10 Reasons Why Agents Give Up on the Goals They Have Set

Good morning and welcome to Mike Ferry TV. It is the week of January 29th or basically one month is down. We have 11 to go. Hopefully you’ve re-activated yourself in the real estate business. You’re back on your schedule, you’ve got your goals written out, you know what you want to accomplish. And hopefully these thoughts today will help you do it. I had in the month of January a little program I did for about 150 people, and the topic that I talked about was, why did so many agents give up on the goals they have set before they actually start? Or why did we give up so quickly when the opportunities we have in real estate are so big?

So we have to understand that during 2023, 1.5 million plus agents, and they’re estimating that 50 to 60% did not do a transaction last year. We just don’t want you in that mindset. We don’t want you in that group. We want you to be more productive. And usually we give up way too soon, and we let little obstacles get in the way of our improvement and our production.

So I had written down, I think, I think there’s 8 or 10 reasons why people give up on themselves, and agents give up before they have a chance to succeed. I’d like to give them to you and let’s see if any of them might apply to you. They give up because they expect instantaneous results. They don’t understand that succeeding takes time. You don’t go to the gym on Tuesday morning, work out for an hour and say, that’s it for the year. I’m in great shape. You don’t go on any kind of a weight loss program for 24 hours. You go on it for 24 months.

Everything takes more time than what we’d like to think. And real estate people don’t. This doesn’t apply to you, of course, are famous for looking for a magic answer, a magic formula, and if it doesn’t work, they go on to the next one two days later. If you’re expecting instant results, this business is a huge challenge. Take a deep breath, slow down, and understand that everything takes more time than what we expect.

Number two, they stop believing in themselves. You know, we really have to become our own best cheerleader. Now, I don’t mean pat yourself on the back and strain your elbow and shoulder doing it, but for goodness sakes, look in the mirror. That person in that mirror can do a lot more with their life than what they may have been doing in the past. If you don’t believe in yourself, the vote is unanimous and you have to think about that. And how do you develop that great belief in yourself? Skills, mindset, role play, practice, accountability, coaching all the things that other top producers do. We have to get in that line and do the same thing I wrote down.

Third, they get stuck in their past. The only thing that matters is what you’re doing today. We can’t change the past. The past is called the past because it’s behind us. It’s behind us. So far, we don’t even want to go back there again. So you get stuck in your past. Well, Mike, this is the way I’ve always done it. Did it work? No, but it’s the way I’ve always done it. Well, now you’re stuck in your past.

Number four. They dwell on the mistakes, folks. In real estate, you’re going to make mistakes. You know you’re going to forget your name. If you get a little tense for a just a minute, you’re going to forget who you work for. At times, you’re going to forget to go out and knock on doors because you got tied up on a transaction you’re working on. You go out to knock on doors and you forgot to bring the fliers, the business cards you had with you. You left them in the office. We make mistakes. It’s called life. So I wrote down the following. Get over it. Because everybody, even the most successful, most productive, make mistakes.

Number five. Why do we give up before we start? Because we resist change. A wonderful book written, I think it was 1971 called Future Shock, and I think it was page 21. The author wrote down the only thing that is constant is change. And then he had a comma and wrote, but most people don’t want to participate. That was 1971. Here we are in 2024 and most people still resist change. Well, Mike, I don’t have the experience. Well, then let’s start working on getting the experience. I don’t have the skills. Well then let’s start working on a skill. What skill do we have to work on first? Managing your time. Working your database. Prospecting lead. Follow up pre-qualifying a buyer or seller. The skill of making a listing presentation showing property, handling objections. Answering questions. Closing the sale. You identified the skill. Our coaching, our training. Our seminars. Our workshops. The 350 videos that we have up on the web to watch to help you are there but you can’t resist change and make it happen.

Number six, they believe in their weakness and I’ve never understood that. We believe they can. They believe they can’t. And people in our coaching will often say, well, you have to understand, I’ve never been good at this. Well then let’s stop today and make a decision. If you don’t like the person in the mirror, change who stands in front of the mirror. And the one thing we can all do is change.

Number seven. They fear failure more than they believe in success. Then they don’t understand that everybody fails at times. It’s a step in the right direction. Failure is on the path to success. You’re never going to succeed all the time. Everybody fails in professional baseball. If a batter, a hitter, a member of the team bats 300, they pay him $10 million a year, which means he or she only gets three hits out of ten at bats, which means they fail seven times out of ten.

Number eight, they think their problems are unique. I wrote down there aren’t any new problems as there aren’t any new objections from buyers and sellers. The problems are all the same. Either you have a schedule or you don’t. Either you follow the schedule or you don’t. Either you call your database and ask for referrals, or somebody else who doesn’t know what these people are in your database are calling your database.

Number nine. They’re failing. They are failing as the sign to stop or turn back. I should say they see failure as a sign, excuse me to stop or turn back, versus a sign that tells you you’re just one step closer to a yes. Remember the old axiom, I think it was Jay Douglas Edwards back in the 60s that said, you you have to understand the only no, no, that counts is the last one before you quit. And that one is a big one.

And number ten, why did they never get started and why did they just continue to stop? They feel sorry for themselves because of the woe is me concept that so many people have about life. Watch. Once again I would say to you g o I or get over it. You have unique talents. You have a unique personality. You’re a unique person. Take advantage of what you know. Let’s expand it dramatically. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the gosh, I just don’t think I can do it mentality. You can do it. Others are doing it, and if they can do it, you can too. See you next week.