Lessons from the Mountain - Part One
The turn you are in versus the trail you are on.
When I was 12 years old, my family moved from Southern California to Ashland, Oregon. My father had grown up skiing in upstate New York, and he was hopeful that we would fall in love with the mountain. We did.
Teaching kids to ski can test a parent's patience and resolve, a lesson I would come to know with my own three children. And I was a challenging student, frequently complaining and questioning him because the advice was unnatural.
Two lessons of skiing fly in the face of natural tendencies - put your weight over the front of your skis and move your gaze from the tips of your skis to a place down the path. This is all deeply uncomfortable while you are pointed downhill on two slick boards.
My father would ski ahead and watch me make my way to him, all the while yelling up, "Stop leaning back! Look up! Stop staring at the tips of your skis!"
While my dad successfully taught me to ski, it took years for me to recognize that that particular lesson is one that runs much deeper.
The Turn You Are In Versus the Trail You Are On
As an agent, the tips of your skis are whatever is directly in front of you. A buyer showing. An appraisal problem. A listing to input. A deal you are trying to close. A problem to navigate. A decision that needs to be made.
The pull to focus on what's directly in front of you is strong because it's real and it's now. But you are headed down the trail either way. The temptation is to stare at the turn you're in. The problem is while you're focused on the turn, you're still moving down the mountain. If you don't look ahead, you're eventually reacting instead of skiing.
Lift your eyes. Focus on the trail ahead. This is where you are headed.
The Shift
Over the years, when I begin coaching an agent, I will ask them to tell me about their production. Almost without fail, they will tell me about what they are working on right now.
The listing they are struggling to sell.
The buyer showings coming up.
The repairs they are negotiating
Their coming open house.
What they frequently are unable to articulate is what their business looks like 60, 90, or 120 days from now. They know the turn they're in. They just haven't looked down the trail.
Ask yourself, how much will you close between now and the end of the year? Do you know that number? Are you tracking it? Not roughly, but specifically - is it $2.1 million? $4.6 million? $7.4 million? What clients do you expect to work with this year?
The likelihood of you achieving your goals greatly improves when you have your eye on what is coming. You are more likely to convert those opportunities; you are less likely to forget to follow up when you are tracking your pipeline.
Do you want to see a shift in your production level? The fastest way to significant change is to lift your gaze and move it into your future. I have seen it time and again. Shift your focus.
Today's challenges will get worked out. You're in the turn already.
The future is coming for you either way.
Lift your eyes. The trail ahead will tell you far more about your business than the snow directly beneath your skis.
Join me next week for Part 2. This week was the 'why'. Next week we'll discuss the 'how'.