Million Dollar Agent
Million Dollar Agent
Habits & Rituals for Lasting Success in Real Estate
Happiness is a choice.
Success often starts with the right habits and rituals. Learn how early morning routines and effective communication can give you a competitive edge.
We'll explore how getting up early, exercising, and making vendor calls before your competitors can turn vendors into passionate advocates for your business.
Consistency and patience are key to long-term success. We'll delve into the power of incremental progress, sharing inspiring stories like a colleague’s 100-kilometer run and personal experiences of overcoming illness.
By focusing on the immediate next step and maintaining discipline in your processes, you can achieve significant accomplishments over time.
Drawing inspiration from sports, we’ll emphasize the importance of playing the long game.
Join us for a deep, engaging discussion on building positive habits and rituals that lead to lasting success.
Tom Panos, john McGrath minus Troy Malcolm. Today, johnny million-dollar agent, winter version how are you?
John McGrath:Yeah good, tommy, I actually love the winter a lot. Isn't it funny that so often the initial reaction we always forget how important attitude is. You go and see someone and they say, oh, isn't the weather terrible? Oh, don't you hate the rain, oh, it's too bloody cold.
John McGrath:And I of think and, by the way, I actually love the cold and I love the rain and I sort of love all weather. I've maybe trained my brain to it. But, um, I just find everything, you know, I think I find the cold is charming, I find, uh, the rain is kind of wonderful and cleansing and so forth. Yeah, not in some spiritual kind of hyped up thing. I just, I just sort of figure that there's all sorts of different weather and I like it all, as long as you know, if it's cold and you're rugged up for it, it's all cool or you've got a fireplace.
John McGrath:But it's funny how a lot of people you kind of think so you only like spring, or you know summer's too hot and winter's too cold and it's too wet and it's too dry, and I think we've all got to just get used to being appreciative for anything and everything we have. Because you know, as you know, tommy, someone's walking in today having their first stage four cancer treatment. Someone's going to be doing that and someone's just walked out of a doctor's surgery getting a diagnosis of that and you think, man, they would love to, just, you know, sort of feel the cold air without that distraction, and I just think it's all about mindset, this game. I mean real estate, and you and I, I guess, have made a living out of coaching process and we believe in it, and skills and dialogues, and we believe in all of those, but everything is trumped by a great attitude and just a good outlook on life.
Tom Panos:Anyway, that's my opening gambit I just want to mention this. So I was talking to maddie, who, john, is overseas and has been all year in copenhagen, and I had a look at the weather forecast and even in summer, so it's summer. This summer has hit europe now and it's got a top of 18 in summer and a low of 11. And I said to Maddie I said, sweetie, doesn't it get? You know, like even summer, it's summer, is our winter there. And I go, has it got to you? And she just said, no, daddy, she goes.
Tom Panos:You've got to understand there's lots of positives out of it. And I said what's that? She goes, oh, you get to layer up and you put nice clothes on. She loves layering up, right, she goes, you layer up and then she goes. You sleep incredibly well. You love coming to home, right, it's warm there. And she goes. There are so many positives. And she goes because sometimes, when it's really hot, aren't you rushing in for air conditioning? She goes when you think of really, really hot days. So Aren't you rushing in for air conditioning? She goes when you think of really, really hot days. So I think you're right. I think happiness is a choice and should not be weather dependent, you know.
John McGrath:Yeah, and not to sort of bore any of our listeners. Maybe we are or maybe we aren't, but it is just one of the simple things. I know we're going to talk a little bit about habits and rituals today, but you've just got to check yourself. I think one of the phrases I heard years ago which I love is you have to make the subconscious conscious, and a lot of people they just say, oh, it's cold and oh, you know, this is bad, that's bad and it's it's not because they're bad people or even negative people. It's a habit they get into because there's good habits and bad habits. And, yeah, just as I thought, because today is cold in Sydney, by the way, for those of you that aren't in Sydney, but I find it refreshing and you feel alive. Let's get into it. Habits and rituals.
