As I’m writing this, it’s Monday, April 1st. The 31st of March was on a Sunday, closing the first quarter; which allows no excuses for those of us who love to say, “Oh, great – I’ll start on Monday.”
Well, here we are! It’s Monday, April 1st – the beginning of the second quarter of 2019.
Are you pumped? Are you jazzed? Are you ready to go?
I’m pumped regardless of what day the first of the month fell on because I can look back at the first quarter and celebrate some successes.
Are you able to? I hope so.
Look, now it’s not all going to be perfect, right? But, dig deep and think of a few things you did well. Of course, we all learned a few things we need to improve upon in the first quarter of the year too. You may not have hit all your goals – and that’s OK. (You didn’t have this exercise yet!)
Think back on your business plan, resolutions and goals you created for 2019 and ask yourself, “Am I on track?”
Some of you are, which is awesome, but some of you aren’t. Maybe you are off just by a little bit or maybe by a lot.
So this is our chance, right? This is our chance to get back on track, to fix our wrongs and put more gasoline on what we are doing right.
Here’s a quick little exercise to help you do this.
- Take out two pieces of paper. Two separate pieces of paper. Okay? Please really do this. This is a quick exercise that can be a real game changer.
- On paper number one, write down all the things that went well for you in the first quarter. Activities that made you money or helped you set appointments, anything that brought you closer to your goal. Whatever it is was. The things that went well. Things you feel you kicked ass at. Maybe you did some Instagram post and ads different than anybody else has ever done them before and it worked. Awesome, great. Put that down. Maybe you woke up every morning in time for the 5:00 a.m. call. Awesome. Put that down. Maybe you prospected a certain amount of days a week, exactly according to your plan. Great. Put that down.
- On the other piece of blank paper. Write down all the things that you did that weren’t in alignment with your goals. Maybe you took several lunches with buddies who were never going to buy or sell real estate. Maybe you drank too much on a particular day of the week or multiple days per week and the next day you showed up to work something less than your best self. No judgment here but look, if you had an activity that you did that wasn’t in alignment with your goal, put that down. These are the activities that we need to focus on eliminating. We need to not do these things. You writing them down will help you understand why you did them and hopefully remind you so that you don’t do them again. You don’t want to make the same mistakes twice right?!
- Think about the reasons why you didn’t get close to certain objectives. If door knocking was part of your strategy, and you didn’t do it – why? Maybe it made you uncomfortable. Think deep…
Doing this exercise should take no more than 15 minutes. Once you’re done, post both pieces of paper. Put them up somewhere where you can see them often.
Ensure your goals are visible so that you can see them every single day. It’s important.
If you truly want the second quarter to be better than the first, you have to do less of the things that weren’t in alignment with your goals. You can’t make those same mistakes again. And if you don’t remind yourself of what they were day in and day out, you will.
And then, of course, we also have to celebrate ourselves by asking, “What did I do right?”
At the end of the week, you may have a conversation with yourself like:
“I did these things last week and I got results. So hey, on Monday of next week, I’m going to do these things. These things that get me results, I’m going to do it and I’m going to do them better.”
That’s it. I mean, that’s really what it takes. It’s the ruthless ability to hold yourself accountable and get uncomfortable that will create success.
Ask any successful person, and trust me – I have, countless times – the common theme of what takes someone from average to amazing is goal setting. However, it’s not just this one exercise. The next level transformations come from the commitment to review your goals every day and measure yourself against your objectives.
Get insanely clear about what you need to do in this next quarter. Then break it down. Be laser focused on one goal for 30 days. Be laser focused for a week. If you sit down and you’re going to make calls, make calls with a purpose. Just don’t show up and ring, ring, ring. Hi, okay bye. Be laser focused on what you’re really trying to do. When I call, I’m trying to provide value. I’m trying to help people. I’m trying to set an appointment so I can help people. Be laser focused. Laser focused on what the task is today. This moment. The next 30 minutes. (Source: Touch Up Laser)
So, you ready to take action? Start the exercise above if you haven’t yet. Then, take a picture and post it on Instagram – tag me @JasonJFarris. That’s DOUBLE accountability.
By the way, if this was totally up your alley and you think you want to crush every quarter – it’s worth noting we still have spots open for agents like you on our FresYes team. You can set up a confidential appointment with me directly by clicking here.
–Jason
I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.
I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.
Fresno? I say FresYES
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