Open The Gate
Breaking down Sacramento Real Estate: Our Favorite People, Places and Mindsets
Open The Gate
Ep. 5: Embracing the 51%, Time Management and How to Win in a Tough Market
Have you ever found yourself on the starting blocks of life or business, hesitating because you didn't feel quite ready? That's where our '51% ready' rule comes in, and it's exactly the kind of actionable wisdom we share in our latest podcast episode. As we unpack strategies for success in a competitive real estate market, we pull back the curtain on our personal growth journeys, revealing how self-reliance and taking initiative are game changers. From the high-stakes world of property dealings to the values we instill in our children, we chart the course for turning fewer transactions into opportunities for professional and personal enrichment.
Our conversation doesn't shy away from the hard-hitting realities of time management and mental health, especially when navigating industry upheaval and personal hurdles. We get personal, swapping stories that underscore resilience and the necessity of striking a balance. As we lay bare our own struggles and triumphs, both behind the mic and beyond, you'll find yourself nodding along, recognizing the universal struggle to maintain productivity amidst chaos. This episode isn't just about listening; it's about igniting that first step towards your ambitions, bolstered by our experiences and encouragement.
Wrapping up the podcast, we turn the spotlight on the symbiotic relationship between self-motivation and community support. Like the community that spurs one another on to greater heights in a friendly Peloton competition, we discuss how the right mix of self-drive and external cheerleading can lead to breakthroughs. Whether you're looking for a motivational boost or just a friendly ear to help shoulder the burden, we share our insights on nurturing the passion that fuels your fire and the importance of reaching out. Our doors—and this episode—are open, inviting you to join our supportive network as you journey toward success.
Thank you guys so much for joining us this week. As much as we are going to try to introduce you to some of the awesome people in Sacramento real estate, we also talked, before we started this podcast, about really wanting to make sure that we add value to your life, professionally and personally, and so one of the things that Dan and I have talked about is trying to share with you some strategies that maybe we have not perfected but we've implemented in our own businesses and personal lives to try to find some success. Excuse me so the fact that you're here sharing your time with us, we want to give back to you, and if there's any nugget that you can take from any of these things or help us expand on these things further, like how you're doing this in your own business, we'd be all here. So today we're going to cover episode three. We're going to talk about four mindset strategies for a challenging market. Dan, has this been a challenging market the last year?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been pretty interesting, man. I mean there was a lot of tiptoeing, I guess, and some nimble acts, some decisions that we made to make sure that we were going towards our goals and not letting our goals get out of reach or become overwhelming or anything like that.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and quite frankly I mean for those of you who are listening you know this very well. But there's a number of different statistics. Realistically, I think probably anywhere from 25 to 50% of real estate folks in mortgage and real estate agents themselves are out of this market after two years, since this what we called shift a little while ago, and now it's become kind of the new norm and now we're seeing rates maybe change again and we'll see what the new norm is. But it's been a really challenging couple of years and, quite honestly, without some of these things I would have been sunk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been really challenging, and obviously my business is based on volume, heavy volume and the more volume there is, the more work we can do. So the number of transactions in the real estate arena really, really do benefit us when they're high, and we're seeing 25% less, which is a significant number each month. So, yeah, and naturally that kind of thins out the things. This is we work in a predominantly commissioned based profession. People get paid based on selling things, and when there's less things to sell, it's going to squeeze some of the people out. So it's been challenging and seeing some people that we know and love and work with and really like, and you get to know their families in this business and everything there. At the same time, though, you got to keep forging on, so with that, you know I mean. So, blake, we talked about a couple things going into this episode provide the framework. The first thing we talked about is the quote that you said you know nobody's coming to save you. So what does that mean? Nobody's coming to save you in a tough market.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the first thing I'll say is that all these things that we're going to cover today, I would not say that I have perfected them. When I've gotten away from them in my life, I've noticed that business and my personal life have been more challenging. But this is a great segue into this first one, that nobody is coming to save you, and I try to remember that all the time. I tell that to myself or another way that I think of it, the imagery I'm kind of a visual person Sometimes I try to imagine like there is no Calvary.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to turn around and see all these guys on horseback storming down the hill First of all, I guess we don't really find on horseback anymore, but that this is all on me. And the great thing about that to me is that you can have great partners, you can have people that want to support your business, but at the end of the day, no one cares about your business as much as you, and you know maybe your family if you got mouths to feed, and so the great thing about that is is you can look at it two ways. You could say I've got nobody to lean on, I've got nothing coming to save me, I need help, I'm drowning, or you can shift simultaneously. You can feel that way, but you can also say, because no one is coming to save me, it is all on me and I have all the power to forge my own destiny. And so I tried to take that during times where I felt like, man, I could really use some help. Or you know if a referral partner would just like slide me in for that next deal, the truth is, at the end of the day, it's all on me.