Tom Panos:So, john, I suggested that we talk about this because I use the metaphor. Metaphors are so good to explain things to people. If you're going up a staircase and you've got to go up hundreds of stairs the first 10 or 20, like you probably do without holding onto a balustrade, but if you're going and going, it's just useful, it's an aid to be able to put your hand, life, work and business. We are going upstairs, we are sort of moving forward against resistance and having a balustrade or something to hang on to makes it so much easier.
Tom Panos:And I thought habits and rituals are, in fact, the handrails of life and those real estate agents that have got a set of rituals that are predictable, repeatable, sometimes scalable, but they set and forget. They make life so much easier. You came to News Corp many years ago and I wrote it down and I've actually adopted it and on most days there are some days that it doesn't happen On most days I aim to do nine calls before 9am each day and it's ended up becoming a tremendous thing to have because in a typical week, on a Friday, you'll end up the week and you've had 45 conversations and your approach was three new business calls, three current client calls and three culture calls friends, family, suppliers, that sort of stuff.
John McGrath:So I'd love to talk about habits and rituals that we can use in our life to make things easier, yeah yeah, and dr fred uses a similar metaphor, tommy, when he started coaching me, which was scaffolding, he said you know you want to build the scaffolding around your business and around your life, you know. So scaffolding seems like just your people are sort of an understanding what we're talking about and and you're right, it can be quotes, it can be habits. Um, you know daily exercise, you know if you can go for a walk for 45 minutes each morning, pop a set of headphones on and listen to an empowering podcast or conversation or whatever, that's a hell of a sort of a foundational piece to your mental diet and your habitual. So firstly, I know in Australia you were very early on, tommy, adopting the 5 am club. So whether it's 5 am or 6 am, but getting an early start is a pillar or a foundation, what you do at that minute. And if you go for a 45-minute walk and then if you add to that listening to a podcast that's empowering and inspiring, well, all of a sudden you've ticked three boxes by 6 am. Now that absolutely has to give you a jump on your competition. I remember I used to love doing all of that and a bit more, and then driving to work at 7.15 in the morning and I was looking around I'm thinking all my competition is asleep, all my competition is asleep, and I used to love that. And then I'd be on the phones and getting organized at 7.30am and by the time most of them were getting in their car from home and go to work. I'd kind of already done my daily vendor calls and I'd done my exercise and I'd done my growth calls. So these are the things. So Dr Fred called it scaffolding. I love your staircase metaphor, but yeah, I think there's some of the one of them I just mentioned then, tommy, was my daily vendor calls. When I was selling.
John McGrath:I very early got to realize that the number one thing or one of the many things that pissed vendors off about agents was lack of communication. And it wasn't always because agents are bad people, sometimes they're disorganized, but often they were working on the premise that I'll call the vendor when I have something positive to say. And yet most people when I picked up expired listings and I'd say, is there anything from your previous experience that you don't want us to duplicate? And they'd say well, you know, I went for three weeks I never heard anything. I don't know if they're working on the property if they had any inquiry, but nothing. And then all of a sudden, you know there was something. So you know, I think, a little daily vendor.
John McGrath:So I've spoken about getting up early, spoken about a little bit of morning exercise and stretching. We've spoken about some empowering audio podcast. We've spoken about, you know, some daily vendor calls and people say, oh, wow, that sounds like a lot of hard work. Well, yeah, it is a lot of hard work, but at that point you turn vendors into raving fans. They become your conduit or your connection to your next 10 listings. And then, if you up your schedule and if you increase, you know, your efficiency, you then ring all of those vendors and this becomes a wonderful, self-fulfilling, perpetual upward spiral of success. So, yeah, there's four or five just in the first hour of the day, right?
Tom Panos:100%. I've got to tell you, if you win that first two hours, I reckon you win the day. I think if you win those two hours, you win the day. Some of the others that I actually thought of is deleting negative people, and I don't mean you press a delete button, but I mean there's sometimes people you talk to and I don't know whether they've got this conspiracy theory about the world or whether they're not supportive of something that you're thinking of doing because in their eyes they see it as not being achievable. But that would be a great habit and ritual where you turn around and say I will actually have on a daily basis, more conversations and tech exchanges with people that are illuminators, cheerleaders, not energy suckers and complainers. And I think some people, some people are not. They're not complainers being bad people. I think it's become habitual in them. They're just the kind of they actually often I find they're quite likeable in other areas, but they just complain about everything.
