Adam Hergenrother is the founder and CEO of Livian. He believes that business is nothing but a conduit for personal growth and embraces the company’s vision to Love How You Live. When he’s not leading and growing his organizations, you can find Adam either in the mountains or out in nature with his wife and three children.
Last week at Keller Williams Family Reunion, Gary Keller did what he does best, educate and prepare real estate agents to compete (and succeed) in whatever market we’re in. At the moment, that is a shifting market. One where real estate professionals will be required to do more to achieve the same results they were getting before.
6 steps to doing more in today’s market
Keller outlined six steps to doing more. I want to give you my interpretation of them so that you can take action today to do more and achieve more this year.
1. Foster a positive mindset and see possibilities
As Willie Nelson said, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”
Although it’s a bit more nuanced than that, he’s not wrong! We’re not talking about putting on a pair of rose-colored glasses and ignoring reality with positive thinking. However, having a realistic, yet optimistic, view of the current situation, will enable you to make decisions that will serve you well now and into the future.
Sometimes, having a positive mindset simply means you know that you can mentally and emotionally handle whatever situation comes your way. From that place, you can see possibilities clearer, identify opportunities, and connect the dots to get you and your team moving forward in today’s market and beyond. This is the foundation from which your ability to do more will grow.
2. Continually play offense
In a shifting marketing, it’s understandable that you might want to batten down the hatches and wait out the storm. But this is no time to retreat! You must take focused and purposeful action. Determine the sales and lead generation activities that make the most impact on your business, and double-down on those. Charge the storm. Push through. While others are hiding, paralyzed or operating from fear, you’ll already be 10 steps ahead.
3. Listen more than ever
Listen to your customers. Listen to your clients. Listen to economic experts. Listen to your family. Listen to your agents. Listen to your employees. Listen to your leaders and mentors. And, most importantly, listen to yourself.
In this market, more listening will undoubtably lead to better outcomes. You’ll be able to anticipate needs, react and respond if needed, and create a high-impact experience for all the stakeholders in your real estate business, without sacrificing your personal needs and the needs of your family. When you listen, you learn.
4. Live outside your comfort zone
No, no, I’m not asking you to go swimming with sharks or share your most intimate secrets in front of a group of 10,000 people. But this market will require you to stretch.
You may need to tap into a new lead generation method that you had previously disregarded. You might need to hold your team more accountable than you ever had before. You may need to get up two hours early to get a workout and some meditation in before the workday starts. Living outside your comfort zone will be necessary to do more in today’s market.
5. Focus on what you can control
There are endless amounts of things that we can’t control — the weather, the economy, our in-laws, the real estate market. In today’s more market, let’s not worry about what we don’t have control over. Instead, let’s focus on what we can control and where we can make a real difference. And the only thing we are really able to control is ourselves and how we choose to show up.
We can control how many customers we call. We can control how well we listen. We can control whether or not to study the market and negotiation tactics. We can control how we communicate with others. There are actually endless amounts of things we can control too! When we focus on those things, we’ll be able to do more.
6. Live with certainty in uncertain times
Fear comes to all of us. We can either operate from fear or operate from love — which one do you think will bring us the best life? We can stay certain and grounded in who we are, regardless of what is happening around us in the external world. The real estate market will continue to change and evolve, but we can stay certain within ourselves.
Change is a strategy. Change isn’t a threat. Nor should it induce fear. Change is a strategic opportunity — if you are willing to lean into it. That is how we will win in this, and any, market.
One final point that Keller mentioned really stuck with me. Time is not the cheat. Don’t miss out on your life while “doing more.” It’s not about the amount of time, it’s about the focus and effort. Remember that. Otherwise, you’ll spend the next year wishing away the market we’re in and end up missing all the moments with your family and clients, moments where you could have learned from the challenges you’re experiencing, and moments where if you had just leaned into change, you may have seen an opportunity or situation in a whole new way.
Adam Hergenrother is the founder and CEO of Livian, the author of The Founder & The Force Multiplier, and the host of the podcast, Business Meets Spirituality. Learn more about Adam’s companies and culture here.
