Creating an Attitude of Gratitude in Your Real Estate Business

Welcome back, Business Freedom podcast listeners. As we are winding down, I don't want to call it a series and I've been chatting with you all about productivity and the different aspects of productivity and what I've learned, and it's been an awesome journey. Hopefully you've enjoyed it. I want to settle in on the last two or three episodes here of this focus on just being more clear with your time, more intentional, more focused, and really getting after meaningful goals that matter. That's been the focus and like I said, hopefully this has been super impactful for you. I do want our time together to mean something for you, to move your business and personal life forward. That's the whole intention here, the whole mission of the podcast. So let's land this thing. So the number 10 productivity strategy, and this is something that I really worked hard on and it's really made a big, big difference. No matter what is going on in either of my businesses or my personal life, it's a grateful heart. So it's this attitude of gratitude. And I want to go through something I've learned probably about four or five years ago that really helped me quite a bit. Dan Sullivan with strategic coach. And it's worth going on YouTube and Dan Sullivan, Gap versus Gain, I think is the video. And he'll explain it. He does a really good job explaining it. I think there's even graphics. So if you imagine yourself looking into the horizon where you can't, you know, an ocean where there's a horizon, and your goals are the horizon. So if you visualize that maybe you're on a ship like Titanic, you're on the front of the ship with your arms out, you're never going to reach that horizon, right? So the horizon is this elusive sort of moving target. A lot of times our goals become that for us, and so there's no we're. Generally, if you're listening to this podcast, you're most likely a hard charger. Most likely you're not content with where you are. You're looking for something more that's great in and of itself. When you couple that with a feeling of discontentment, because you're never getting where you want to go, that's where the issue comes in. And Dan Sullivan calls it the gap. His prescription to heal ourselves, to mend ourselves of the craziness that is this constant never getting where we want to get to this. You're always discontent. You're just not happy with your progress. The solution to it is what he calls the gain. And it's simply Looking back, I'm physically looking back here at all that you've accomplished. So the way to it doesn't mean you get rid of your goals. So you're always setting goals. I mean we've got a great process we follow in real estate B school. It's a three year picture, a one year plan, the 90 day world and then we break it down to weekly and daily in all areas of life that matter to you. So that's really, really necessary. And it's this looking back, you know, I'm not where I want to be and I'm not where I was. You know, I do that really lately in my faith, you know, I'm challenged to spend more time with God. I was saved in 2009 and really just the Bible has been this like overwhelming, you know, it just seems really intimidating to me and I've really just stepped into one book at a time, a chapter or two a day and just studying it. And I feel like in my faith, you know, I'm not where I want or need to be and I'm not where I used to be. And every day I've just focused on that mantra in my faith and same thing with my physical body, you know, I've let go of the days where it's these grand gestures and I'm going to do a 60 day challenge. I am going to lose 30 pounds in 60 days and it is going to be great. That led to a yo yo effect to me where I would lose the 25 pounds, then I would gain the 25 pounds I would lose and it was just not sustainable. And so now it is just a little bit of progress every day and being grateful for the progress, not that you are not at the destination. And so the gap is this. If you are in the gap you will know it because you are discontent and your life is probably amazing and you're just not in this attitude of gratitude because you're not looking back at all the gains that you've made in all the areas of life that matter. Real estate, B school, it's business coaching for sure. And there's six areas of life that we focus on. It's really, really important that you don't measure your success simply by the number of homes you sell. That's a sure fire way to end this game and lose it. Lose it big time because you're going to lose in all the areas of life that really, really matter. Your spiritual journey, your physical life, your emotionally, your relationships, your financial. Maybe you'll figure out the financial because you're focusing on business. And a lot of times you may not even win that game because you're discontent in all the other areas and you're making up for it by keeping up with the Joneses, which is what we see a lot of. You're keeping up with people that have no money. Anyway, separate podcast. We won't get into that now. And so it's this attitude of gratitude. So the challenge is to not miss the good stuff. You know, lately I've really been challenged. My children are 9 years old, Kendall, my girl, and then 11 years old, Anders, 4th and 6th grade. And I'm about as hard charging as they get in terms of I really do want to get after it. I really do see an opportunity with the real estate team and with, you know, real estate, B school, the coaching company. And it's hard for me to temper that drive. And I've