On this 283rd episode of Monday Morning Pep Talk, I’m bringing you a distilled playbook of the guiding principles that have shaped my life both personally and professionally. They are the fundamentals I live by — the “guardrails” that keep me focused, sharp, and moving forward — and they’ll do the same for you if you adopt them.
Before I jump into today’s call, I want to remind you of my professional purpose: to help you, the full-service, full-fee Advisor, optimize your productivity and 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 you face every day. When you can effectively manage the situations that arise daily in your business, you’ll be more productive and live a life that reflects the best version of yourself. My ask is that you listen as if you’re in a one-on-one coaching session with me, either in my office or on a call.
Today, I’m sharing the Top 10 core philosophies that have kept me focused and consistent through the highs and lows of building 3 successful businesses. These are the guiding principles that shape how I lead, manage, coach, and execute — and they can do the same for you. A guiding principle is exactly how it sounds: belief or value that serves as a decision-making guide, no matter how noisy or uncertain things get. In a business full of variables, these constants will keep your wheels on the road and your mindset aligned with what really matters.
A guiding principle is a foundational belief or value that consistently influences decisions, actions, and behavior, serving as a reliable guide regardless of changing goals or circumstances. (Derived from Oxford English Dictionary definitions of guiding and principle)
Here are the 10 Guiding Principles I use to run my life and business:
- "Plant in the spring and harvest in the fall": If you do not plant seeds, there will be no harvest. When you do plant seeds, patience is required. Everything has a gestation period.
- "Play on Offense, Not on Defense": How you start and plan your day determines your trajectory. Get up early — two hours before game time — and handle your business: move your body, clear your mind, plan your day. If you’re reacting once 9:00 a.m. hits, you're already behind. Be ready before the world needs you. As a reminder, how you start your day is determined, in most cases, the night before.
- "If you see consistency, look for a system, process, habit or routine": No one is wildly consistency on accident. They built a mechanism in their life that has created that consistency. Consistent effort is your fuel. You can have the best ideas and systems but if you don't use them, your ideas and systems don't matter.
- "People Hire Who They Know, Like and Trust": People seek fiduciaries. They want an advisor they trust, who knows their market cold, and who they enjoy being around. Build your brand around that. Go narrow. Go deep. Be the obvious choice.
- "A Confused Mind Say NO": Any confusion or lack of understanding will create hesitation, regret and inaction on behalf of your clients. Understand your market inside and out starting with market statistics.
- "20% of your clients steal 80% of your joy": It is wise to interview your clients like they interview you. Making bad decisions about who you decide to give your time and expertise is massively expensive and can be detrimental to your business.
- "Your compensation is the result of the size of your client lists and the value you provide those clients": Focus on this equation to build the size of business that is right for you. Your CRM is your most important financial tool.
- "You are what you think about". Energy is currency. Mindset is strategy. What you put out, you get back — full stop. If you operate in fear, scarcity, or frustration, you’ll attract more of it. Choose abundance. Tune your mental “radio station” to the outcome you want. This is not woo woo, this is a high-performance strategy.
- "High Performance Starts with Elimination": Want to go faster? Cut the anchors. Removing distractions and dead weight will often move you forward faster than adding anything new. Subtraction is a growth strategy.
- "If It’s Not a Hell Yes, It’s a Hell No": Your time and energy are finite. Build your decision-making filters now — not in the heat of the moment. Always weigh the downside. If it doesn’t pass the filter, it’s a no. Period.
As a bonus, we've been talking lot lately about market stats and how to communicate them. Why? because A Confused Mind Says NO. If someone doesn't understand something, they push back or pull away. I love that guiding principle, and it was given to me by Harry Huzenis, one of our original founders of Jameson.
All things start with a thought — and a decision to execute in a certain way. That’s where guiding principles come in. They aren’t just ideas you agree with; they’re the guardrails you install to protect your energy, your life, and your business. They’re your internal GPS — keeping you locked onto your goals without needing to constantly renegotiate your standards.
So, here’s your call to action: choose your principles, commit to them, and let them do the heavy lifting. When you build your business on solid ground, everything else becomes easier to navigate and on next week's MMPT, I will discuss in detail a guiding principle that is the foundation of high performance.
If this resonated with you, share it. Send it to someone who needs to hear it. Follow along on Instagram @askjimmiller, find the podcast on Apple under Ask Jim Miller, or visit askjimmiller.com for more. I’m here to help.
