cares? Do you feel like achieving your goals or not? Do you feel like uh achieving the greatness? That's inside you or not like i'm a huge fan, i haven't done it in a while, but i every time i find myself maybe getting a little off track i'll go to google and i'll type in death calendar yeah.

It's really inspiring think about it, though, if you type in google, death, calendar or google death calendar uh, you get this little, you know guy there and it says, fill out this information. How old are you? What do you weigh? What are your habits? How much you drink? Do you smoke yada, yada yada, and then it gives you a prediction down to a day. Now, i'm not saying it's entirely accurate, but it's super inspiring because all of a sudden i'm like wait a minute. That's telling me.

I only have like 32 summers left and i'm like whoa. I only have 32 summers left or i only got 32 winners left or 32 springs left or 30. You know 32 starts to the year like there's just something about that. That gets me going interrupt the pattern when you say to yourself.

I don't feel like it put your shoes on and go for a run like learn to be that gal learn to be that guy and execution and discipline and your life will change forever. Be the person that is sedate stuck on the couch complaining and you already know, what's going to end up you're in my community, you don't do that all right. The last uh this one i want to talk about is profits, so i am going to actually skip write down because it's finances is really the thing. The three that i want to discuss: personal business and finances um, the real estate business, the number of ceos team leaders, agents, new agents, experienced agents, veteran agents that i've talked to around the world that made more money in 2020 than they ever had in their life.

Tristan you and your lovely wife made more money last year than you ever had between me super 73 right between her job at lone depot and how much she's crushing it. You guys killed it last year and how many times have i said to you, save your money. Save your money! Save your money! Save your money! Invest, invest, invest right! He's like every time! I see you because i know that most and i got a lot of mad love and respect for tristan right. So so i'm not saying it like trying to harp on him.

I'm saying it because i want him to understand like at his age. He puts the discipline in place and can i tell the story of the uh, the ipad yeah, so yeah? Sometimes you got ta ask for permission. He was like i had this great moment. Man like he's like i was thinking about i'll, probably totally box this.

If i you know, do you can run over and help he's like, i was like he's making good money right. He he uh as a side hustle you check out super 73 and if you decide to buy one, please use codename tristan. I don't think i've ever done that on a podcast ever, but there you go um, but he loves these bikes. He loves the community, he's been, he was blogging about it, creating videos about it.

Well now, like a lot of people buy bikes because of tristan. So you know so he gets rewarded for that like in one of those like sort of referral exchange programs, so so he's making all this extra money. His wife is killing it right as a processor for loans. He makes great money with me at ferry, international and all of a sudden he's like, i think, i'm gon na get a new ipad right.

I'm gon na get a new ipad and you know he's, like you know, he's a baller he can afford it. So he's like on his brand new laptop by the way he has a laptop and he already has an ipad. You seem like getting another ipad. You guys get the problem here right.

It used to be cameras with him. He had like you know. I don't even know how many cameras, but all of a sudden he's like i'm on there and i'm looking at it. Oh i'm gon na get this one and the super specs and all this power and all the speed and the price keeps going up up up up up up up up and remind me: wasn't it like you just you walked away for a couple minutes.

You didn't purchase it in the moment. All i had to do was hit the submit order button and what was the epiphany? I stood up and walked away and said. Let me think about it and i realized i don't actually need it now this morning. He tells me i'm sharing more personal stuff right because i'm a big fan of dismantling, especially when it comes to finances that he he invested in apple stock and i'm like so could you imagine, could you imagine, had you taken what would have been a 1500 ipad And that was what six seven months ago and put that much money into apple six or seven months ago.

Like i mean you know, you still got a piece of apple. You just didn't get an ipad, but what you got was a massive acceleration step up in value from that stock. Here's my point to you being disciplined with your finances not being stupid with your money not buying dumb stuff, not repeating not not revenge shopping, which we know is going to happen, and it's already happening on amazon and other sites where people are like i'm home, i'm Alone, i'm making money. I have all this extra cash and they're just buying dumb.

