You don't need more to do

“You don’t improve your life by doing more. You improve your life by doing less of what doesn’t matter.” - Cory Allen

On one of our practice calls this week, one of the participants said, “What else should I be watching or doing?”

She was responding to another program she had signed up for free through her brokerage. It had already started, and she was already “behind” - there were already too many emails and too many things to do.

What I have said many times, and the first thing I said to her: “You don’t need more to do!” As Cory Allen noted, doing more won’t make your life or business better. There are so many good ideas, so many things you could be doing! 

But what will make a difference? What will improve the quality of your business and life? The second thing I told that agent was, “Learn to care more.”

When agents are avoiding the things that will move them and their business forward, they often tell me: “I am going to work on my systems.” Meaning, they are going to work on “stuff”.

Do you know how much difference that makes? Very little.

What’s usually missing isn’t more systems, tools, and the like. All those classes and events that are always filling your inboxes are there to teach you something new to get better (theoretically). Your technical competence - i.e., the technical skills of being a real estate agent - is often not the thing that is going to move the needle on your business.

Back to the statement, “Learn to care more.” 

I don’t have a curriculum for that yet. Nor am I qualified to write/lead that curriculum; however, I can’t think of anything more important or impactful than being better at caring.

But...The Marketplace pushes systems, tools, tricks, and shortcuts. 

My assessment is that agents need more awareness. They need more inquiry. They need time to slow down, reflect, and assess. What matters is what’s not obvious.

Technical competence is NOT required to sell homes (it is helpful though)!

This past week, I was with a small real estate team, and one of the women attending was six months into her real estate career. She had already closed five sides and had five in escrow. Her previous career was in medicine - no technical real estate experience. 

How technically competent can she be, six months in? If you are reading this, and are 5, 10, 15 years in - you are likely leaps and bounds ahead of her in competence! (By the way, she is learning quickly!) Having a decade of experience, or having sophisticated systems - NOT required! Again, helpful, especially over the long run, but not “the thing” that will make her career.

You know what she excelled in? 

Paying attention to what matters: talking to people. And, I suspect, caring. I did not ask her, but maybe her previous medical experience taught her caring...? What we can say for sure is that it’s not her technical competence!

Earlier in this post, I said: “Learn to care more.” Many agents are ‘busy’ and they are often in a hurry. How much caring can you do when you are rushing? If you are so focused on you, and what to say, or how to get the result you are looking for, where is the room to care? 

• And, how do you care more?
• Where in your day and week do you have time to be quiet?
• What is your process for reflection and thinking (or inquiry)?

Some of you make time for this activity; many of you do not.

What do you really care about? If you don’t know what you really care about, how can you listen for what matters to someone else - like, how would you know what to listen for? If you can’t ferret it out of yourself, how in the world will you be able to create that clarity for someone else?

“Oh, Steven, that’s not my job as a real estate professional.”

A fiduciary does what’s best for the client. Many times our clients don’t know what they need or what’s best for them. In order for us to help them, we have to find out what else is happening in their lives. Also, they have to trust us. They have to feel safe telling us what’s really going on. It takes skill and practice to do that - but not the skills that get taught in most real estate classes and training programs!

Systems, tools, tips - all helpful, just not going to help create trust (for the most part). Keep it simple: care more.