On last week’s #MMPT, we discussed CLARITY. CLARITY describes the level of focus needed to create what you want in your life and business. I went on to introduce you to the term ELP which is the acronym for Elite Level Producer. An ELP is the top 3% of producers in any area of concentration. With CLARITY being the first characteristic of an ELP, I’d like to move today to the 2nd characteristic, which is AWARENESS.
Now that you’ve written down some big life goals and have started tackling your “first flight plan,” you’ve got work to do, a lot of work to do, a lifetime of work to do. The enthusiasm is there. You want it. Your dreams are clear but for some of you, something feels off. There is friction. You’ve read the books, you know "the how,” you’ve learned it and studied it. Why is this next step so difficult? Why is gaining the necessary, initial momentum so elusive for so many people? Most don’t realize this as the first step but there are things in your life and business that need to be cleaned up. That plane you are chartering for your first flight needs some maintenance.
Maintenance is not a one and done process, it needs consistent and targeted effort and execution.
This is why AWARENESS is so important and necessary. To become an ELP takes a different version of you. It takes an elevated mindset, an improved environment, defined boundaries, productive habits and routines and a high energy level that all act as the fuel for an ELP. So, let me take you into the life and mind of an Elite Level Producer and how they think and execute.
Awareness is to the ELP what maintenance is to the plane. An ELP defines and controls their environment to produce at a high level. Their environment does not define and control an ELP. That seems so simple but think about it. How easy is it to let the negative people and a stagnant environment dictate how we execute? I personally have been on a mission to delete what I call "negative, stagnant energy" for the last year and a half. I was made aware of this phrase “negative, stagnant energy” when I read the book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. Negative, stagnant energy, per Feng Shui, is caused by clutter within your environment. Operating with clutter makes it incredibly difficult to execute on a consistent basis.
In the book “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown he introduced a phrase that has been life changing for me - “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.” I’ve used this as my battle cry. I run almost all of my decisions through what I call my “Hell Yes filter.” I can honestly say, if anything is not a hell yes for me, I say no. It has been so liberating using this filter. It has made decision making so much easier. In fact, I’ve used it to really clean up my environment. For example…
- If there is clothing that I am not wearing, it leaves my closet and gets donated if possible. I see now why Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day.
- If there is wasted time on my calendar, I reprioritize.
- If there is clutter in my home, it’s trashed or goes to Salvation Army. Either way, it leaves the house.
- If I am not fully engaged in a book after 2 or 3 chapters, I stop reading it and move on to a book that will inspire me and give me the extra knowledge I seek.
- If I am still receiving marketing emails from a company where I made a one-time purchase, I unsubscribe.
- If I have subscriptions that go unused, I cancel the subscriptions.
- If I have a friend, follow, or connection on a social media feed that is “distracting,” I’ll unfollow that person or business.
- If I have an app on my phone that is pinging me with unwanted notifications, I turn off the notification.
- If I have food in my pantry that is not being used, I take it to a food pantry that would benefit from the donation.
- On a personal note, if there is someone in my life that causes stress and drama, I drastically limit my time with them.
- As hard as it is sometimes, especially right now, I limit my intake of “the news.” It almost never makes me feel better, so I’ve stopped turning it on.
These distractions have been “anchors” that previously slowed me down. At the same time, you have to look at all of the positive things in your life like you would “sails on a boat.” They power you forward. I’ve realized though that I have made some of my biggest strides by eliminating the “anchors” as I have by adding new “sails.” Let me explain, a boat with no anchors and only one sail is going to move quicker and faster towards its destination than a boat with 20 sails but has 5 anchors. Think about the power of elimination. An ELP knows this about themselves, they have this internal awareness and they guard against the negative. For more on this concept, I highly recommend reading “It Takes What it Takes” by Trevor Mowad. He refers to this concept of ridding yourself of negativity as “neutrality.” It’s a great book written by a performance coach of ELP athletes.