I'm telling you the note i wrote down is real estate. Industry is booming. How much can you increase your net worth right now like what, if that became the obsession? What if the obsession became retirement accounts? What if the obsession became buying another investment property? What if it became? You know investing in stocks that you believe in what if it became paying off all of your debt. Wrapping up this whole thing on discipline money, your health, your time, your relationships, your people, your strategy, your execution, that's where i'd be focused right now, so that was a lot just kind of throwing this all out at you and like yeah, i wrote down a couple Of things, but like i'm just kind of spitballing here, i'm going to tell you this like there's all these cliches, you know.

Do the thing have the power right? It's not very cliche, it's a wonderful line from uh from thoreau used so much in the book. The slight edge it's true like you, you can transform your life in. I would say 90 days. I don't believe in like 21 days.

I don't believe in like 24 hours. You can transform your life by taking on a new discipline over the next 90 days of like spending less of making more phone calls of being more disciplined of eating better of intermittent fasting, of taking your supplements or whatever it is. I'm telling you right now: tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, google, the death clock you and i were running out of time. What are you going to do? What are the new disciplines you're going to add in 2021 that make your life amazing, and i want to be clear: like discipline equals freedom, if you don't get anything else, a lot of people when you say the word discipline they think about like the constraints.

No because i'm disciplined with my money, i can do more things because i'm disciplined with my health, i can go run and play and be active and, like stretch and be flexible like i i'm not constrained by my lack of discipline and health, because i read and Study and listen and spend time with people like i grow like that. That discipline pays massive dividends and because i'm disciplined with my relationships, i have them you with me, like discipline, equals freedom, get that in your head, all right totally different direction burnout. So i think a lot about this, like when uh when brenda. You know when i, when i saw that like talk about burnout to boom and what always goes through my mind.

So so i'm not i'm not gon na, say to you that burnout isn't real burnout. Is real? I, though, believe that you have to go back and say if the effect is burnout, what was the cause see what created the burnout so so the thing that i go i go back to is in my notes. I wrote down what creates the feeling of burnout. So what if i told you today is thursday thursday, so today's thursday and on monday i came inside the office, i'm all by myself and yeah.

I got this new little uh. You know sort of temporary pad in uh in dallas and i'm all by myself and i'm looking around and i am an energy person. I feed off the energy of others and i bring my energy to others and i'm by myself and there's literally nobody on the floor like in like one of those wework kind of spaces and there's nobody here. It's just dead, it's quiet and i have to write and create for three hours.

That's what's in my schedule, so i'm like. Okay, all right. This is what i acknowledged. The pattern that i was running was a pattern of anxiety.

The pattern i was running was a pattern of complacency. The pattern i was running was, you know, feeling bad because there was no one to vibe with there was no one to jam with, but what i did is i acknowledged that i was running a pattern now. So here's what i want you to get as a human being like tony robbins talks about this. I love it.

It's like one of the easiest ways. He says you don't you're, not depressed. You do depression, you're, not burned out! You do burned out my mentor back in like 1989 bill mitchell. God rest, his soul was the very first person that helped me get this.

I remember saying to him bill. I keep listening to people like zig ziglar, saying you got to have a great attitude and i'm like what is this like? I don't even understand like what does that even mean? You know when the year and a half before you had a mohawk and you were kicked out of your parents house. You barely got their high school like and now you know all these, i'm listening to all these tapes and there was like attitude attitude attitude. You know, or all that and go goals, goals, attitude right and i so i sit down with bill and i'm like bill.

What is it and he's like? Look? An attitude is just the the result of ready, your self-talk, your body, language and your focus, and i was like oh like he. He framed it in a way for me that i was able to say. I understand that - and i said so but tell me more and he said so tom when you're feeling great. How do you move your body? This is 1989 1989.

I was like like 31 years ago, he's like listen to me. I don't think i was 19 yet and he's like if you move your body now, this is a guy who would it must have been in? I guess it must have been in 50-ish at the time and he's like when you move your body. You know when you walk in, like bill always wore like armani, suits the tie. The pocket square, like he always looked like a million bucks he's like when you walk into the office.

