Outliers | The #1 Thing That Makes a Successful Agent – Ryan Carney

Due to technical issues during recording, portions of this episode's audio were enhanced using AI for clarity.

The conversation itself is unedited. Have you ever asked yourself why is it that some people seem to constantly outperform their potential, call them an outlier, while other people with the best of intentions fall dramatically below or just below their expectations and listen, they're not bad people. They set big goals, but they don't align their behaviors with what it is they want to accomplish. The next seven shows, this quick little series I'm doing where I'm interviewing the outliers, what's the psychology, what's the mindset? What do they do that caused them to outperform their potential? Enjoy the show. Welcome to all new show where we're talking to outliers, people that are outperforming their potential. And unlike just looking at the details, the leading lagging indicators, we want to get inside of their psyche so where it really matters. What we've done with our AI tools, we've actually mapped outlier performers and people that are underperforming their potential. And today I've got my guy, Ryan sneaking across.

Yes, sir.

To talk to him today about how he is absolutely crushing. But I bet you're not satisfied.

Never.

So, Ryan, take a second for the listener, give a little backstory. You know, you mentioned college football, college basketball, and then you got into the mortgage world. So maybe from just a professional journey before we get into the stuff, tell a little about your background.

Yeah. So started out in mortgages, 2015, was in a call center, mandatory 9 to 9, pick up the phone, start dialing. You know, Wolf of Wall street type of stuff. Yeah, did that for about four years. Then I left mortgages, dabbled into like wholesaling, real estate investing. I flipped property, bought a storage facility, then I got into private equity. Was raising capital on private syndications, multifamily and self storage all across the country. That didn't work out. Ended up getting back into mortgages. Did that for about a year, year and a half, and then I was duly licensed as an agent for about six to nine months. Started making cold calls again, for sale by owner and started taking off. Had really good conversations, started doing some math and drop the mortgage licenses again and here I am.

So you did that fast. And I think it's interesting because today we're really talking about not mapping consciousness, but mapping behavior. Like, why is it that Ryan is outperforming his potential? And just for context, you've been now selling real estate for how long?

A little over two years.

Okay, so a little over two years. And you've been a client of ours since October 2024. So call it a year and a half. Last year was your first full year. You mentioned in real estate. And how many transactions did you close?

32.

32. Now you say that like that's no big deal. Is it a big deal or not?

Depends on who you're asking.

I'm asking you.

Yeah. I mean, I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I didn't have my goal. So I have a long way to go. I think I'm on the right path, but Devon Cetera.

So that's the stuff I want to get into. That's the stuff. So. So for my friend listening again, it's not like we're mapping consciousness here. We're mapping behavior behaviors that show up through our AI tool in the language they use, their goal orientation, their execution strategy. And there's a clear difference, Ryan, between, like, people that are underperforming their potential and people that are achieving breakthrough results. And you may like, say to yourself, man, I suck and I gotta do more, but to sell 16 homes your first year and then do 32 your first full year. I applaud you and I want more.

Much appreciated.

So let's get into it. You ready?

Let's do it.

How do you view being coached?

I feel like it's a necessity, something. I come from a sports background, College, basketball and football. So the structure and you know, I'm. I feel like I'm very self aware, somebody who's always reflecting and trying to figure out how I can get better. But sometimes you can see something that I can't. And I learned that through years and years of sports. And I take sports and I think there's a direct parallel to business and. Yeah. So taking a sports background and thinking about the. The best moments or of my career when I was able to perform at the highest level is normally directly correlated into a good coach. So I went to real estate the same way. Once I committed to it mentally, that was one of the first things I wanted to do, was where can I get coaching? How can I expedite my growth? And so I've got right in coaching. Interviewed a few companies and wounded gear.

I love it, man.

I love it.

So what if I told you 230,000 coaching conversations, right? Coaching sessions. The number one leading indicator of an outlier is coaching as a mirror. Coaching allows me to do better self reflection versus people that are underperforming their potential. Use Coaching as almost like someone to talk to you about their problems, but they don't take action. What does that. How does that resonate for you?

Makes complete sense. I think. Sports, life, real estate, whatever it is, requires action, requires reflection. But there's a. I think it's a John Maxwell quote. Knowledge isn't power. Applied knowledge is power.

There you go. And they go. Okay, so speaking of, one of the key indicators was just under execution. So this would just be fun. I've never asked this question because you're. You're the first. So here we go. Ready? You hop off a session with your coach, Jessica. What do you do?

