The #RiseandGrind mentality is everywhere—just take a quick look at your Instagram feed. While we’re the first to say that success is a direct result of hard work and focus, there are other ways to achieve it outside of your bottom line. While we are all undoubtedly prosperous business owners, many of us fail at striking the right work/life balance. Unfortunately, this can lead to burnout; after all, you can’t outwork being overworked.
Building your business is critical, but so is taking the time to rest and recover. Take it from KW’s own VP of Learning, James Shaw:
“Success shouldn’t be determined by how many homes you sell, but by the faulty of your life.”
Has the quality of your life suffered due to the sheer number of phone calls, emails, text messages, and appointments you are rushing between on a daily basis? If so, consider implementing the 1-3-7 method, co-developed by Shaw and KW MAPS Coach, Jordan Freed. It’s a simple concept: Agents should plan one day away from work each week; one 3-day weekend each month; and one 7-day vacation every quarter. That’s right—you’ll be planning your time off first, and your work schedule around that.
It’s not quite as backward as you may think, though.
Slow Down to Grow Faster
If you follow professional sports at all, you likely have heard more and more about the need for recovery. Athletes at the highest levels of performance are spending more time allowing their bodies time to rest and heal than ever before. This is true from marathon runners to basketball players to golfers.
Real estate agents would do well to take the hint. We all have big goals, but what often gets lost in all of our list making and goal pursuing is the need to manage our energy in the same way we try to manage our time. No one climbs Mt. Everest in a day! You need time to recuperate, relax, and plan your next move. Otherwise you’ll find yourself stuck in a cycle of stress and inefficiency—unable to perform at your best.
Be Perfect At One Thing
Freed asks his top-performing clients to identify the ONE habit they can work on perfecting; this is the single thing that if they get it right, everything else can go wrong and they’ll still win the day. A perfect example would be the number of listings taken each month to hit your financial goals for the year. As long as you hit that number, you’ll guarantee yourself a profitable business.
Alternatively, figuring out any positive habits your routine may be missing is essential. This can be done by going back to the 1-3-7 method; if you’ve got to plan around your time off, your time “on” needs to be spent as efficiently as possible. What habit(s) are necessary for you to implement so that you can become a millionaire in only 40 hours per week?
Your team or office leader probably has some ideas…
Try “Moonwalk” Planning
Flip your normal planning on its head—or at least, backwards. Like Michael Jackson’s infamous moonwalk move, the result may be spectacular. Here’s how to “moonwalk” according to the 1-3-7 method:
- Schedule all four 7-day holidays. Right now. Don’t wait.
- Find your 3-day weekends in each month
- Find your weekly day off
Lock those dates in and hold them sacred. From there, plan out your work schedule. Keep in mind you don’t need to have the same day off every week—it’s just important that it is included. If you truly believe money and time are synonymous, then you must budget the latter in the same way you budget the former. Consider this time off a sort of “bill” you charge yourself. Fun, right?
One of the core values here in The Virginias region—and across KW as a whole—is to build a life worth living. You’re doing yourself a disservice if that life is only spent working. Take a break from the inspirational quotes and plan some time #LyingandUnwinding this year. Your business (and family) will thank you for it!