Sarah recently read that 50% of adult Americans have high blood pressure. Some of those people have high blood pressure for hereditary reasons, but many probably have HBP due to diet and/or exercise habits.

How does this relate to real estate? In this industry, how we view something is directly correlated to how we perform. If you look at your blood pressure as something out of your control, then that's a totally different mindset than if you view it as something you can control. If you view it as a controllable then you might be more inclined take steps to improve your diet and exercise habits. You'll have more ownership over it. Even if the high blook pressure is hereditary, you can still have some control over it by lowering it with good habits.

With your health and with your business, the best way to see the impact of your actions or non-actions is of course metrics. Diabetics wear glucose monitors and can see real time how certain foods affect them. If you start making calls for an additional hour a day, then you want to be able to track the impact of that on your conversion rate and so forth.

Are you superstitious? Sarah certainly is—there are some things she won’t even talk about for fear of jinxing them!

It’s natural to get excited when you have a deal under contract and start imagining those commissions hitting your account. While it’s smart to plan ahead financially, remember: don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Under contract does not mean closed and funded.

On the flip side, there’s power in public declaration. When you share your goals, you turn those who hear them into accountability partners. While you can’t control every variable in a deal, you can control your effort—how many homes you aim to sell, your target volume, and the quality of relationships you build with clients. Strong relationships lead to repeat business and referrals.

Of course, declaring your goals publicly can be scary. It means putting yourself out there and taking full ownership of the outcome. But that’s where real growth happens—when you commit, take action, and hold yourself accountable to what you say you’ll achieve.

We are all our own worst enemies. Our inner voice can be very critical. That's why it's so important to surround yourselves with positivity, people that will build you up, and people that believe in you and what you're doing.

Every person has their strengths and the ability to do great things. It comes down to not seeing potential in themselves, not taking action, or not sticking with it.

To spread positivity, one simple thing you can do is let someone know when you hear about something they've achieved or a positive attribute they have. We challenge you to pay forward the positivity at least once this week!

You've heard about the ripple effect...that one decision could change the trajectory of your life. "Life is a series of choices and consequences, you make the choice and experience the consequence." Everything you do has a consequence, either good or bad.

Years ago Sarah was participating in a challenge with Bill Pipes. You had to commit to doing a set of things every day in themes of 10. Things like: reading 10 pages of a book, exercising for 10 minutes, 10 affirmations a day, etc. It felt too daunting, like going from standing still to doing a sprinting marathon.

Sarah knew before starting that she couldn't commit to that many things all at once, so she chose one thing to commit to every day. She and her husband Matt started walking every morning to start their day and catch up. They've now been doing it for 3 years and it's had a huge ripple effect on their lives. There's the health benefits to starting every day outside in the fresh air and sunshine, but also their relationship is stronger than before.

Modern life is chaotic. The life of a real estate agent is chaotic. If you need to make a change, choose one thing to commit to. It's enough. You don't have to make drastic changes. Even the smallest change will have a ripple effect.

100 episodes! Thank you for being a part of this journey! And welcome to 2025.

This week is all about best practices for a successful year. It's not too late to get your plan together to have a strong year. Honestly, you have to start with having a plan to begin with. If we had decided to take a break from the podcast and not set a date for our first episode back, would we have ever started up again? Maybe or maybe not. Start with a plan and stick to the plan.

The best time to make a resolution and change your habits is yesterday. The second best time is today. For real estate agents or anyone in sales, in the new year one of the most important aspects is your mindset. It can seem daunting looking at the entire year ahead and coming up with a plan of action. Where are your leads coming from? What's your next sale going to be? How are you building your pipeline? You have to be able to visualize and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It can be tough to stay motivated and positive on your own. Do you have an accountability partner? Do you have a team that amps you up? Find your people to help keep you energized. It's tough to be successful when you're on an island by yourself.

How are you preparing for 2025? Have you set your goals and made a plan? Don't forget, if you're not moving forwards then you're moving backwards. There are always ups and downs in business and in life. If you stay static, then the "downs" or uncontrollables will set you back and you won't be able to get back ahead. You want to keep that forward momentum.