Bring it up, let it all out, corn on paper, whatever you're thinking, no real structure, at least for me. And then once I have all my thoughts down, then I organized. And then once they're organized, then you make the action plan and get to work.

Okay, so what if I told you of all those sessions, 230,000 plus sessions, the answer for all the outliers is I am in action. Within 12 hours of that session, whatever the project was, call that lead work on that system, whatever it may be. Within 12 hours, they're already in action. Auto, do you think that's too long? Should it be faster?

Um, I mean, my rule is 24 hours. Um, so I think it could always be faster. I think the faster, the. The better, usually. But I don't know. I think 12 hours is a good number.

Why?

Because there are times where I do think you need to kind of digest what you've learned. So immediate action sometimes is like shooting at the hit. Yeah, could be, could be the wrong action. Yeah, exactly. So I think there, there should be kind of a buffer zone for you to think through things before. Before you just start. But. But Yeah, I think 12 hours, good number.

So let's talk about the third. The third trigger, if you will, is goal orientation. In the last 12 months, how many times did you change direction? How many times did you say, I have a new goal versus did you just stick to one goal and go after it? Like, what was your play?

Ah, man, my goals change all the time. I feel like I'm always headed in the right direction, but the goals are constantly being tweaked and adjusted, which I think can be a good and a bad thing at times. But I never veer too far off from, you know, the destination. Just, you know, sometimes it's like. It's like a map. You take a wrong turn and it reroutes you right. So that's how I Look at goals. Sometimes you start out and, you know, you know, I want to hit 10 million, for instance, and I think in my head that I'm going to get to it this way. And then something comes up and I have to veer off and I have to reroute. So goals change a little bit. The sub goals. I guess the main goal usually stays set.

Yeah. And that's the key. The target remains the same, like, hey, I'm going from Buffalo to Miami, but, you know, you might get a little derailed by weather. That's a really interesting insight, even the way you said it, Ryan. It's. It's so fascinating to go in. For me to be able to prompt and ask all these kind of questions, like, do we get derailed? The answer is of course. Right. But what if I told you one insight we had from Revi was if you're easily offended, if you're easily derailed, if you're easily distracted by a shiny penny, you're also easily manipulated, which means you lack self control. So I ask you a very loaded question. How important for you is agency and self control?

Extremely. I think I live and die on my own sort. I pride myself on that. And without self control. I mean, I've had moments in my life where I've lacked self control and it's taken me completely down the wrong direction. That's a story for another time. But I've been there, you know, and I think the key to discipline and anything, or the key to success in anything is consistency and discipline. Discipline and self control, whatever. Biases are like being able to. To say no power, no scam thing, you know, I'm truly focused on this year is saying no. I think that's. That's big. And something that I have not been good at in the past.

Yeah. So what would you say to the person that's listening right now? It's like, of course. Right. Mortgages. He was college athlete, by the way. Played basketball and football. Right. Like wide receiver, which you and I both know. Don't. Don't hit me. Is usually the. The most egotistical player on the team.

Right.

If they're. If they're really good. You know what I mean? I'm not knocking it, but, like, you know, like, they know who they are. They're like, give me the ball. You know what I mean? So. So you played that role and you were like the utility guy in college basketball. So somebody's gonna be listening, like, well, of course he's killing it. Look at his background. What do you say to the person that didn't have a college athletic experience, maybe didn't, you know, like, did you go into mortgage and just absolutely destroyed and you were absolutely unbelievable, or were there times in your professional career where you weren't who you are today sitting in front of me? And how did you get yourself on track?