Speaker 1:The decisions I make in my own personal health, how to take care of myself, you know how I treat my spouse, how I prospect, how consistent I'm going to be in my work, that's all on me. And so for me it's been a really freeing thing to say like, hey, no one's coming to save you, so you don't need to wait around. That's the other thing is you know if you get, if you get lost, like maybe you're a little kid in the store, right, and and mom tells you, you know if you get lost, for me you just stay where you are and I'll come find you. The thing to do there is you stay and you wait, and you wait and someone's going to come and rescue you, but when you know no one's coming to rescue you, it just gets you past that point of hey, it's time for me to start moving.
Speaker 2:Well, it's so funny that the picture that you paint just screams accountability to me. And again, I'm more than open to share about my home life and my kids. And I've been just hammering my kids on accountability, like what can you do on your own? Do you really need me to do this for you? Do you need mom to do this for you? Like, no man. Like, these are simple tasks you can do on your own. They're not overwhelming, unless you let them be overwhelming. So I love it, dude. I love accountability. One of the one of the coolest things that I got in my coaching when I was, when I was being coached in college, was when my coach said hey, like look in the mirror, because you can't lie to the guy in the mirror. You can't lie. You can't lie to that person, Like did you put in the extra work or did you not?
Speaker 2:There's, there's no, there's no fleecing anybody. There's no, there's no pool in the wool over anybody's eyes. It's. It's a hundred percent accountability when you look in that mirror, did you or did you not? So yeah, look, nobody's coming to save you, man Like, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and let's go Totally.
Speaker 1:You know and I'm rocking this t-shirt today I know you guys can't see it, but it's one of my favorite shirts I've got. It says nobody cares, work harder. And I got this from one of my mentors in mortgage. I used to work for a dwell mortgage when I was in Washington for Shane Kidwell, who had been a firefighter at the Seattle Fire Department with me before and then extremely successful entrepreneur down the line, hoped to have him on the show here down the down the road, but he made these shirts for the office and it's so awesome.
Speaker 1:Like nobody cares, work harder. And it doesn't mean that nobody cares about you as a person, but nobody cares about your excuses. You either did or you didn't. And then the same way you talk about that with your kids I just had this discussion with my wife of my main goal as a parent is twofold One, that my kids know that I love them no matter what. I tell them that all the time. I tell them, even if you kill somebody, you know I'll still love you and my little one always has Well maybe I will tell somebody.
Speaker 2:So I said, you know you're, you're missing the point.
Speaker 1:But then twofold is that they really know that they are in charge of so many things in their life and that they are empowered to take accountability for the things that they can do and just know that's all you can do, that's all any of us can do. So that's one of the big ones for me, for you, dan. Let's move on to number two here. How do you eat an elephant?
Speaker 2:Is one of my favorite questions ever. Like it's in it the translation is when you've got a daunting, overwhelming task, how do you go about it? And the answer to how you eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So, no matter how big the pile is, the only way you're going to get through it is one bite at a time. You know, right foot, left foot, keep walking, keep moving, keep working towards your goal, regardless of your pace, whatever it is. Now some goals are going to have a. They're going to require a little more advanced pace, but others you can work at.