really had to just slow down and realize that I only have so many years where the kids are really going to be willing and, you know, and excited to engage with me, you know, where both of them are wanting to do stuff with me every day. Both of them. I'm involved in their morning, you know, practices. After school, Anderson wanted to go fishing. We have a little pond in our backyard. And Kendall is into soccer, and she's. Now we're decorating for Halloween. And it's just an amazing time. And it used to be where I was just so wrapped up in business, thinking about business all the time. I'd have an airpod in my ear listening to a podcast while I was putting up Halloween decorations. And I've challenged myself to really be in those moments that I will absolutely miss when they're gone, and we take them for granted when they're here. So the challenge for all of us is definitely watch the gap versus gain. And I'm going to give you a specific tactic around that, but to not miss the good stuff. Really look at your season of life, and it may be something different for you. Just look at the season of your life and what are the things that you're going to miss if you don't appreciate them now? And they might be gone and gone forever in the future. I sound totally preachy now, and I'm preaching to myself as anyone else, as much as anyone else. So it's, you know, older parents, the kids are out of the home. They'll always tell you, like, man, they grow up quick, you know, don't miss. And I am really feeling that, like, moment by moment. One thing we Started doing Julie and I once a week. We have these two kind of clear glass, square glass jars. And we have two of them, One for Ken and one for inards. We put their pictures on them, and there's a marble that represents each week until they're 18, and technically, they'll leave the home. And so every Sunday, we take one of those marbles and we say a prayer or we do something with it. Yesterday I pulled Anders and Kendall, and I said, all right, what's one great thing from this last week? And they both thought. And they thought of it. I said, all right, throw the marble out. It's one last week we have with each other until you turn 18. It really helps you sort of appreciate the time that's passing and. And to make the most of it. So that's one sort of practical thing to do on a daily basis. You know, it's a. It's a practice of gratitude. There is a really easy app for your phone. It's called five, the five minute journal. And it's the COVID of the app. For those of you watching the video. I'll show it here. It allows you to put in an image. You can see image. Sometimes I'll put scripture. That's me and Julie doing a pedicure. We did a fishing trip. Me and just the kids rollerblading. That's our event. I spent some time with Julie. That's our dog watching tv. That's the dog bothering me. That's the dog sitting on Julie's chest. So just different, different things. And then for each day. Now, I've gone over this before, and if you're not doing it, you're missing out on something really spectacular. You just say the three things you're grateful for and what you'll do to make today great. That starts your day. And then to end your day, the three amazing things that happened. And how could you have made today even better? The app looks like a little five. If you're watching the video, it's a five with a circle around it. And then it's the five minute journal. Highly recommend that daily practice to start the day in gratitude and to end the day. Basically, looking back on the three amazing things that happened, just the three and three on a daily basis, and attaching an image to it, you will build up this psychology of fulfillment and contentment that no other practice I have learned will do. And it really doesn't matter what is going on in your business, in your life, because you're looking, you're saying the things you're grateful for the things that actually exist. And then you're looking back every day the three most amazing things that happened. And some days you'll really have to dig deep, which is okay. And so the end here is don't major in minor matters. When you think about the big things in life and the big areas of life that matter, what are the one or two things that you're doing to move that area of your life forward? And no grand gestures. Get rid of the grand gestures. We talked about that earlier in this, in this series and just sort of settle into, you know, the season of your life and you know, think about three years, you know, think about 20 years out. Think about like legacy type impact. And then that lessens this franticness to build something on a shaky foundation. So we'll get into more business stuff here on future podcast episodes. And that's all I've got for this episode. Episode. If you're at the point in your business journey where, you know, you need someone to just come alongside you and help you build out this sort of crystal clear three year picture and then settle that thing on a one year plan and then help you focus on 90 days at a time, what we call the 90 day world. That is what our pilot program is for. And it is free if you qualify. No strings attached attached. No obligations whatsoever. Just go to realestatebschool.com There's a bright orange banner across the top and basically it's just a conversation about your business. 45 minute strategy sessions to see if you qualify for our pilot program. And I take all the risk in the pilot program. So if you qualify, it's awesome and take action right now, go to realestatebschool.com and we'll talk to you soon.