On this 255th episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will go in depth on one of my most impactful guiding principles that confirms that "High performance starts with elimination." With this quote, Matthew McConaughey nailed a fundamental truth here: achieving extraordinary results isn’t about doing more - it’s about strategically choosing less. In fact, this approach is what separates those who make incremental progress from those who create exponential results. I've come to realize that success doesn’t come from filling your calendar to the brim or spreading yourself across every opportunity. Instead, it’s about freeing yourself from low-value activities to create a laser focus on what truly matters. In this post, I'll dive into how intentionally subtracting can actually help you multiply—revealing how the “less is more” philosophy can revolutionize both your business and your life.
Before I jump into today's call, I want to remind you of my professional purpose and that is to help you, the full service, full fee Advisor, optimize your productivity and help you become the best version of yourself. Why? "Because Happy Advisors Sell More Real Estate". I do that by teaching you how to handle the challenges and opportunities that you face every day. If you can effectively manage those certain situations that arise on a daily basis in your business, you'll be more productive and live a life that is the best version of you. My ask is that you listen as if you are in a one-on-one coaching session with me in my office or on a phone call.
Today, I want to discuss 5 areas that you can use "elimination" to jump start, create, or maintain the momentum necessary to be an ELP and super achiever day in and day out. The idea of using "elimination" is the ultimate concept needed to "right size" your life and business so you can Fly Light. I will discuss the 5 following areas today:
1. Prune Your CRM
2. Remove Low Impact, High-Cost Items
3. Declutter Your Environment
4. Eliminate Unproductive Habits
5. Clean Up Your Current Pipeline - Inventory Management
In listening to this list, I'm sure you are already sensing a need for change in some of these areas. Let's dive deeper:
Prune Your CRM
This principle is key for any real estate professional or entrepreneur managing a CRM. Stagnant contacts—those who haven’t engaged, don’t respond, or show no signs of converting—are not just taking up space; they’re diminishing your efficiency and focus. By systematically removing these low-value contacts, you free up mental and operational capacity to engage with prospects who have real potential. A streamlined CRM allows you to prioritize your Top 100, Top 100 referral partners, warm list, hot list and a meaningful list of collaborative local brokers, resulting in a more focused, productive workflow. Trim the excess, focus on quality, and watch your engagement rates and conversion improve. When it comes to your CRM, less is truly more. Between now and the end of the year, review your lists and re-categorize your lists as needed. If you wince when you read the name of a contact, maybe it's time to take them out of your CRM and park them on a list that gets your email marketing and social media.
Remove Low Impact, High-Cost Items
In any high-performing business, maximizing ROI (return on investment) is essential—and that means trimming the costs of low-return initiatives. These are the projects, subscriptions, or marketing strategies that continue to drain resources without delivering measurable results. By cutting or scaling back on low-ROI initiatives, you free up both capital and focus for activities that yield higher returns. This disciplined approach not only improves your financial efficiency but also sharpens your ability to allocate resources strategically, ensuring your time, energy, and budget are aligned with growth-oriented objectives. Eliminate what isn’t working, and reinvest in what drives real value.
To maximize your return on investment, it’s essential to prioritize the lead generation strategies that produce results and eliminate those that don’t. So here’s your homework: go back over your last 25 transactions, or review the last two years, and track where each transaction originated. Identify the top three sources—what I call your "3 Rocks of Marketing." These are the areas that consistently generate leads and sales for you, so recommit to them. Become an expert in these strengths and go all in, building out systems and expertise around what works. Here are some of the common high-impact lead generation strategies that might be among your top 3:
1. Social Media/Brand Building
2. Direct Business from Listings (online leads, sign calls, PR)
3. Open Houses
4. Personal Sphere
5. Referrals (Local and Out of Market)
6. Geographic Farming (Direct Mail, Expired, and Cancelled Listings)
7. Online Lead Conversion (website marketing, lead purchase, digital marketing)
8. Direct Mail, Vanity Marketing, Publishing
9. Industry Networking (volunteering, charity boards)
10. Personal Networking (gyms, clubs, places of worship, being out in public)
By focusing on your top three sources, you ensure your efforts are concentrated on high-ROI activities, allowing you to scale what works and let go of what doesn’t.
Declutter Your Environment
Creating a productive life and work environment starts with decluttering. Inspired by Marie Kondo's principles, this approach emphasizes keeping only what truly "sparks joy" and serves a purpose. Clutter in your environment—whether it’s physical items, digital files, or mental noise—takes up valuable space and energy, distracting you from what matters. By removing items that don’t add value, you create an organized, focused workspace that supports productivity and clarity. This isn't just about tidying; it’s about creating an environment where every item has a purpose, allowing you to move through your day with ease and purpose. Eliminate the unnecessary to make room for meaningful growth and efficiency in every aspect of your life and business.
