Regardless of what business you’re in, small daily disciplines and habits can determine whether or not you’ll become successful. What you do today matters. What you do tomorrow matters. Whatever you do before breakfast matters. What is it that makes successful real estate agents really rise to the TOP? And why does it have to happen before breakfast?
Hmmm, if only there was a way to know…
Laura Vanderkam, author of “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast,” writes, “If it has to happen, then it has to happen first.” And science supports her theory. In the mornings, people tend to have more willpower, more optimistic and ready to take on new, challenging tasks. As a recap from her study, here are twelve things that the most successful real estate agents do in the mornings…all before breakfast.
1. Wake Up Early
Time is valuable. Productive mornings start before the sun rises. Laura suggest that we don’t just rush out the door each morning. Before starting work, invest time in activities that are more likely to make you a more productive, happier, energized realtor. Whether that’s getting a head start on your MLS profile sheets, sending client follow-up emails, or exercising.
2. Exercise First
Before it even has a chance to fall off your to-do list, go for a run, head to the gym or simply stretch. Pre-breakfast workouts help to reduce stress later in the day, improve sleep and boost metabolism. Exercise gives you the energy you need to carry you through even the longest of closing preparations. Plus, if you exercise in the morning, you’ll only have to shower once!
3. Set Priorities
Mornings can be the perfect time to find uninterrupted focus for important projects. Especially for realtors who typically don’t work a nine-to-five. In the quiet, early hours, you can give activities the attention they need before other things like kids, bills, bosses, start demanding your time.
4. Keep Passion in Personal Projects
At the end of a long, tiresome day, projects that you’re normally passionate about may not seem so exciting. Before your day officially starts, many successful entrepreneurs carve out creative time to tackle the things they love. Keep the passion alive to help you grow stronger as a realtor.
5. Invest in Family Time
Although a big dinner is the poster of family time, mornings can be just as valuable. Before you start cultivating new leads, take time to read with your kids, cook breakfast together or drive the kids to school and chat about the day ahead.
6. Connect with Your Spouse
Connecting with your spouse in the early hours can be quite rewarding. You don’t necessarily have to get frisky (though studies do show that regular sex may make you smarter and boost income), but make it a morning ritual to at least talk through your plans for the day. Many real estate agents have a long (and varied) list of daily responsibilities that can change with little or no notice. Organize a communication system with your spouse for those times when it’s time to go with Plan B.
7. Network
Set networking meetings over coffee and you’ll find it much more productive than midday lunches or boozy happy hours. A task as simple as taking one hour each morning to reach out to past buyers and sellers or family and friends can go a long way the next time they hear someone discussing their real estate needs.
8. Meditate
Calm your mind before you head out the door and face the rush of the day. As a real estate agent, you can find yourself at the beck and call of clients, other agents and mortgage brokers. It’s important to figure out how to manage the stress of daily life. Whether you meditate, pray or practice yoga, this ritual can make a big impact on how the rest of the day unfolds.
9. Start a Gratitude Journal
Write down the things you’re grateful for to get the proper perspective and positive outlook first thing in the morning. Expressing gratitude has been shown to make you mentally and physically healthier.
10. Strategize
When you first wake up, your mind is fired-up and fresh to begin researching, strategizing and conducting big-picture thoughts. Then, just be sure to put all these thoughts down on paper to maximize promotional efforts with blog content.
11. Make Connections
Some time management experts suggest emails should be put off as long as possible. But others suggest starting your day by quickly scanning your inbox or Facebook messages for any urgent needs that require immediate response so you can focus better once a response is sent. Spend time sharing and commenting on social media platforms to connect with other realtors, current customers and potential clients as well.
12. Headline Highlights
Whether you’re reading the newspaper or scrolling through your Facebook feed, many successful realtors get the rundown on what’s happening in the real estate world before they get even cook breakfast. Once you identify industry related content, you’ll want to share it with your followers on social media.
Successful Real Estate Agents Are Early Birds
With this list you have a chance to get ahead of the competition before the sun even rises. The early bird gets the worm, right?
You might even want to print out this article and use it as a blueprint for success. But don’t get us wrong, it’s not going to be easy, hard work is definitely required if you want to be effective…but as successful real estate agents, you already knew that.
How Post Café Can Help
With so many good ideas on this list, it can be difficult to choose which one to start with. Let us help you with the content and social aspect. Our experts at Post Café closely monitor trending topics and perform extensive keyword research to find out what’s going to resonate with your clients. We write the buzzworthy articles and post them to your social media accounts…all before breakfast. So, now you have no excuse not to go for that early morning jog!
Call us at 732-218-9377 to learn more.
