Part of the reason you became a REALTOR® was to “be your own boss,” right?
But then, “being your own boss” turned into “not having a boss,” which is like when you’re a teenager, and your parents go on vacation and leave you at home for the first time.
It’s fun at first 🥳, but then the house gets frighteningly messy. 😱
Now you’ve got one day to clean up this pigsty 🐷 and bring it back to “normal” before your parents get home.
But being your own boss isn’t merely about keeping things “normal.” Unless, of course, you’re entirely satisfied with the state of your business as it is.
But then, you wouldn’t be reading this, would you?
It turns out that everyone needs a boss, but being a good ‘boss of yourself’ is something you can learn, just like any other skill.
Let’s explore a few different ways to improve your ‘boss’ skills.
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For starters, it’s important to know the value of your time.
For example, a typical busy REALTOR® probably works close to 2,500 hours per year (50 weeks x 50 hours/week).
If you made $250,000 last year, divide that by 2,500 hours to calculate your hourly rate ($100/hr).
That’s not bad, but once you deduct all your expenses and taxes, let’s face it: You’re not getting rich.
If your goal is to make $500,000, and you’re willing to work 2,500 hours to get it, here’s the most critical mindset shift you need to make:
Start behaving like your time is worth $200/hr. 💰
It’s as simple as that, and as difficult as that.
It’s simple because there’s no reason you can’t make $500,000 or more if you’ve got the right knowledge and skills, and you learn to use your time wisely.
It’s difficult because it requires personal discipline to be a good boss of yourself.
Ask yourself: Do you spend most of your time doing highly-productive income-generating ($200/hr) activities?
Or do you spend half your time doing $20/hr work that you could easily delegate to someone else?
If you spend your time doing $20/hr work, that’s precisely what you are worth.
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If you had a personal productivity manager who looked over your shoulder every minute of your working day, would they be impressed by how you spend your time? Or would they be appalled at how much time you waste doing completely useless, unproductive activities?
If you want to make $500,000, wasting two hours every day is like tossing four $100 bills out your car window—every single day. 💸 Visualize that.
That’s $2,000 per week (M-F).
You could hire a full-time, experienced assistant for half that, and stop doing $20/hr activities, forever.
Don’t get me wrong. If you are earning $500,000 and you make a conscious choice to spend $400 of your time doing something unproductive, go for it!
I’m not suggesting that you should work continuously and never have any downtime to recharge. That leads to burnout.
However, you do need to stop running your life haphazardly (like an unparented teenager).
Start being conscious of what you are doing and what you are not doing during your regular work hours.
For one single day, be your own productivity manager. Write down how you spend every minute of your day. How many hours did you waste?
Two? Three? Six?
If you’re afraid to do this, you already know you have a problem, and you know you need to shift your mindset.
Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed, like your house is a pigsty right now, and your parents are coming home tomorrow. 😱
Here’s the good news:
If you think that shifting your mindset means you have to start doing things that you hate, and that you’ll never have any fun ever again 😭, that is the ridiculous success-preventing part of your brain trying to sabotage you.
The opposite is true: Positively shifting your mindset is exhilarating, confidence-boosting, and freeing, not to mention the massive improvement to your bank account.
Only one person is stopping you from achieving your goals. It’s you.
It’s time to start adulting.
If you’d like to further explore this topic, check out this previous post: Five Simple Steps to Getting Stuff Done.
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This article was inspired by module #2 – Getting Stuff Done – part of the Agent Skills Master’s Program.