Speaker 2:I mean, right now is the time of year. So many people are talking about their annual plan and their goals for next year and all those things Like well, yeah, when you put those things out 12 months and you compound 12 months of activity and what it's supposed to look like at the end of 12 months, you can be overwhelmed, and you can easily overwhelm yourself. So for me, it's just it's having that plan. You know one of my great mentors. He's actually our EO coach here at at Finlay Home Services. He taught me he get plan your work and then work your plan and basically what it's exactly. It right, you lay out your year and then you go. Okay, I'm going to compartmentalize each month and I'm just going to go one foot in front of the other, one bite at a time, working towards my goal, and it's been. It's been some of the greatest advice I've ever gotten in business.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you this because I heard something about this exact concept on a podcast, ed Millette who, if you guys don't listen to you, should listen to two podcasts. This one, obviously, first and foremost, but secondly, ed Millette is one of the favorite folks that I listen to Mindset coaching. I mean he'll make you better at about every aspect of your life, but he talked about with a guest being 51% ready to do the next thing, and so you know, circling back on that, dan, I bet you're not fully ready to take each step, even when you're taking those little bites at a time. Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I'll use this podcast as an example. We've been talking about.
Speaker 2:We've been talking about putting this thing together for six months and then it got to the fourth quarter and my fourth quarter goal was to have two of these things live by the end of the year. And I was, you know, and I was at times I knew I was pushing on you pretty hard, going, hey, do we got to get this and go and get this and go on, Because I've got a goal and that 51%. Like you, you're over the crest, You've, you've, you're on the downhill slide. So you've already got that 1% of momentum and you can just snowball it and compound it into, you know, the finish line and finish strong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that and I think what I loved about that when I, when I heard this concept and again, I don't think Dan and I are sharing anything today that we came up with organically you know, one of the things I was taught was you know, you, you go out there, you take something that you've heard, you apply it to your business and then you tweak it a little bit and you don't have to reinvent the wheel. So it's, it's not plagiarism, it's us, I think, honoring those things that we heard by implementing them in our own life and then and then hopefully, sharing them with people like you. But one of the things that I think was so awesome that I heard was, like this podcast, we didn't know what the heck we were doing. We didn't. I mean, you'll see that in some of these episodes.
Speaker 2:We probably still don't know we don't.
Speaker 1:Quite frankly, I'm speaking like we do now, but just figuring it out. Taking the next step order the roadcaster, meet with somebody that knows a little bit about this, get the microphones. And what you did really keep me on track was is we got a calendar, or showing up Monday and we're doing this stuff Like we're going to get in the room, close the door, we call it getting in the lab, and we've just figured out where the heck the cables go, how to hook things up, how to get people interested enough to be guests on this podcast, and so I think you know. Talking about getting ready to take the next step, it doesn't mean that you're 100% confident in that you know exactly what the outcome is going to be, because I think that that you know paralysis by analysis can slow you down. It just means I know the next step. I'm going to take that next step even though I don't know. You know everything that's going to unfold after that.
Speaker 2:For sure. You know, I've spent 10 years going to real estate office meetings and they bring in so many great coaches and so many ideas and so much business planning and things like that. And one of the Keller Williams things I picked up on was it's not on your calendar. It doesn't exist, sure, and you and I both have a background in athletics and it was cool because I'd show up to practice every day. There was a practice plan. The practice plan was posted on the wall. We knew exactly what was going to happen for the next two and a half, three or maybe four hours, depending on how our performance was the week before.
Speaker 1:How much you're going to run.
Speaker 2:But I think that's something that I've really grasped on too. I mean, my calendar is meticulously scheduled.
Speaker 2:I hate double booking myself. I feel like a total jerk. I don't want to let anybody down, but I also want to make sure that when I give them time, that that's their time, and I feel like you know that's been one of the benefits to our relationship is I've really been able to kind of hold you accountable. I know you've been like, hey, thank you so much and that's just it. Like again, it's one of those things. It's a simple concept. The application is not always simple. The application is not always easy. I should say, but yeah, like it's, it's just what it is Like. I put it on my calendar and that time is sacred and we got to make it happen. So that's, for me, huge.
Speaker 1:So one bite at a time.
Speaker 2:I love it. One event at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time. However, you got to go about it. However the big that mountain is, just keep moving towards your goal Awesome.