Yeah, absolutely. People don't see the work that goes into it. Like, yes, I had success as an athlete, yes, I've had success in business, but I didn't come from a business background. I didn't know anything about business. I didn't even know appraisal was the first day I started mortgages. You know, they threw me on the phones and I'm a competitor. I had, you know, a natural competitive instinct. But, you know, I'm up at 3:45 in the morning every day before anybody wakes up. I'm in bed at 9, 10 at night. You know, you might see the results. But what's beneath the surface is a lot of hard work. And I think especially in this business specifically, you can have a lot of success with just a work ethic and communication skills. You don't need to be posting on social media. You don't need to do anything other than, you know, grind and, and get back to people and you can make a living off of that. Now if you want to be in a 1 percenter, then yes, you have to do a lot of other things. But to be completely honest, I've, I'm sitting here in front of you today, really just grinding and, and getting back to people. And I'm now just starting to add some of these other elements to try and take me to the next level. But I mean, I've really gotten here just hitting the phones, hitting the pavement, determination. I think everybody really tries to make it more complicated than it, than it is, and everyone's always looking for a secret sauce. And you know, I think a lot of people get into coaching for that for the wrong reasons. A lot of times is like they're expecting you to give me some, some gem that's just gonna click and then all of a sudden everything's gonna take care of itself, which could be, but it's not gonna, none of that's gonna work unless I put in the work. And I, I really think that's like, that's really the baseline of it is, is just if you're not willing to put in the work and go the extra mile and then you can give me anything about Revy or this CRM or this social media or what have you. But it. None of it matters unless, you know, put an ORT.

That I want that edited and put. We're live at a podcast. I'm like, I was on that on my Instagram stories. So, man, you said so much there that my head is like spinning. So the question is for, let's go back. Why do you get up at 3:45 in the morning? And does someone who wants to be wildly successful have to get up that earth?

No, they don't. I get up because I enjoy it. I read a book called Miracle Morning by Hal Elrond. And prior to getting in the mortgage industry, I mean, I was a kid that if I'd be somewhere at 9, I was rolling out of bed at 8:45, rinsed myself off for a couple of minutes, throwing some clothes and show five minutes late. Thankfully, my good friend and mentor at the time got me out of that mindset, gave me that book. I read it, I took it seriously, I took action and found a morning routine that I love. And now for me being in real estate, I mean, it's very chaotic. So the second o' clock hits or whatever, my phone's ringing until I go to sleep. So from 4 until, you know, about 8 o', clock, that's my peace, that's my solitude. That's the time where my girls, she's up, but she's doing her own thing. And I'm just. It's quiet outside and I just get an opportunity to live in the present. And I feel like that sets the tone for my day. And when I don't get up early, I feel like, you know, I'm off, you know, so it's just something that's become a part of me.

So this is totally random, but that guy's sitting over there is my, My bestest friend, number one transaction team in all of Compass. I'm not mistaken on that. Kurt Kessel, how many transactions last year?

751.

So 751, if you ask him what time he gets up and what he does in the morning, same exact thing. Really same. He just, he's just got you my, like maybe 25 years. I mean, so you're on the right track. So this is an unfair question for someone at your level. And I don't mean that meaning, you know, two and a half years in real estate or mortgages. One of the outlier signs that was just super obvious was emotional regulation, the ability to control their emotions. So I would imagine you deal with the same thing I deal as CEO. I get Punched. If I wake up in the morning, do my morning routine and then I just start getting punched in the face, right? Problems, things I overcome, who do I got to solve, what's going on and then, oh, by the way, put a smile on your face and perform at your best, right. How would you define your ability to. Whether it's stay calm even if on the inside you're like, right, like, how do you do that?

I think you have to find your own routine. That was the reason why I got out of mortgages the first time. That's because I, I just couldn't take it. It was too chaotic. It was. I felt like people weren't grateful. I just, I. I couldn't do it. And I was, I went from 0 to 100 very quickly in the first couple years. So it was all new to me. I've never been in business and took over me and to the point where, you know, I didn't want to do it anymore. The money didn't matter. I just got one something new. And now, you know, fast forward however many years later and you know, just having grown through that, I think it's, it's the key to my longevity. I feel like, you know, now I'm able to recognize a situation where, you know, I might just be getting a little too high and I might be getting sped up and I need to take a deep breath and lifetime. I'll just go close my eyes for 10, 15 minutes and take a deep breath and you know, when you think things through, whether, you know, sometimes I'll write, write it down in like a journal. Sometimes I'll go drive around the block. Sometimes I'll just lay there, you know, my eyes closed and think through things. But often you come to the realization that whatever problem it is that you're facing really isn't that serious. But a lot of people don't take the time to think through that and when they do that, they get sped up and then it becomes a bigger and bigger problem. And so they reach the boy point and their breaking point and then have bowler and they have pop. So now for me it's, you know, just being able to be self aware and being able to recognize when I'm in that state to then take a step back, take a deep breath. You know, if I don't get back to this person for half an hour, then I'm going to die, you know, and just do what I need to do to recenter myself so that, you know, I can continue to push forward.