John McGrath:Yeah, no, I agree, tommy. I think it's really critical and you're right If you number one is take the negative people out of your life. And some people feel really guilty about this. And I get why. Because sometimes you know, you grew up with them, sometimes they're kind of they could be relatives, you know who knows but often they are people that you've had quite a close relationship. But we all grow at different pace and I find that if I try and and I don't try to coach my friends, but I try and show them the error of having negative views on life, and if they don't kind of get it, then I just start moving away and I figure that we've got.
John McGrath:You know, stoicism. What do they say? Memento mori, remember, we're all going to die. We've only got a limited number of hours left on the planet, each and every one of us. And if you're going to allocate or allow 10, because this happens without you even thinking right, they just sort of they get into your vortex and they destroy it or pollute it. So if you're going to allow 5% or 10%, that's your responsibility, man, and if you're up for that and you're okay with that, that's cool, and if not, I would find a way and sort of unhook your guilt around it. Just find a way to avoid them and you can do it subtly. You don't have to offend them and rather than see them once a week, you might see them once every three months. So I'm not saying you've got to totally remove these people, but you definitely might want to put yourself on a starvation diet of negative people, because it gets into your head and sometimes you walk away from a meeting and you just feel bad, whereas on the opposite side, tommy, you and I are both fortunate to have many great friends and inspiring people that we get to connect with on a regular basis and you walk away from those meetings and bang. Everything feels lighter and exciting and something you walked into that meeting you thought was a problem and all of a sudden you got three different solutions. So I think it's. It's really, really important.
John McGrath:Um, I love that slide. What was that? Have you still got that slide up? I'll just bring it. I'll just uh, really good bits on there while you're doing that. I'll just mention, I'll mention now. I was just going to say one year.
John McGrath:I said we said before it can be a little habit or a ritual, can? It can also be a philosophy or a view on life, and one of my micro rituals is be like water, which was a phrase I heard I think it was Bruce Lee that said it years ago the famous martial arts and then come actor. And you know, I see this all the time and it seems increasing, tommy, at the moment, people, they come up against an issue and it and it explodes and they focus on it, they tell everyone about it and you know it, they, they. You know it might have been an issue to start with, but now it's a macro issue. Bruce league, be like water. And the metaphor is as water travels downhill and it hits rocks and inevitably hits trees and and all sorts of things, it doesn't stop and complain or stop, it actually just finds a way around it and it just flows effortlessly until it gets to the bottom of the hill. So again, I find myself saying this more and more on a daily basis to people be like water, my friend, don't get hung up on it, don't give it oxygen, don't focus on this.
John McGrath:Shit happens. If you just accept in life, shit happens right. Sadly, friends die, people bash your car, someone's going to rob you, you know, sometimes you miss a listing. Sometimes you miss 10 in a row. Whatever it is, stuff is going to happen that doesn't appeal to you. Yeah, the fast yet at being good at moving on from these things. Learn from them and you can learn quickly. What could I have done? That was different, but don't dwell on it, that's, you know. There are some people they're like it becomes a part-time job for them to whinge about the last unfortunate experience they had and it just holds them back in their future over to you.
Tom Panos:So, john, before you go on. I just thought of something you said before. We moved on that rumination, which is what we're really talking about. You get a bad phone call in the morning, can make a bad morning, and then you ruminate on it and then, before you know it, you've dramatized it and you've made a bad day and knowing that tomorrow this thing is a non-event, but you've destroyed a day over the fact that you gave it oxygen. But the point before you made a very good point, John, whereas is when you talked about you've got to watch it, because sometimes you can get entangled in the negativity. This morning, christina, my other daughter, she's sick. I think she may have COVID, I'm not quite sure. Anyway, as soon as that happened, I realised I'm going to stay clear. I took out, you know, the spray. Make sure I got it there, and it's not hard.