If you walk in with like your shoulders slouched and all this he's, like you, walk in like you're, not feeling like a million bucks, you're feeling like a slouch right like he's like you, want to walk in, like you're a prize fighter coming into a fight, you Know what i'm talking about, i think about like conor, mcgregor, uh, there's so many of the greats mike tyson i'm working on getting on my podcast. You heard her first super pumped about that um and here's. The thing like they walked in. I think about the the u.s um soccer team, the female us soccer team that has won multiple gold medals.

You see those women, i have like truth bumps right now like they walked on the field. Like i own you it's over hand, me the trophy. Let's go, that is a physicality that does not equate to burnout. That is a physicality.

The way they're moving their body is confident even when they don't have it right. It is this belief in themselves the way they move their body. So that's the first thing: i'm like okay focus. What do you mean focus like that's such a vague word? He goes.

Focus is actually the dominant question. You are focused on questions. Determine your focus. Questions determine your focus.

If you're asking yourself questions like. Oh i'm just so burned out like how can i get my energy back, but you ask it in a way like you, don't actually want your energy back. You actually say like. Oh what, if i just rested today, you know you really deserve some time off right.

This this conversation based around a question of i'm burned out, is there anything i can do i've lost my power? It really goes into the next one, which is your self-talk right and if, let's just combine those two for a second, if i'm asking myself disempowering questions, how did it get to this? I'm so tired. Does anybody understand? Oh, my goodness, right like that language? That's only going to create more of the same so so, if i ask myself a question like this like uh, why do i suck your brain is going to go? Well, let me tell you a dumb ass. It's because you didn't do this. You didn't do that.

You didn't do this, you didn't do this and by the way, do you remember when you were four, this happened remember when you were eight and this happened and 27 and 42, and this and this and your brain pulls into that little storage file cabinet everything that About you that sucks - and it gives you all the information and how do you expect to feel i i'm going like basic psychology 101 from my mentor bill right tony robbins made his entire career on what i'm talking about like and big, shout out to tony have Known forever, like love, tony right, so body focus and self-talk. If i'm walking around saying i'm alive, excited full of energy and ready to conquer the day, that's better! Then i'm tired, i'm depressed, i feel i'm burned out. I deserve time off the other thing that i use all the time and actually i'm going to grab it right now, because it's probably the very first thing. That's teed up on my phone - oh yes hold on this song right here.

This is what i did on monday. I i'm sure this is totally illegal on a podcast, but the bottom line is i'm literally sitting there like. I have to write like tristan. You know when i got it right because you've been around me long enough to know like i have to put myself in the right physical mental state to be creative to write.

So what am i doing? I turn on a little led zeppelin and i start jumping like i'm on stage at the summit right and i'm doing my jump and i'm moving my body and i'm like okay, let's go like right now, like i'm gon na crush this. I'm gon na make this. This presentation is going to be amazing. I can't wait to talk to saul's group.

I can't wait to talk to that cold banker, group that i had and all sudden bam, i'm in the right state the night before it didn't matter that i had four hours of sleep, which was the case based upon my little sleep time, app it didn't matter. I put myself in an emotional state that gave me the confidence. That's what controls your attitude, so two things burnout to boom yeah. Sometimes we work too many days.

We work too many hours. We got too much screen time. We don't give ourselves the discipline and the time off the break, and we do we run on empty. We don't eat the right foods, we don't take the right supplements, we don't drink enough water right like we live off, coffee or caffeine, or whatever, like whatever your vice.

Is that just keeps you going and yeah? You know what your body's gon na get tired. No doubt about it, no doubt about it, but you and i my friend you and i were different. We recognize. We recognize that if i have a purpose, something i'm inspired to do something i want to do yeah some days, i'm not going to feel like it, but i can control it.

I can move my body in a powerful way. I can ask myself a more empowering question. What do i love about creating speeches? What do i love about coaching? What do i love about making phone calls? What do i love about? Shooting videos? What do i love about doing podcasts? You start asking yourself questions like that, like i'm using obviously my model of the world here, you ask yourself questions like that, and your remains like i love it man. I love like when someone i see him randomly on the street they're like oh, my god, you're tom ferry.