That I believe is a Superpower. I'll double down on. I think how important is for my friend watching or listening. How often does a transaction derail you? How often does something that us, Canadian, whatever, German government makes a change and it impacts you. And I think that the key distinction, at least in my experience, is there's only two kinds of people. People that take it personal and then people that don't. You know what I mean? Like it's, you know, hey, you, you, you didn't catch the ball.

Yeah.

Is it the end of the game for you or is it next year, next, next. You know what I mean? Like, keep taking the shots. Right? Throw me the ball again. Yeah. And I think the hard thing for a lot of people, and maybe you can unpack this is. It doesn't mean that we're like robotic. It doesn't mean that we're not human, but we don't give our power away. How do you, what would you say to the, to the person listening that finds themselves. They're like, they're having a self reflection moment here. They're like, yeah, man, I kind of let everything, ah. He said, speed up. Oh my God, that's me, right? Like, how do you, how do you what, what advice do you have to get him to slow down and have a little pattern recognition, which you have, and not get so crazy?

Yeah, I think it's, it's just like you, you have to look yourself in the mirror, I think, first and foremost and realize, you know, take a look at the last five to ten times that you felt that way and to find the common denominator and then find those few times where you were able to get yourself out of it versus those times where you weren't and find that common denominator. And that's what I did. You know, I, I realized that when I was getting sped up and when I would continue to react right away without thinking is when all hell would break loose.

Right.

But when I took the time to, you know, cancel the next meeting or, you know, avoid the call for 20 minutes or tell, hey, I gotta get back to you, whatever the case may be, because it's more important for me to figure this out for myself and in turn it's going to be more beneficial for you. So I think, you know, I just started my own team and I have to deal with this now for the first time with other people. And I tell them the same thing. Like for you, it may not be, you know, closing your eyes for 10 minutes or going on a walk or going on a drive. For me, it is, and that works for me. But for you, you have to figure that out for yourself. But you should again, take the last five, 10 times and think about it. And then what. What brings you at peace? What thoughts? Where can you take yourself where it'll calm you, calm you down to Then start thinking rationally again. And I think that's, you know, whether it takes you a week, a month, a year to figure that out, it's worth going on that journey because once you can conquer that. And I feel like I haven't conquered it yet, but I'm getting. I'm progressing every day. You know, you just become that much more powerful. And now it's, you know, no transaction can throw me off because, you know, they don't care. Yeah. Because if you're gonna throw something crazy at me, I understand whatever it's that was supposed to happen. What happened? What's the problem? How do I fix it? How do we move forward? And then, you know, you take action. And I think once you get to that point there, you know, increase your capacity and maybe do it.

Were you like this in sports?

Yeah, my mom's a coach. Oh. So I've always just had, like, that. That type of mind where I'm just constantly unpacking everything and always looking myself in the mirror and asking, you know, what can I do better? How can I get better?

So you're literally hitting every trigger on the. On the outlier performance metrics, and this is fantastic. So I would be a horrible coach if I didn't move away from sort of the personal psychology stuff. Right. And move into. So someone's listening right now, and they're like, all right, man, this guy is, like, mentally sharp. Pattern recognition. It's all him. He gets it. It's on me. Chill. Like, all those winning formulas. How did you build your business? How did you go 16 deals your first year? You took 35 listings your first full year in the business.

I think more than that, I think.

Your coach gave me. Yeah, whatever. Whatever. Or no, no, I'm sorry. You took 35 listings in the first six months.

Yeah, it was good. Six months.

Okay, so tell us, like, give us, like, the. The practical, tactical stuff, like, what's a typical day like for you? And then let's go into some of the lead pillars that you might be working.