Here’s a focused checklist to declutter both your workspace and home, setting the stage for a more productive and balanced life:
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Clear Your Workspace Essentials: Remove all non-essential items from your desk and workspace. Keep only the tools you use daily, like your computer, planner, or notepad. Store away or discard any excess to create an open, distraction-free environment.
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Organize Digital Files and Clear Email Inbox: In both your home and work devices, delete old files and organize your folders for quick access. Sort through your email inbox, archive or delete anything outdated, and create folders for essential communication.
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Sort and Store Physical Documents: Set aside time to go through piles of paper, both at home and at work. Shred outdated items, file important documents, and keep only what’s necessary and easily accessible.
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Create a Donation Box for Home and Office: Walk through each room in your home and workspace, picking up anything you haven’t used in the past year. Add these items to a donation box, keeping only what you actively use and enjoy in both environments.
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Declutter Your Calendar and Prioritize Time: Review your upcoming commitments. Eliminate low-priority meetings, tasks, or activities that don’t support your goals, freeing time for more valuable pursuits in both your professional and personal life.
By addressing clutter at both home and work, you’re creating an organized foundation that supports focus, efficiency, and peace of mind.
Eliminate Unproductive Habits
Eliminating bad habits isn’t about perfection; it’s about creating space for what really matters. Bad habits - whether it’s constant phone-checking, skipping exercise, or procrastinating on tough tasks - add small, unnecessary layers of stress and distraction to our days. The goal isn’t to change overnight but to take small, manageable steps that gradually shift these habits. Start by identifying just one or two that feel most disruptive, then consider ways to replace them with something positive or simply reduce their frequency. Every small shift compounds over time, creating room for habits that actually support your goals. It’s a gradual process, and even a few changes can have a big impact on productivity and well-being.
James Clear, in Atomic Habits, emphasizes that “you do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” This insight shows that eliminating bad habits isn’t about willpower alone - it’s about setting up habits, rituals and routines that make it easier to choose better behaviors. Rather than aiming for an all-or-nothing change, focus on small, consistent tweaks. Start by replacing a disruptive habit with a positive alternative, even if it’s just one small step each day. Over time, these small changes compound, creating lasting improvement in your productivity, focus, and overall quality of life.
Clean Up Your Current Pipeline - Inventory Management
It’s that time of year—the moment to get those final properties sold, which often means having tough but necessary conversations with your clients. Now is the time to assess: which sellers are genuinely motivated, and which are simply “owners” who may not be ready to make a move? The same goes for buyers—are they committed to purchasing, or are they just “lookers”? This process, what we call “Inventory Management,” allows you to enter 2025 with a refined, focused pipeline and a mindset shift where you’re interviewing clients as much as they’re interviewing you. Adopting a "Less is More" approach means protecting your pipeline by retaining clients who align with your goals and timeline. After all, as the saying goes, “20% of clients can steal 80% of your joy.” To build a predictable and enjoyable business, make those tough calls this fall and trim your pipeline with purpose.
Maybe the most important part of this MMPT is to protect the effort you'll put into these 5 areas. Once you've eliminated, trimmed, reduced, pruned, removed and decluttered your life and business, you need to protect your progress. We do this through setting boundaries and making good decisions moving forward. High performance truly does start with elimination, and that begins with creating and committing to strong boundaries. Boundaries are your pre-set answers to protect what you allow into your mind, your time, and your business. Every decision you make affects your energy and focus, and as a “happy advisor who sells more real estate,” those choices are essential. Remember, experience is pattern recognition - over time, it sharpens your intuition, making it clear when to say HELL NO if it’s not a HELL YES. This is your ultimate filter for building a life and business that feels aligned, productive, and fulfilling. So as you move forward, let your boundaries be your guide to eliminate distractions and focus on what truly matters.
As Greg McKeown teaches in Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, success isn’t about doing everything - it’s about focusing only on the right things. To achieve more, we need to pursue less, but with greater intention. By simplifying our priorities and setting clear boundaries, we create space for what truly matters and cut away what doesn’t serve our goals. This isn’t just about eliminating tasks; it’s about crafting a life and business focused on purpose and impact. So, as you reflect on your pipeline, your clients, your environment and your commitments, remember: when you pursue less, you make room for more.
Team, have a great week.