I listen to your podcast, the guy that drives me now, the the take me back and forth at the airport. His name is jose jose if you're listening. I love you he's like i know who you are. I watch your mindset mondays.

I was like that's why i do it like he's a driver he's not a real estate agent, not a title. Rep he's not something like that. He's someone that like got hooked on me and now, like i exchanged time and driving and money with him like it's awesome, that's why i do it even thinking about i get inspired, jose, love! You buddy, so check it out. You ready what creates burnout it's buying into the noise.

It's having your body be uh. It's having your energy, be uh. You have to do burnout. So here's the message interrupt.

The pattern control your emotional state now, but tom i've worked 48 days in a row. Then schedule a day off schedule a day off change your voicemail hi, i'm not working. Today. I've worked 49 days in a row.

Please don't even leave a message. I'll call you tomorrow right like because i know your number, because it's on my phone, like don't actually do that message but schedule time off. That goes back to that discipline thing can work seven days a week, 24 hours a day. It's it's a passion! For me, my discipline is scheduling.

Time off you with me. Burnout is not an issue. Burn out is something you do you with me, get more rest. Do your subs take care of your health? That's what i'm saying now going back to bill mitchell.

He actually said body focus and self self-talk. All that creates your attitude. So if your body's off your focus is off yourself talks off your attitude, which is nothing more than your view of the world. What's your view of the world right now think about that question.

As we sit here on whatever day, it is in january, with all the insanity happening right now in the u.s right like what's your view of the world, are you are you angry? Do you believe our best days are in front of us? You know: do you hate someone? Do you think this is a bunch of nonsense? Do you ra, like that's your attitude, which is the way you move your body and your focus and your self-talk? Well, here's the here's! The hook ready your attitude basically controls the actions that you take right, positive or negative in action or not in action, and we know if you're in the right emotional state and you take the right action, you're, more enjoyable for people. People want to do business with people that make them feel good. People want to do business with people that they know have their back. That are problem.

Solvers that are can do like whatever it takes, let's go and all that action does is produce a result, but here's the fun part the result. It's like it's like a not a cybernetic, looks that's more of a mental physical thing, but it's like a it's. Like a like a flywheel right, physical body focus bang attitude that impacts boom. Your actions that impacts bam, the results you produce and the results reinforce your body, your physical right, all that stuff, your focus and your self-talk, so that loop that flywheel that everybody wants in business needs to start with you.

So i have no idea brenda what you expected asking me about burnout, because i know i know how it is for me. If i'm, if i need an app, i take a nap right if i need to work late and stay up late or i'm just inspired about something, i'm inspired about something and, like i don't know like i'm 50, maybe it'll change in 20 years. I don't think so. I know fundamentally, if i focus on my body my focus and my self-talk, i can basically will myself into doing anything, so i hope you got some value of that.

Let's talk about the last one that will wrap it up, scaling yourself. So this is actually a conversation um, that's near and dear for me, i'll i'll share some insight with you last year, uh as the pandemic was hitting in the u.s myself and my at that time. Co were falling. Let's say out of our business love for one another right, mad respect for her.

She did a lot of things that helped us operationalize the business, but you know i i knew at that. At that point there was another level we wanted to get to. She was frustrated, i was frustrated, so we made the decision. It was time for us to part ways.

Well, five days later we go into a pandemic, and here we are, you know, 315 days later, whatever the number is, and it was the right move right. Was it easy? No, it was very hard it's hard, because i have a lot of respect for her. I like her a lot, but it was time like she had she had done what she could do for the organization and now it's time for something new. Well, the challenge is, then we went call it five.

Six months where i was now ceo and speaker, coach, yada, yada, content creator and operating as ceo. Thank you, john wesley, my vp of operations for stepping in thank you all of my vps and all my executives and all my managers and everybody in the company for stepping up. It was still hard and then i was able to have a new person join our organization now about 120, maybe longer ago, rj jones, right, former executive at zillow military west point grad super disciplined was a investment banker actually spent some time at exp after he had Left zillow and then join join myself and the team he and i sat down and remember very early in our conversation, but i was sitting down at that time because he lives in washington and i live in california. At that time, um i say to him: okay, man like what are the most important things for you and he's like constraints of growth and scaling, and i'm like i want your definition of it so rj.