So, as you can see, I’ve really found out personally just how important it is to delete the anchors. This is called AWARENESS. I am AWARE that “decreasing friction in my life creates velocity.” The less friction, the faster I go and, again, I’ve realized that I have made some of my biggest strides by eliminating things as much as I have by adding new, powerful things to my life.
Maybe a few of the suggestions above could benefit you?
On top of improving your personal environment, ELPs are constantly evaluating their business to maximize their productivity and profitability. Here are some examples of how an ELP executes their business:
- If a potential listing or working with a particular buyer is not a “Hell Yes,” they would move on and go find a “Hell Yes” client. By saying yes to an overpriced listing and unreasonable client, you are saying NO to a listing that will sell and/or a buyer that has a real intention to purchase. An ELP realizes this.
- Do you have tasks on your Task Management System that that have been there for too long? An ELP completes them or takes them off their TMS.
- Do you have projects that have never been completed? An ELP commits to finishing them or decides that they are not important enough and they will never get done so they delete them from their project list.
- Do you have an assistant or team member that is not meeting expectations? An ELP, with care and respect, would attempt to coach them up or counsel them off their team.
- Do you have lead generation techniques, that are expensive and have low ROI? An ELP would move on to lower cost, higher impact and easier techniques to build their business.
- Are you doing tasks that can be outsourced for less than your “Hourly Profit Rate?” An ELP would identify a solution to add capacity to their business allowing them to focus on high impact items on their personal job description.
- Do you have bad time management habits that are negatively impacting your production? An ELP would prioritize creating new, more productive habits and routines and would not stop until they were in a really productive daily and weekly rhythm.
- Are you constantly worrying? An ELP trusts their plan and focuses on positive outcomes.
- Do you have a hard time seeing others succeed at a faster pace than you? An ELP focuses on the fact that the only competition is themselves. It’s “You vs You” but they also realize that the process is a lifelong journey. An ELP realizes that success comes through failure. They embrace the challenges that come through being Elite.
- Are you tired and burnt out? ELPs know how to regain and maximize their energy levels through diet, exercise and most importantly, they know when to power down.
I think you are starting to get the point. AWARENESS is about defining and mastering your environment, your mindset, and energy levels. This is a lifelong journey that takes commitment and consistency. Those are two additional ELP characteristics that we will discuss in coming weeks. This is a personal journey that requires a lifetime commitment to self-discovery and self-development. You’ll find that if you really make an attempt to get to know yourself better, you’ll set the stage for massive improvement in the following areas:
Improved Mindset - the more aware you are, you’ll be able to better focus on what matters.
Defined Boundaries - there are some things that are non-negotiable. You’ll create a “Hell Yes” filter which is essentially answers questions before they are asked. This takes thought about what makes you tick and what causes friction. The goal is to decrease friction and focus only on what is productive in your life.
Productive Habits and Routines - an ELP has a schedule and a routine that works for them. It cuts out all of the dead time in their calendar and allows the ELP to live a productive and happy life both personally and professionally. An ELP knows how to quickly pivot back when they get off track.
Inspiring Environment - and ELP designs their physical space to maximize their productivity and overall happiness.
Higher Energy Levels - an ELP is acutely aware of their mind and body. They don’t just listen to them, but they act.
An ELP has CLARITY, they know their destination but just as importantly they are AWARE of their strengths and weaknesses.
They know what serves them and what doesn’t, what speeds them up and what slows them down. They listen, they act. They pivot when needed. This is what keeps them heading in the right direction so they can land their “flight" exactly where and when they designed it to land. Remember, CLARITY is the destination. AWARENESS is the maintenance. I don’t know about you, but I would not get on a flight with a plane that was not maintained properly.
On our next MMPT, we’ll move on to COMMITMENT. For now, commit to being AWARE of your environment and how it is impacting your velocity of growth. Make the changes necessary to get your flight off the ground. I can tell you that both personally and having watch hundreds of other agents strive for a higher level, improving in this one area has had the most drastic, visible impact as any area an ELP can focus on.