Yeah. So 3:45 to 8 is my me time. I go for a walk, walk my dog, do some music, and then use it as well. I'll read, you know, whenever I want to fit in those four hours workout. Then 8 o' clock comes I role play. All right, well first I go through my day, review my goals, set schedule for the day, adjust anything that needs to be adjusted. 8, 16, age 30 ish. I role play and then I'm on the phones. But those even to today. How I got my business to where it is was off of expireds and for sale of outliers. Started off just straight cold calling. I made a couple calls and had some really good conversations. Decided to look deeper into it, got on YouTube, just searched expired listings, found a guy that I liked, started watching a few videos, found a script, tweaked the script, made it my own, kept calling, kept calling and then eventually. So when I was in wholesaling, all we did was text. That was before all the crazy laws that we have today. But we were just texting, texting, texting. So I started texting clients and I started getting just the absolute crazy response rate. And it was also, not only was I getting a crazy response rate, but I was avoiding or saving a lot of time because I mean it takes 60 seconds to call somebody roughly most of the time they're going to tell you to F off. They're not going to answer. You know, it takes you 10 to 20 calls before you get somebody who's willing to talk a lot of time. So you multiply that by 60 seconds and all of a sudden you're 20, 30 minutes in. You know, how many more texts can I get out versus call? So I started just hammering texts and just continue to get responses and then I just continue to fine tune it and that, I mean even to this day, you know, last year I was very few transactions. 27 of them were from mixed buys and FSBOs. One off. Some of them were like repeat like past client they turned into but it was really just hammering the phones. I didn't do anything special. I wasn't getting a lot of business off social media or from my referral network like I'm from only in New York. Only in is 10,000 people. Average purchase price probably 150,000. I decided that I would rather drive and or do whatever I had to do to get into a bigger market so I could have, you know, bigger deal sizes and yeah, so I just hammer the phones.

Literally.

They better nothing, nothing more, nothing less. Yeah. Who is in control to me always 100%.

100%. So you unpacked a lot in this show and, and I wasn't sure, you know, kind of being, you know, this new show for us like I want to get into the psychology because that, that clearly is where it all starts in my mind. Like, if you're an outlier, you're an outlier for kind of a multitude of these reasons. And then what you do almost doesn't matter, you know what I mean? Like, hang the phones, do open houses. I was texting with one of my clients who that regularly does 800, $900 million a year in sales and has like a 10 person team. And he's the only agent, right, does it all on his own with a sporting cast. He's like, it doesn't matter what you do if this is right. Yeah, everything is an opportunity if this is right. So in closing, if somebody wanted to get, if they wanted to shift from the world keeps happening to me versus I keep happening to the world. What's your best advice?

H. What is my best advice? Man, I think you need to stop negotiating with yourself. We as humans love to negotiate with ourselves. We love to find any excuse imaginable as to why you can't do something. I used to be guilty of it, and at times I still catch myself doing that if it's something that makes me uncomfortable or something which I may fear for whatever reason. But the reality is your problems are more times than not a facade. And if you just take action and believe that you can figure it out, I believe that the best quality that you can have is the ability to figure something out, the willingness to figure something out. And that's really it. Like I said, a lot of people are out there, there looking for some type of secret sauce, and maybe this isn't what they want to hear, but there is no secret sauce. There's a million different routes that you can take to get to wherever you're trying to go. But if you don't put your best foot forward and start going, then it's never going to happen. And I think that every day that's what I do. I wake up and it's a new day and there's going to be something that I have to figure out and I have to put my best foot forward and be willing to figure it out. And those days that I'm not one for figured out are usually the days that I go to bed pissed off or upset or what, what have you. And you know, most people who, I mean, the first step, if you're, if you're watching this podcast, if you're a part of the coaching program, you've already taken the first step, you know, you're already investing into it. Now double down. Double down on yourself. Stop making excuses like, there's going to be a million problems like. And that's never going to change. Whether you're at my level, your level, whoever, I think is just. You gotta be relentless. You gotta be, you know, willing to go there and understand that it's probably going to be taxing mentally, physically, emotionally, and. But you just gotta be willing to keep going and not quit. I think that's the biggest thing.

That's it. That's it. Hey, if they want to follow you on Insta, Facebook, wherever you are, what's the best. What's the best handle for them to catch you on?

Under underscore carney. C, a, r, n, 3y.

Underscore Carney. See it one more time.

C, a, r, n, three y and three y.

Sweet. So, hey, for my friend watching, I know you've been a part of my, you know, ecosystem, community podcast, YouTube, etc, give me some feedback on the show. And hey, make sure you follow this guy on Instagram. He's up Buffalo, New York, right? Go, Bill. Go Rams. Oh, that's going to get controversial. All right, thank you so much, Matt. I'm super proud of you. Thanks so much for being part of the community. Send this to a friend that needs to hear it, and we'll look forward to seeing you on the next show. Take care. Hey, if you're listening to this in a podcast and you're saying to yourself, I might be underperforming my potential and I want to become an outlier, go back to the show notes, click that link, schedule a session with one of my teams. Let us help you become the outlier you deserve. To. Sam.