I might be totally butchering this if you're listening to it um, but it really impacted me impacted me in such a way that i started sharing it with a lot of the team leaders and and with other ceos and executives that i was working with, because i Was doing it to myself, and you know always when we are getting better right when we see good, measurable results, what do we want to do? We want to share with everybody else, like the people that we love the people we care for the people. We respect our clients, so we got into this dialogue, scaling and removing the constraints of growth, so we kind of talked earlier about removing constraints of growth. That is simply looking at every part of your business, for you think about it. Your marketing, the top of the funnel the middle of the funnel the bottom of the funnel, if you just got very honest with yourself and said what are the constraints of growth, improving selling, more houses, selling more widgets doing more loans, whatever it is, title orders selling More software, what are the constraints of growth? The top of the funnel do i have enough leads coming in.

Am i doing a good job qualifying? Those leads? Am i doing a good job in the early stages nurturing? Those leads right, like am i getting the right type of leads. Am i attracting the right type of customers all these opportunities of potential constraints of growth we started looking at, then you look at the next one. You say the middle of the funnel right, someone someone inquires about your service if you're in real estate, it could be 18 months later before they transact right. So it's very typical! Well, if you have constraints in the middle of the funnel meaning your lead nurturing your value proposition, how you're touching them you know are you are you? Are they engaged with your content? Are they engaged in opening up like all of your stuff? Are they staying with you in this journey together, this whole buyer journey conversation.

If they're not, then those are constraints of growth that have to be addressed and attacked same thing at the bottom of the funnel right. What is my ratio from lead to appointment, appointment to contract to conversion paid, etc? If you start breaking down just that, one on any one of your lead pillars that that is going to help. You grow like what he what he brought to my attention and we all know this was basically like work on your business. He just gave us some new language, for it is identifying those constraints of growth and then working your face off to solve for them, which is tweaking and adjusting the tactics.

Remember earlier goal strategy tactics, trying new tactics, trying new approaches to make things get better incrementally over time and then geometrically as you progress like that's awesome, but the flip side of the conversation was scaling yourself. This is an interesting one when i look around at so many so many young entrepreneurs and young could be 70. Young could be 22., it doesn't make a difference, not age, it's young in the way that they view the business their their business. Maturity is young.

This mindset of, like i, have to do everything myself. This mindset of i can't afford to pay anybody else. This mindset of my clients expect me to do it all of these things that they say to themselves that become very real for them. They are the constraint of growth.

Do you get that like if you're, if you just said - oh god, tom you're, really talking to me like, do you understand, you're the constraint of your growth, recognizing that and then say? Okay, so i got ta scale. I have to scale so what does that mean? It means i've got to use better software as an example, or i got to recognize my haboo my highest and best use and begin to outsource or insource for everything that isn't on the highest and best use of my time and that right there for many people Is the entrepreneurial dilemma? How do i do it? Who do i hire first? What do i need i'm i kind of like this okay, but is it the highest and best use of your time? I'm really good at this, but is it the highest like hey, maybe you're awesome at, like i don't know taking photos of listings that you're gon na launch? Well, then, why don't you stop selling houses and become a photographer for you know high-end listings and do that because that's not the highest and best use of your time if you're, a real estate agent, who's out listing property right, there are professional photographers, that's their highest And best, but tom, like i, i really i actually enjoy the transaction process like digging into transactly or whatever software solution i use by the way i love transactly and whatever software solution i use. I really love that. Well, then, then, why don't you go build a tc business, but you know don't be someone that their job is to market and nurture and create relationships, good on appointments and go help.

People buy and sell real estate do your haboo and then in source or outsource. Everything else and use software to speed everything up, so i wrote down for you ready. If i were you - and i was if i was listening this and i was a solo entrepreneur, the first thing i do is get an assistant. That'd be the first thing out of the gate right without a shadow of a doubt, someone that can basically take on all of the activities that are not maybe client facing you making your calls you doing your marketing you going on appointments, you negotiating you showing houses, You you you, the the people stuff that make you like successful everything else in the back accounting transaction management, making sure your files are right, all that stuff gets handled by somebody else.