Speaker 1:Number three I talked to a couple of people in this industry last year and we'll get into this down the road a little bit more but mental health, I think, is something that's been on people's mindset more this last couple years than ever, as we've seen, at least in this industry Really challenging things, people trying to figure out how to pay their bills and put food on the table, or laying people off or firing people, or am I in the right career? I mean there's been. We went from really good times I mean busy and crazy, but really good at making money to and that faucet just turned off right. It wasn't like somebody slowly started boiling the water and we were the frogs, it was like somebody grabbed the faucet and turned it off.
Speaker 1:So, on that note, you know there's no hidden agenda here for me, but I struggled a lot with my mental health this last year, trying to be balanced, trying to find ways to be a dad and a husband and a fireman and start a business and still stay in mortgage, and so one of the things that I heard this last year that really brought a lot of peace to my life was this saying and I'm going to paraphrase a little bit is that there's three constants in life if you want to be successful at things, and they are pain, the need for constant work and uncertainty. So pain, uncertainty and the need for constant work, and that's not supposed to be a downer, but I think sometimes we get on these pads and we think like, if I'm on the right path, I should never have any pain, there should never be any uncertainty and it should be easy. Right Like. I'm crushing it, I'm there, I arrived, and that's just not how it works. Right Like in anything.
Speaker 2:No, I mean everyone, everyone. Successful people throughout the history of the world will always tell you they learn the most when they fit from their failures. We don't learn much from our successes. A lot of timing. For me, my success is just copying other people's roadmaps. But when you really learn is when is when is when you fail. And so you got to go back to the drawing board. You got to figure out how to how to succeed.
Speaker 1:I totally agree and I would just say that if that resonates with you at all, you can be on the right path. And it can be painful, and this isn't just business. Right, this can be life, this can be certainly parenting for all your parents out there. There's a lot of pain in that. Maybe that's the lack of sleep, maybe that's a lack of self identity, maybe it's lack of free time, maybe it's lack of time with your spouse. But you know, whether it's being a parent, being a spouse, being a partner, being a business partner, being an owner, having like an entrepreneurial mindset, starting a, starting a business, there's going to be pain and really there's nothing that comes in life. My dad always told me like if it's not painful, at some point it's probably not worth it.
Speaker 2:And, bro, I hate to break it to you, but you don't even have a teenager yet. So like I'm not even close, buckle up, homie, oh man, I know that, I know the pain's coming.
Speaker 1:It's great to have friends with kids a little older than mine, because I keep thinking, man, at some point this is going to get easier and they go. No, it's going to get different, but I don't know if it's going to get easier.
Speaker 2:The challenges change, For sure, For sure. We'll talk about that more down the road, but it's cool. I mean regardless. I mean parenting is the greatest gift ever.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, no, it's fantastic, I love it, but yeah, there's there's a bit of pain. Certainly there's some uncertainty. Right, I talked about this last week, was you know, one of my big things with my kids is I want to make sure they're okay. We all do as parents. But there's so much uncertainty there that if I sat there all day long and worried about all the bad things that could happen, or all the bad things that could happen in my business, or what if we make a podcast and nobody listens to it, then I would never take the next step. Well, our parents are going to listen. Yeah, thanks, mom, appreciate you, motivator and number one subscriber.
Speaker 1:So, and then the last part of that is just the need for constant work. You've just got to grind, and grind doesn't mean that you are sweating it out every single day. You never have any rest, you never have any balance. But I don't know a successful entrepreneur. I know one, actually, who looks like he's just chilling all the time, taking a lot of vacations. Life looks easy. But I do know for a fact that's actually not the truth. That's my perception, and he had a ton of failures, pain and uncertainty for the 15 to 20 years prior to this, building the business that he has now.
Speaker 2:For sure. So, last but not least, man, I know and this is finding motivations always been something that's challenging for some people. I think that you have to find ways to motivate yourself that work for you. I can't go hey, blake, this is how you need to motivate yourself. And likewise you couldn't approach me and say hey, dan, I know you're down on motivation, you need to do this. So what? I know you and I had a little back and forth this week. We did so. How did you, how did you motivate yourself this last?
