Here’s a story about professional athletes and real estate agents.
The biggest difference between professional athletes and the weekend warrior at the local gym is the training intensity. Amateur athletes believe that the harder they work, train, lift and run, the greater the results.
The amateur will test their limits by maxing out, going to their limits during a HIIT workout, hammering down on the Peloton for 30 minutes before breakfast, and maximizing everything they are capable of in their limited amount of time allocated to their health.
Amateurs grind until their broken, with no pain, no gain. The cycle is vicious. The rise and fall from program to program is painful to watch, with no long-term results to show for it.
The training schedules for elite professional athletes are much easier, no harder. Don’t believe the Rocky Balboa Movies and motivation highlight videos on YouTube.
I played college basketball with Yusef. Yusef’s Dad played for the New York Knicks for 11 years, and Yusef played professionally overseas for a decade. The interesting fact about playing with Yusef is he appeared to loaf around. However, when the moment presented itself, his catlike reflexes would appear, and he would steal the ball, grab the rebound, or slash to the basket for a score.
Meanwhile, I would sprint everywhere. Coach called a timeout… SPRINT to the huddle. Loose ball, SPRINT, and DIVE on the ground. The referrer has the ball on the sideline… SPRINT to get in position for the play. Just call me Johnny Hustle.
I was late to nearly every opportunity at the college level when the game ran.
Scientists looked at the training schedules of Olympic Nordic skiers, arguably the fittest athletes on the planet. Norwegian cross-country skiers have some of the highest VO2 maxes ever recorded. Higher than Lance Armstrong on performance-enhancing drugs.
Studying their training schedules, the scientists found vital insights that will help you in your real estate career and life.
They never missed a workout unless they were sick or injured.
They made it a priority not to get sick or injured. They avoid burnout at all costs.
They work out in three buckets. Low, Medium, and High Intensity.
88% of the time, they will work out at a light intensity.
6.4% at a medium intensity.
4.8% at high intensity.
The vast majority of the time they work out, they are barely pushing themselves. The workout is enjoyable, and they feel like they can do it forever.
You will find the same breakdown when studying—weight lifters, Basketball Players, Cyclists, and even Stock Traders.
The key is not how intense you can work out; it is the intensity that allows me to work out the longest.
Over time, the low intensity improves your overall limits at medium and high intensities.
Real estate success comes with long-term relationships. The problem is nobody wants to get rich slowly.
We all know prospect and follow-up are the two most crucial dollar productive activities. The challenge is we make it way too intense and burn out. It simply isn’t fun sprinting around on the phone expecting a result.
The top agents in North America lead generate, train, prospect, and follow up at a lower intensity so they can do it longer. They are calm, collected, and frankly enjoy it.
Tony Robbins has one of the best questions when doing something hard, “What if you could do XX and enjoy it?”
The life available to you in the future is beyond your imagination when you allow compounding to enter the picture.
It is not what activity will get me the highest return today; it is what actions will sustain the best returns over the longest period of time.
Nick McLean
Nick McLean Real Estate
Cheplak Coach
Real Estate Greatness