The number one uncontrollable in real estate is of course, interest rates. We have zero control over interest rates. Other uncontrollables that affect real estate? The stock market, inflation, economic uncertainty, jobs, layoffs, new construction, inventory...

So how do you make a business plan for 2025 with all of these unknowns? Your activity! You can control your activity. Show up every day, consistently, and with a plan of action. To be able to stay consistent, you have to be realistic. If you want to prospect for 10 hours a week, it's not practical to do 2 5-hour sessions. That's daunting and impossible to keep your energy level. Instead, do 5 2-hour sessions or 6 1.5 hour sessions.

Once you have a time block set, stick to it. Your schedule is your accountability partner.

What are the 4 things needed to be successful in any industry? 1) Mindset, 2) Skills, 3) Schedule, 4) Action

What are some good habits or things to consider when interviewing to join a team? Depending on what your goals are, look for a team that has a lengthy interview process. Ultimately you want to find a team that's a good fit for you on a professional and personal level, and that takes time to sort out.

You also don't necessarily want to join a team that will take just anyone. If you're looking to achieve excellence, you want to join a team of excellence. Figure out what core values, leadership style, level of training, and other fits with you and how you work best.

On the flip side of things, when Sarah is sorting through applicants she's looking at everything. Did they submit a resume and fill out the DISC profile? Did they join their zoom interview promptly and know how to use the technology? All of these steps in the process matter, so when you're interviewing and going through a hiring process, pay attention to those details.

We've recently started adjusting our process for hiring new agents. In the past, we brought in the candidate's significant other. This might seem strange, but when you first start out as an agent, you may not see an actual paycheck for months and meeting with the significant other can help us to better understand how invested they are in this career path and what kind of support system they have.

A few years ago we stopped interviewing significant others. Now that we've brought it back, we've already seen how impactful it can be. An applicant's significant other brings an additional perspective and more opportunity to set more realistic expectations. Then that partner also starts this process understanding that paychecks don't come overnight, conversations take consistent work, etc. and includes them in the process.

This equates perfectly to best practices in real estate. If you go on a listing appointment and you know there are two homeowners, then you want both homeowners to be at that listing appointment. Things get lost in translation. It's also important for you to know who the decision-maker is in the relationship.

We work a lot with divorcing couples selling their home. We over communicate and make sure that everything is communicated with both parties. Offline conversations just don't work. Everyone has to be kept in the loop.

In our next episode we'll talk about good interview tips.

Sarah's been reading a life-changing book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. The idea of it is essentially that people in general care too much about everything and then aren't able to care enough about the things that actually matter. We overwhelm ourselves.

The author Mark Manson talks about the feedback loop from hell. Social media has exponentially ramped up the feedback loop of how we value ourselves and others. The comparison game has gotten out of control. You have to protect yourself and pick what you care about.

Don't live in the mindset of "I wish I could" or "I wish I had." You are human and humans make mistakes and fall short sometimes. Accept whatever your shortcomings are and celebrate your strengths. Utilize those strengths to their highest potential and worry less about what others do to achieve success. It's about your journey, not theirs.

Family-life-work harmony is a topic that's relevant year-round, but especially right now during the holiday season. In real estate, in particular, this time of year is critical. The work you do now is going to affect the business you do in early 2025. But this isn't a time of year when any of us want to work more, so how do you balance the two?

The secret is that word "harmony." Family-life-work harmony. You don't need to work more this holiday season, but you need to be efficient and effective. You have to time-block. You have to be organized and prepared. Don't be a victim of your schedule and allow yourself to get sidetracked. Your non-negotiables for work and your life have to be on your calendar.

Another crucial aspect to this is syncing your schedules - with your spouse, kids, coworkers, etc. Syncing can help you be even more efficient and then no one is surprised when something comes up.

Keep in mind too that once you break a habit, it's hard to get started again. If you have a habit currently of prospecting at a certain time every week or other, consider continuing that through the holidays.

Be kind to yourself. If you're someone who currently lives in chaos, you won't be able to iron this all out in one day and have a perfect schedule. Make incremental adjustments, have conversations, and you'll figure out what works for you.