In 2017, at 23 years old, I quit my first "real job" out of college, and moved from Delaware to Philadelphia to pursue a career as a real estate agent. At this time, the only thing I knew about real estate was that I eventually wanted to invest in it (because it seemed like people got rich that way). The only thing I knew about Philadelphia was that my Aunt Linda lived here (and it seemed a hell of a lot more fun than living in Wilmington, Delaware).
2 years later, in 2019, I received my first 1099 that was over $150,000 in income. When I first received it, tears came to my eyes. I know it's not a million dollars or anything, but at 25 years old, it kind of felt like it. Less than a year beforehand, there was one month where the only reason I was able to pay my rent was because I luckily won $1,000 from my fantasy football league.
When I look back at myself during that time, I can vividly remember the mind state that I was in 2019 and the things that I was focused on at the time that helped to propel me forward quickly, and have a breakthrough year very early on in my career.
Here are some of the things that I learned during that time:
1) Surround Yourself With Better People
Your environment is absolutely everything. In August of 2018, just over 1 year after getting into the business, I made a switch from my first brokerage over to Keller Williams Philly. At the time, I saw a number of top producers from my old office leave for KW, and while things were going ok for me at the time, I really felt that I needed to surround myself with agents I could emulate, who had already built businesses like the one that I wanted to build for myself. Had I not made the switch, there are many incredible people I would have never met, and so many lessons that I would have missed out on. I definitely would have stalled my career by staying in the same place and not trusting my gut to make a move when I did.
2) Hire A Coach (Or Two) & Invest In Yourself
In 2019, I invested over $10,000 to have two coaches. One of my coaches was a Keller Williams MAPs Business Coach, Deanna Watson, and the other was a success, mindset, & life coach, Jeffery Combs. Through coaching with both of them, I accelerated my business so much faster than I would have, had I just tried to figure everything out on my own. I paid them for knowledge that took them years and years to gather, and was able to implement it early in my career, to form the right systems and habits for success. Mentors are great, but if you aren't paying for someone's time, you're less likely to implement what they teach. Seminars are great , but the inspiration that you gather from them can be fleeting. Books are great too, but only if you read them and implement the information you gather.
3) Have A Routine & Stick To It
2019 was the most "locked in" I have been on my morning / weekly routines in my entire life, other than right now. At the time, I was consistently waking up every day at 5am, going to the gym, and doing the things I needed to do in the morning and the evening to get my mind right. I was the first person in the office almost every day, and many times the last person to leave, but I wasn't burnt out. I was having fun and crushing my daily and weekly routines, working towards my goals. Taking care of my personal life, my body, and my mind, automatically spilled over into my business effortlessly, and I began to create opportunities on command like I never had before.
4) Eliminate Your Limiting Beliefs
Your new life is going to cost you your old one. You can't create a new life for yourself without eliminating the same patterns and beliefs that you've held in your past. In order to breakthrough in your business and your life, you need to be "in the flow" and you need to be present. You can't be constantly sabotaging your success with beliefs that no longer serve you. In 2019, I learned to let go of a lot of baggage I was holding onto from my past, and the stories that I was telling myself as to why I couldn't be successful. Ultimately, letting go of that baggage had an immediate effect, and made me lighter and more agile to operate in my business and my life.
5) Take Action
Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. You can come up with all of the best plans, systems, goals, etc. You can go to the best seminars, hire the best coaches, talk to the best people, and read all of the best books. If you don't get up off your ass and actually execute and put into practice the things that you are learning, you will find yourself on a never ending hamster wheel of failure and disappointment. You don't need to do everything all at once, but you need to do something every single day that moves you closer to your goal.
If you're feeling stuck in your business, or you're looking to go to the next level and don't know where to start, consider some of the things above. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss one on one, happy to do what I can to help.