The moment you do that, i don't know if there's any studies, but i hear a lot of people say studies say, but i'm yet to see a study on this, but i know it. I know it cold from like 31 years in this industry, 27. 20 years. As a coach, the second an 80 000 a year person hires an assistant, they go to like 225.

It is just overnight because all of a sudden, all that stuff that is so important, but it's not their highest and best. Somebody else is doing and bam. They explode so rj, and i are in this conversation all the time like how do we scale up our executives? How do we scale up our sales team? How do we scale up our coaches? How do we help our clients scale up like that, becomes the conversation? How do you need to scale? Let me give you one that maybe you're not thinking about my children are out of, or you know basically out of the house right, i'm an empty nester. I couldn't imagine right now running a business.

So if this is you i my hat's off to you like, i have mad love, respect and appreciation for what you're doing. If my kids were like six and eight, and like my wife and i weren't together - and i was 100 responsible for my children - and i was running my business and i was homeschooling them and they were in a quarantine environment like tristan. I have so much respect for single moms single dads. I was raised by a single mom like i've talked about that before.

Like you know, my dad was there, but he was always on gone and on the road like i have so much mad respect for single parents, because it's tough, it's tough, being a parent, let alone being a single parent. So if you're in those shoes like i love you, i respect you and you ready, get help, get help like the the there's. A phrase like uh: stop blaming resources and start being resourceful like that's. That has always served me.

Okay, we don't have the money for it. What can we do? Can we barter? Can i beg? Can i find an intern? Can i find someone that needs experience like what can i do to get the result that i need like if you are super resourceful? If you're running your business - and you have kids at home again my my hat's off to you - and it is so hard to be a kid right now, can you trust you imagine, being in high school right now in front of a zoom camera monday through friday, For four or five hours i couldn't sit still for five minutes and i was in the class and i would intentionally try and put myself in the front row right just because it was the only way i could stay engaged. So i it's going to be very interesting side note i think it's very interesting to look at what happens over the next decade or two at the kids that were in college during this. The kids are in high school during this, the kids that were in elementary school during this, and i'm not saying it's going to be good bad right or wrong.

I think it's just going to be interesting to see what happens so i'd look at maybe a home assistant right, someone that can help clean. Do laundry like that's another way of scaling yourself. So, instead of like doing laundry and making the meal and doing this stuff you're with your kids you're doing homework right, are you doing what matters most being connected, just a thought, marketing having a marketing director right now in this world in every business? I don't care what business you're in all business is innovation and marketing and if you are not marketing consistently in a relevant way by the way, tristan can you hand me there's a giant right there with a little uh by that box of food. There's a giant piece of paper with a paper clip on it.

That thing so just hand it to me really fast. I'm gon na give a little shout out to these guys. Um! Thank you! So you, if you're watching this, you can see it i'll, read it to you. It says the company's called a test, att est and they did a little research.

It's the top u.s consumer trends for marketing planning in 21.. I strongly recommend you download it. I don't know if we can link this up. We probably can like on at least on tomferry.com, but if you're listening to us on itunes you'll have to go back to tomferry.com and find the podcast and we'll link it up there or just google a test.

A t t e s, t top u.s consumer trends for 2021 marketing um. How you market today has to be relevant on tone on point on message: it needs to be friendly, it needs to be engaging, it needs to be interesting. It sometimes needs to be provocative. Like there's so much, you need to do, and i know i know people today that are in business that are like.

I don't have enough business and last year was not good for me and i'm like well, who does your marketing they're like? Oh, i don't really do a lot of marketing, i'm like then you're, not even in business, so assistant, home assistant, marketing, director, google marketing director in your town, how much or outsource to your brokerage for direct mail outsource to a company for online lead generation outsource. But you can't not be marketing, it just does not work. Your business is gone. The fourth one is who's.