Speaker 1:I thought this might come up and you guys are gonna understand why in a second. That's because, for lack of a better term, dan kicked my ass this week. So we both have a peloton, we follow each other on there and I have got to be honest, rolling through the end of the year here, I have not been eaten Perfect. I certainly have not been working out, I've been low on motivation and it's one of those things where I know I am. I tell myself I should be doing better. But you know, sometimes there's that ebb and flow where I've been eating a lot my mom makes is awesome almond shortbread. I've been pretty much living on that. That's probably 25% of my DNA right now. So all that to say.
Speaker 1:I saw Dan finished a workout on the peloton and I said you know what, if Dan's gonna do it like, I'm gonna go out there and do it. And so I did it at a time when I totally didn't feel like doing it. It was awesome Babbled it out, pushed way harder, trying to catch him than I would have felt really good about it. And then I noticed that Dan did it again and it went so well the first time that I thought, heck, I'm gonna go after this. This guy crushed it 45 minute ride. He wrote like 18 miles. Well, that was last night. I had zero motivation. I said you know what, I'm gonna do it again. It's gonna feel good. I go out in the garage, I get on the peloton and I'm about three minutes into this 45 minute ride when I realize there is not a chance I'm gonna catch this guy because I can see him on the leaderboard. He's just pulling away.
Speaker 1:But here's the really cool thing, dan, is that one without you in my life I would not have done that. I would not have a 45 minute workout to. I love being competitive. We're both competitive athletes, but the fact that you beat me doesn't chop my ass. I mean, I'm gonna try to beat you every time I can, but three I Finished. That was the highest score I've ever had for a 45 minute ride by a by a ton. Now didn't beat me by. I wouldn't even say the number, but it's in triple digits. But I would not have even gone out of my garage, got off my button, got the workout done, push nearly as hard as they did and certainly not smashed my own personal record, had Dan not been a part of that experience. So all that to say, you know, surrounding yourself with people that are not gonna give you motivational advice, but that are living the life that you want to live, and that's you know.
Speaker 2:That's what it is so, so base what you're saying is the baseball player beat the decathlete one time in an endurance event one time. But you know I don't think it's gonna be the last, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:I wish it was yeah, but I guess all that cardio, all those those four hour practices script that I worked out for you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely man. A lot of foul pool, a lot of foul pulls on these knees and ankles over the course of the years.
Speaker 1:So that's all we've got for you guys today. I hope that there's something here that you can take and apply to your own business. Quick recap you know nobody's coming to save you. You are accountable for your own actions. Dan talked about how do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Just take that next best step that you can. You don't always have to see the the end in mind, or maybe the goal seems impossible, but taking the next step. Number three, it's always hard work. There's gonna be pain, uncertainty and the need for constant work. That doesn't mean that you're on the wrong path if that's going on. And then for where do you get your motivation? Who you're surrounding yourself with? How are you getting up and doing better? And that doesn't mean what are you doing? That's exactly like everybody else, but how are the people in your life helping you get better?
Speaker 2:So just a touch on that like if what you're using to motivate yourself right now isn't working, we'll find something else. Like don't be stuck on it. Just because it works for somebody doesn't mean it's got to work for you. Like, if it doesn't motivate you, if it doesn't get you excited, if you're not looking forward to doing it, find something else, like find a different motivation. That's totally fine, as long as you've got motivation.
Speaker 1:And yeah, and hit one of us up, we're here. We you know we love to do this podcast, but really we're here to give back to you as much as possible and there have been people in our lives that have spoken in us, that have been good role models for us at times when it's been tough. So you know, going back to that first thing, that nobody's coming to save you that is true You're. You are responsible for your own behavior Ultimately, but that doesn't mean that you can't have people that are really motivating in your life. So if you guys feel like you need a little bit of a push in the right direction, or you just want to keep it real and have somebody to chat, reach out to Dan or I or DM us. Open the gate show. Open the gate show.
Speaker 2:Yep, that's it.
Speaker 1:I did that was a question mark there, so we just double-check it, but this has been fantastic. Thank you guys. I hope you have a fantastic week.
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