Okay, we’ve talked about the first 3 Characteristics of an Elite Level Producer over the course of the last month. Let me remind you, these characteristics are not ranked by importance. I am introducing them to you in an episodic manner. What does episodic mean? It essentially means that I teach and coach in Episodes. I start at the beginning and move through in episodes just like you would with your favorite Netflix show.
We started with Clarity for a reason. If you are not clear on what you want, you will be a ship lost at sea. Reminder, clarity = what success means to you, not someone or something else. After Clarity, we moved on to Awareness. Awareness is where you look closely at your environment and identify what your distractions are, starting the process of eliminating them one by one. From Awareness we moved on to Commitment. Commitment is essentially a decision. Are you interested or are you committed? If you are committed, you will do what it takes to be successful. Someone who is interested will not. Now that you’ve decided to Commit, you need to act and you need to act with CONSISTENCY. Yes, CONSISTENCY is ELP Characteristic #4.
Darren Hardy, in 2010, published “The Compound Effect.” It still ranks as the top book I have ever read on the topic of success. I’ve read hundreds of books since 2010 and it has still yet to be dethroned. Why? Because it describes in detail and in extremely simple terms what it takes to be successful in business and in life. “The Compound Effect” basically is a formula: small, smart choices done consistently over time = radical difference in your life and business. This concept is so simple yet so hard for the 97% to execute. This formula has been incredibly important to me in so many ways since I started working when I was 16 years old. My coaching and training revolve around getting real estate brokers to do the simple things consistently over a long period of time with me knowing in advance what the results will be. Those that are having epic results get up every day, show up, and execute. Those that don’t are inconsistent and are out looking for the shiny object that will instantly change their trajectory with little effort (the lottery effect). These shiny objects don’t exist. Success in your life and your business isn’t really that hard. It just takes a consistent drumbeat of action with a focus on your destination.
CONSISTENCY is created through habits and routines. Darren Hardy goes on to say that “you will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” Habits and Routines are necessary to stay consistent on those “small, smart choices.” You have to build bio rhythms that naturally propel you towards your goal. IF you rely on will power, you will fail. Consistency could also be referred to as persistence. Tony Robbins says that “Persistence overshadows even talent as the most valuable resource shaping the quality of life.”
We are all in search of momentum. It is habits and routines that start the movement and, with time, that velocity picks up and that’s what creates momentum. Momentum requires consistent action, even if slight, to keep a forward, powerful and productive movement forward.
Momentum is the goal. Consistency is how you create momentum and consistency is created through habits, routines, and rituals.
I could spend months talking about the importance of habits, rituals and routines and I will in future #MMPT’s.
So, what are some things that should be done consistently?
These are the 10 areas that I see ELP’s commit to on a CONSISTENT basis:
- Morning Ritual
- Meditation/Visualization
- Review of 1, 3 and Life Goals
- Planning of Day
- Exercise/Diet
- Show Up Presentable
- Follow Up and Follow Through with clients and prospects
- End of Day Wrap Up/Review
- Save/Invest with the future in mind
- They rest
If you look at this list, it can feel overwhelming. The goal is to chunk it down and schedule your routines and habits. In fact, I have found myself scheduling everything in my calendar over the last month and it has been a game changer. I’ve decided to document everything in my calendar and I’ve committed to cutting out all of the other noise and managing to just my calendar. It started out with my wife and me communicating via our calendars ever since we had to communicate about Aly and Lizzy’s school and their extracurricular schedules. It’s worked well for us for the last decade. Why I never used my calendar with such commitment professionally until now, I don’t know.
Let me explain:
- I set recurring appointments for all aspects of my Morning Ritual, when I wake up, when I meditate, when I review my goals, when I plan my day. My weekdays differ from the weekends.
- I schedule all recurring and non-recurring meetings and appointments. This is the only area that I previously used for my professional calendar.
- I’ve started setting recurring reminders for reach-outs, almost making my database obsolete.
- I set yearly recurring birthdays and anniversaries.
- On Saturday morning, I make a list of what I need to get done that weekend both personally and professionally. I have time scheduled for that to act as a reminder.
- On Sunday morning, I also take a 1/2 hour to review and pay bills. I now have a recurring appointment for that 1/2 hour that acts as a reminder.
- On Sundays, I schedule time to review the previous week and prepare for the upcoming week. Yes, I have that meeting with myself scheduled.
- Once I have my week planned, I set calendar appointments for those I need to call or items that need to be completed. I schedule times to complete those tasks
- I schedule my end of the day review time.
- I know once my end of the day review is done, it’s family time.
I know this much about myself. If it’s in my calendar, I know that I am committed to it. If it’s in my calendar, it gets done. If it’s not, it could slip through the cracks.
Commitment is the necessary starting point to being CONSISTENT.
My favorite metaphor from “The Compound Effect” sums up the power of being CONSISTENT. Darren refers to it as “pumping the well.”
He describes pumping the well as a process that requires consistent effort and patience. In the beginning, you can’t see the results of your efforts despite loads of effort. Finally, you’ll start to see a small flow of water after a period of time. If you stay at it, gravity will take over and the constant flow of water will happen as a result. At that point, momentum kicks in and it takes way less effort to create a steady stream of water flow. Success is the same way - you can pump away for a long time without any results. You feel like you are getting nowhere and then all of a sudden, you start to see tiny drops of momentum in your business. That momentum, if managed properly, turns into a constant flow of business. The 97%, those that are just interested, stop their momentum at 2 very key times. They quit before they see results because they think their efforts are fruitless. Their efforts go for naught just before things start to happen for them. They also quit once they’ve had some success thinking the work is done, the momentum is created. Both of these situations stop momentum. Once the momentum is stopped, the water goes back into the ground and you have to start all over to regain it. This is why the 97% have a career long journey of peaks and valleys and never truly enjoy the power of true momentum. I worked harder at $10M than I did at $35M in production. It took me 5 years to create that constant flow of momentum.
So, what this metaphor teaches you is that you need to commit to daily actions consistently to create a business that works for you. CONSISTENCY is created by your habits and rituals. It’s really that simple.
So, my hope for you today is that you learned a new success hack. Schedule everything in your calendar. Once scheduled, commit to it and execute like your life depended on it.
As Keith Cunningham states at the end of each chapter in the “Road Less Stupid,” “Now, go think about this and you’ll thank me later!"