Doing your transactions right, if you're a successful agent at a certain point, even if you're, really tech, savvy and you're super organized at about 20-ish transactions, when you've got four or five deals going at the same time and you're trying to get more business and you're going On appointments and your referrals and online leads - and everything else is coming on things just start to break down right. That's when you need to scale so transactly i mentioned it earlier or any transaction management platform, whatever one your broker uses, use something but outsource. All your tc work outsource, all your put on my clients. I promise you by outsourcing, find a good tc outsource the work to them as they as you, and they create a better nurturing relationship.

Not you screaming at them and saying you screw this thing up but like they know what they're doing but like hey, let me tell you about this client. This is their situation. They have a child who has this situation in that situation, so you know like calling them in the middle of the day is a bad idea. They need to call like right before you end your day, like you prep people, for who the customer is and then let them do their work.

Let them follow the checklist and the process and the systems and get the signatures and get everything done. So someone like you doesn't have to you, got ta, go for find more clients or stay on the communication side and letting them know that you know phyllis phyllis. Why not phyllis your transaction manager is taking care of that. For you that's critical, accounting and budgets.

We talked about finances earlier, but i'm always blown away by agents or entrepreneurs that are trying to do their marketing, trying to do the transaction and they're doing their billing and they're doing their accounting and they're doing their client interface and they're doing the assistant work and They're taking care of their family, maybe that's the cause of burnout. What do you think now, i'm not telling you to go hire all these people tomorrow, i'm not i'm asking you what is the highest and best use of your time and then what are the constraints of growth and let's either outsource, insource or ready outsource like to A transaction manager to a marketing company that does what it is. You want done as an example or in source. You hire that person and now they level you up, you get scaled up.

You now have more time to go. Do the stuff that really matters and you've got an expert in place? Who does what they do best to support you and to support the clients, like that's the game and, of course, using great software, always so: sales accounting budgets, financial growth transactions, marketing home assistant assistant? I just think at the end of the day, my friends, we all have the same 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days in a year and you either scale up or you are the constraint of growth. So you might say to me tom, i you know like i'm totally satisfied selling 15 homes a year and being wrapped up in it 24 hours a day. Seven days a week, i've raised my kids.

I've raised my husband, like i'm totally having fun like that's it. Then my response is good on you good on you and then i would say to you: do you have enough money saved like do you have enough money in the bank to stop working for a year? I know the answer the answer's always no, then i say so then what if you scale it up a little bit increase your revenue save more money, so you put yourself in a better financial position, because that's i mean if you really listen to all the stuff. I talk about that's the position. I want you to be in no debt lots of cash, some good investments own some real estate, like put yourself in a good position.

It's worth scaling up to do that because do you want to be selling homes at 90? 70. 80., i mean just: do you want to be like editing videos at like 84. right? He just gave me this, like, oh, you know hold on right. I mean we'd, probably do it like through some oculus device or you would just go.

I would like to edit that, and the chip inside your head just gets it done, but you know the reality is like we as humans. We need to evolve so this is maybe one of those evolutionary moments for you um. I hope you got some value out of this podcast disciplines, changing your state for burnout, avoiding that not playing that game like being passionate, being focused being committed and moving your body and your energy and your tone and what you say to yourself in the right direction. Finding more people like that filling their buckets them filling your buckets like you're, crushing and then scale scale scale, scale scale scale, i'm not saying endless millions of transactions scale to a level where you're taking out enough money out of the business and it's not taking all Of your time, make that your scaling number at what number of transactions bring in enough revenue and you've got enough help and support, and after all of that, the profitability is such that you can shove in piles of cash pay off all your debt.

Do that five! Six years in a row and then watch how your life changes. Maybe it's that maybe it's 38 deals. Maybe it's 3. 800 deals.

I have no idea, you know it's your business, it's your life! I honor you. I respect you. I appreciate you and, as my mentor bill mitchell would always say: you're, okay, where you are you're just too good to stay there, probably a nice way to end the podcast lots of love. Thank you.

So much for listening can't wait to see your comments and uh make sure you check out that report as well. Tristan thanks for letting me tell some stories there too. All right, my friend i'll see you soon take care bye. You.