A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This has got to be one of the most cliché and often repeated positivity or self-help statements, however one of my main thoughts this past month has been based on this familiar quote.

I am naturally very impatient when it comes to seeing my vision come to fruition. Of course I want Independent Agent to be a successful business that attracts great talent and has exceptional results! I have a very clear idea of what I would like to see and when. There are 15 000 licensee salespeople in New Zealand. I have a goal to be serving 1% of them in the next 2 years. Our marketing is slick and our people are happy. And, we are looking into how to get into the Australian market. That’s the vision.

On Sunday my thinking came to a head. I read an article about some friends of mine who are founders and owners of the City Realty Group. The One Roof article spent some time talking about their hugely successful Ray White City Apartments office. I was 2 years in to my real estate career when recruited into this business and as it happens, I was one of the founding staff members. We were located in a large but slightly shabby office in the Viaduct with great views and a lift that took us straight down to Irish Pub, Danny Doolans (what could go wrong!). This was about 15 years ago.

What the article didn’t talk about was the foresight that founder Phil Horrobin took in coming into the city from the South Auckland market, into a market he didn’t know. I think that there may have been 6 or 7 agents in the business at that time and the sales board did not look that healthy each month – it was certainly not looking like a business that would become number 1 internationally in the Ray White brand. Among other things, Phil and his partner committed to a page in the NZ Herald, every weekend, at a loss if need be (usually), to ensure that this office looked the best in what was then the only ‘shop window’ for City Apartments. Some days they must have looked at the other agencies in the market and wondered when their business would get that kind of recognition.

Now, some 15 years later, the City Realty business is a behemoth. It didn’t start that way, it didn’t happen overnight, and here is my lesson to myself and maybe to you too.

I ask myself “Why isn’t my business where I want it to be?” The simple answer is that it can be, but what is needed is Action and Time. We are only at the beginning of our journey, I tell myself. However we must be taking steps every day to get closer to that goal. With our highly independent selling agents, super helpful administration, and knowledgeable and passionate management we are only at the start. We have a vision for a more democratic style of real estate that changes the economics of the business model. We have social responsibility built into our values and structure. This journey is what my future self will call the Independent Agent years. It’s going to be a long and prosperous journey.

It can be daunting to have a picture of the future that you want, when it is not where you are right now. However, it is certainly true that if you are not where you want to be, and you are not making steps towards where you would like to be, then you most certainly will not get there.

I can clearly remember sitting down nine months ago and writing the plan that would be this business. I had a choice to make. It was to continue doing something that was making me unhappy. Do something for someone else for the same risk and less reward. Or strike out on my own, wear the risk, and reap the reward. And so here I am.

I cannot have 150 agents on the team until I get to 100 agents on the team, I can’t get to 100 until I get to 50, I can’t get to 50 until I get to 15. In fact, if 150 agents came knocking on my door this afternoon all wanting to sign up and start tomorrow, we would not be able to deliver service to them because we simply don’t have the resources to do this (on second thoughts, knowing myself and my team, we would probably try….)

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins, known for telling it how it is, is of the opinion that if you aren’t growing you are dead. While that may seem harsh I can personally attest to periods of stagnation, and they do indeed feel like a kind of death. I choose growth.

My message today is to take those steps that will get you towards where you want to be. For example, should YOU want to be number 1 sales agent in your area, do something today that will take you one step closer. Improve your performance, systems, attitudes by a mere 1% per day and imagine where you will be within a year. Mathematically, you will be in a position that is 37 times better than you are today (try an internet search of “Improve 1% per day” to check out the math).

Of-course this principal of improvement does apply to more than just being number one in sales and can be a philosophy to apply throughout your life.

All the best for the next few weeks, until we speak again.

Matt.

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Yes, you have just read my message saying kind things about another real estate agency. I deliberated over this and have decided that it is perfectly alright to say positive things about others. I hope you agree.

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I am reading Tyson Fury’s book at the moment (a world heavyweight boxing champion), and there is a great lesson in it. Train Hard, Fight Easy. Putting yourself under some pressure and working towards improving your skills stands you in good stead. When testing times come, you will quite naturally perform better.

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If you want to be earning more, find your way out of an office situation that is dragging you down, have more time for your interests with less corporate expectations and have the chance to build your own brand we should talk. Take a step for your future self. More money. More freedom. More time. Give me a call and together we will figure out how we can build something that both of our ‘future selves’ will thank us for.