Founder and CEO of Smart Real Estate Coach, as well as host of the Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast.
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In my real estate coaching business, there’s a big focus on what I believe are the three necessary pillars for the entrepreneurs’ journey. The three pillars are mindset, skill set and systems. What’s interesting is that it really doesn’t matter what business or industry you’re in. These pillars are simply necessary.
The debate that usually ensues when I’m speaking about this is the weighted importance of each one of these pillars. In my opinion, the mindset piece, which encompasses all of our mental development and personal development, is worth at least 80%. Let me explain.
I had a mentor years ago who drilled something into my thinking and my way of seeking out development work and individuals. He said, “Chris, your income will never outgrow you. You may on occasion have a lucky event or a lucky deal, but your income will always level out to your personal mindset level. That mindset pillar will pull the other two along.”
I’ve seen this to be the case personally, but I also have seen it to be true for my clients all over North America. Though they all take the same foundational course, some students do their first deal in 30 to 60 days and some take 365 days. Why is that?
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As a coach and teacher, I can show you how to buy a property without using your cash, credit or banks; I can show you the skills you need to build wealth. But can your mindset handle it? That’s why some people jump from niche to niche in real estate: It’s not the skills they have or don’t have that stops them.
The Mindset Pillar
So how can you make sure your mindset pillar is in a state of continuous improvement? You can start by seeking out thought leaders and experts in your industry or niche, whether that be via their books, speaking engagements or courses. You can then reach out to them personally if you feel you connect with them from a values standpoint as well as from a personal and business standpoint.
When you study successful real estate entrepreneurs, you’ll often find that the mindset pillar, which I also like to refer to as the mental game, is always present and practiced consistently. More specifically, you’ll see that many successful real estate professionals have daily rituals that include some form of meditation, affirmation or goals and plans review. I would encourage you to learn from them and the habits that keep them in a mindset of success.
The Skill Set Pillar
What you need to learn to build your skill set pillar is practically everywhere and, with the open access to the internet that we all have, the information is essentially free. Some necessary skill sets in the real estate world are:
• Mastering scripts for your area of focus or niche.
• Mastering your follow-up skills as a majority of deals are captured from the follow up.
• People/communication skills. No matter what niche you’re in, real estate is a people business.
The Systems Pillar
How about the systems pillar? This is super valuable once you have the skill set down and are on a path to push a mindset forward with continuous development. Then and only then should you start layering in systems, which have the potential to remove you from the mundane day-to-day tasks of real estate in order to scale whatever it is you’re doing.
Your systems will depend on what niche you’re in, to some extent, but there is one system that stretches across all real estate niches and that is your meeting rhythm. For example, here’s our meeting rhythm, which we adapted from our own entrepreneurship coaches:
• A daily 10-minute team touch-base to review yesterday’s accomplishments and today’s goals. Your team could simply be you and an assistant as you start out on your real estate journey.
• A weekly meeting to address updates for the week, challenges and solutions, and then any discussion topics that need attention.
• Our monthly meeting is a bit longer and entails important metrics such as total leads, appointments, contracts and sales.
• Lastly, we have a trimester off-site meeting where we review our priorities for the period, our related tasks for the period, a complete SWOT analysis and then, finally, our priorities for the next trimester.
Attack whatever it is you’re doing by continuously up-leveling your mindset pillar, and then simultaneously work to find the right skill set and systems resources to grow your real estate venture.
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