On today's Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will challenge you to prepare your mind and ready your habits, rituals, systems and processes for 2023. A year which will require an elevated version of you to hold serve or sustain continued growth. I am getting a lot of requests for private discussions concerning the state of the market and fears about next year and my message is consistent. The reality is that it will most likely be a challenging year for those who have not prepared properly. There will be headwinds, no doubt but that does not mean everyone will struggle. Many of you will have breakout years because of the effort put in during previous years. I personally love markets like this because they tend to highlight the true industry professionals. Hobbyists, looking for the easy and quick money, get exposed. So expect me as your leader, mentor, coach to put out a lot of "real talk" during this period of time. These markets are not for the faint of heart and require me to not sugar coat what it is going to take to survive and thrive

On this episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will be talking to those of you that came into Q4 2022 knowing that you need to some organization, that you need a plan and a renewed sense of commitment now that you stare down what is an obvious shift in the market. If your 12 Week Year vision is created, you've got your quarterly initiatives created and you've got momentum heading into the quarter, you can skip this call.

Unfortunately, a lot of salespeople and entrepreneurs don't take the time to create a plan. Many of those that do take the time to plan, don't execute on that same plan that they created. If you fall into one of those two camps, it's time to "clear the calculator" back to zero. There is so much noise out there in the business planning arena that many don't even start. Personally, I remember downloading these 10 to 20 page annual business plan templates and never got past page #2. I struggled with the same challenge of getting focused. I just found a way to grind it out but now looking back, I wasted so much time. The key is to create intentional and strategic ACTION. I don't care what kind of action you create, just get moving. That action will create momentum and momentum is the goal. In the early stages of your planning, just focus on creating momentum. This is why the "sprint and celebrate" concept the 12WY process creates speaks to me. It keeps me focused on a deadline just 90 days out. If you subscribe to an annualized plan, change that language to "annualized theme" and break it down into quarters.

On this week's Monday Morning Pep Talk, we'll officially start the process of transitioning from Q3 2022 to Q4 2022. This week, the final week of September, is a "Week 13". In the 12 Week Year business planning model, you take this final week of the quarter to wrap up any loose ends towards your Q3 2022 plan and finalize your top initiatives for Q4. Your Q4 execution plan will be vital to how successful your 2023 will play out. On this call, I'll take you through the entire roadmap that you can use on every "Week 13". It's proven. It's simple

On this week's Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will discuss exactly what I mean by "Happy Brokers Sell More Real Estate" and when I say "happy", I mean happy with their businesses and how it impacts the rest of their lives. Don't think for a minute that "Happy Brokers" are passive. They are not. They are incredibly intentional and strategic as to how the execute their life and business. They live a life and run a business through guiding principles. Guiding principles are a set of rules, boundaries and decision making filters that eliminate inefficiencies and bad choices. Can a broker get rid of all of the stress that comes from being in real estate brokerage? Absolutely not but they can insulate themselves from some of the unneeded and self inflicted stress. Being a real estate broker is stressful. It's tough. It's emotionally draining and that is the exact reason "why" we are still in business. It takes human, emotional intelligence to get a transaction between 2 principles across the finish line. If it was easy, we'd already be out of business looking for a different career. If it was easy there would be more than 10% success rate with agents after the first year. The other 90% quit because making a living in this business is incredibly difficult. Saying all of that, does a broker have to give their whole soul to the business to "earn" their commissions? NO. I've had the pleasure to have a front row seat to watch successful brokers completely flip this narrative. I've seen them increase their production and their profitability by making their happiness and the authentic success of their clients their top 2 priorities. Okay, so you're asking yourself, "yeah, Jim, that would be great but I just don't see it". Well, let me give you a few areas that these brokers have improved which has allowed them to optimize their income while being able to put more focus on living their lives. That's how I define "Happiness" in real estate brokerage. It's finding a way to fit your business into your life, not trying to fit your life into your business.

On this version of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will take you through how to use the "change in seasons" as a catalyst for productive change in your life and business. When the pumpkin lattes are back on the menu, the leaves start to fall and you start to add layers of clothing, it is a perfect time to take nature's queue to take time to rewind, review and prepare yourself to repeat what works in the coming months. It's also a time to improve your skills so you can better navigate to the normal/stable market we are trending towards.

I've taken the last couple of weeks to take a break from writing but it didn't stop me from taking my own time to rewind and review. I thought deeply about the "season" we are entering. Many of you are anxious with all of the change in the market and I understand that but it is my goal to show you that if you get your mind right and execute directly into the changes, you will have a much more enjoyable, predictable and profitable business. As I took the last couple of weeks to "think", I journaled recurring thoughts, new ideas and concepts and strategies that will continue to be vital to navigate any market. In today's call, I will bring them to you. So bear with me as I give you a "brain dump" or better yet, let's call it "Fall Clean Up":

On this episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I want to start to put a wrap on the Summer 2022 real estate market and review what we've experienced over the last few months. The market has shifted dramatically and will move into a new chapter of the shift over the coming fall months creating opportunity for the prepared, focused and consistent real estate brokers. For those that have been in the industry for several of these real estate cycles, we know that "Shifts Happen" and we also realize that opportunity exists. Let's focus today on the opportunities.

On this coaching episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will take you through a concept that you can use to continue to shape your business while re-framing how to look at your Top 100, your warm list, your hot list and your referral partner list. It's in a line of MMPT's that focuses on questions around your marketing and operational strategies such as "Are You For Business?" (157) and "How Many People Are In Your Top 100?" (159) Today's MMPT starts with another question I have for you: "How many salespeople do you have in your business, that person or persons that actively promote you and your business?"

Most entrepreneurs would scratch their head when asked this question, but at a minimum, there should be at least one, the owner of the business or in the world of real estate brokerage, the lead broker. Truly successful businesses have an army of "salespeople" that constantly promote the positive attributes of the business and actively refer and introduce.

On this episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will discuss the moment that I realized that consistent action would be my competitive advantage. In 2010, Darren Hardy published a book, "The Compound Effect" which has had a seismic impact on my life and business. In the early stages of teaching "Take Flight", I made it a mandatory reading assignment. In 2010, I was still deep in my "rebuild" and "The Compound Effect" outlined the philosophy of creating consistent effort over a long period of time which I immediately connected with primarily because I understood it an it was low cost, high impact and easy to implement. I was used to getting up and going to work every day.

You will find in your self development and life journey that there are "mile markers", those moments that you remember vividly. The mile markers might be when you have a business breakthrough or a breakdown, maybe you received a meaningful piece of advice from a mentor or a read a book that impacted how you think. On this call, I will read an excerpt from "The Compound Effect" that was a mile marker for me. Hardy uses the "Pump Well" analogy to describe what can happen if you stay consistent and also what happens when you don't. This analogy really hit home for me because I grew up in a rural area and I experienced in real time the "pump well" .

On today's episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will fully define "Top 100" and why this collection of relationships is the only thing with long standing value in your business. It should be treated like an investment and managed like a long term financial asset. I will show you, if managed properly, how it will give you a predictable return on your time year in and year out.

The Top 100 concept also perfectly addresses the "Law of Compensation" which states that your compensation equals the value you provide in your business x the number of people you provide that value. The stronger a Top 100 along with providing a continued higher level of service, one's compensation will increase. This "law" provides a spigot mechanism. You can turn the spigot higher or lower based on your life style choices and desires.

On the this episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I will give you the basis for a business strategy for the coming weeks where most of society will be checked out during the heart of the summer. Normally the last 2 weeks of August are a "no fly zone" but that time frame could be extended this year. This collective reset is happening in every market, even the hottest markets like South Florida, Texas, Nashville and North Carolina. Transactions are still happening but at a much slower pace than we've seen over the last 18-24 months. My prediction is that velocity will pick up mid -September when most people get back to some form of a routine. So, the question is how do we navigate until then? What should be our focus? What should we be focused on during this extended "no fly zone"?

3 words: Protect The Downside

Honestly it doesn't really matter what type of market we are experiencing, this strategy, "Protect The Downside", is a legitimate approach to operate your business. Let me explain, "Protecting The Downside" means simply avoiding taking a step back. We talk about getting 1% better every day which is a simple, balanced and effective approach to growth. The key is that you don't want to take a 1% step back. To stay on a consistent growth path, if you take 1% step back means that you need to make the 1% up the next day to get back to even. August 2022 could be a trap month if you don't intentionally execute. For example, 30 days straight of going 1% backwards mostly like will be lost never be caught up.