Tom Panos:A physical virus is not hard to identify and you take action. But the mind virus, they're the ones that you can, and I think Dr Wayne Dyer used to speak about it. He says we worry about the physical virus, but the mind virus, before you know it it's invisible. You're in a conversation and someone takes you to their line of thinking and before you know it, you've actually moved from an optimistic view to a pessimistic view, because you've just listened to that story and then your story's been edited and you've got to be forensic with it, john, because I've made a big effort today, because I know that infections are spread by one person to another, so I'm making, you know, an effort to not get it Listen.
John McGrath:Yeah Well, you're right about the mind virus and strengthening your mind, just like you do your body, and daily affirmations for me are just a terrific. You know, and there's so many different places. Just Google daily affirmations or Esther Hicks or whatever. You're going to find lots. But the things you tell yourself about the world and you repeat and basically habits and mind. Habits and mindset are just thoughts you keep repeating to yourself and if you just keep repeating to yourself a number of things that are taking you and Ryan talked about future, future, ryan, ryan Serhant sorry for those that didn't get to Eric, which unbelievable.
John McGrath:I watched him the other night. I went over to Paul and Anthea's place with Kelly. We went over there and we had dinner and they kept asking about Eric. What was Ryan Reynolds like? What was Matty Steinway? Because you know word about Matty Steinway's talk had traveled all the way down and we heard about Ryan Serhan. So I linked into the ARIC videos and I just threw them up on the Apple TV screen and they were mesmerized. Man, I had all three of those, but especially Matty Steinway and Ryan Serhan. But it's all about mindset and that was one of the key things.
John McGrath:And he told some terrific stories about his real estate career and his life prior to real estate. But what separates him? And yeah, he's energetic and I'm sure he's now got good product knowledge and he's built some good negotiation tactics but at the end of the day, the thing that separated him was his mindset, his enthusiasm, his passion, his belief in himself. And that had to be learned, because when he got into real estate he didn't have a particular. He got into real estate to pay his rent because New York was so damn expensive and he was a hand model, an occasional bit actor on a few small parts, and he thought I'll get into real estate, maybe it'll help me pay the rent. So he didn't have a deep-seated belief, but he built that. And again, I just keep saying to people don't think you have to be born with a deep-seated belief in yourself and your ability. You have to build it. Like you go to the gym and you do curls. One strand of your muscle at a time. Every time you do a curl strengthens your muscle a little bit more, a little bit more. Every time you do a daily affirmation, every time you have a small win. Every time you go for a morning walk, whatever are your habits, each time you tick them off. So I really encourage all our listeners and your gym members really to make sure that you just see these little, little little things.
John McGrath:Nick Muzza, I told you about Nick that you know he was, you know beforehand at ARIC. He'd stopped exercising for a long time and streak starts with one, which was Chip Eichelberger's great saying, and he's now been exercising for 17 days straight. I can hear it in his voice, tom, when I speak with him I say, nick, you sound like a new person, bro, like, literally sound like a new person. And he, just because there was one little thing that he heard a streak starts with one and 10,000 push-ups is, I think, 28 a day or something, and it was just broken down into something that was achievable. Chip was very good, by the way. I never asked you what you thought about him, but I thought he was very good, very good.
Tom Panos:Yeah, well, a lot of people weren't aware but chip actually worked very closely with uh, because a lot of people ask me I mean, who is this guy? He worked alongside anthony robbins for a fairly long period, wasn't he? John?
John McGrath:yeah, probably a decade. That's where I met him. Um, when the first time tony robbins ever came to australia, uh, ian low, who's a friend of ours and and ours and Ian was part of the company bringing him out and he said I want to bring this guy, chip Eichelberger, to your office. He's a part of Tony's forward team that goes ahead and talks about what Tony's you know and basically, you know, boil it down. He was there to sell tickets right by saying here's what you're going to learn. And so that was the first experience I had and I just I latched on to him. I loved him. He's just a terrific fella and I loved, uh, his, his technology. You know, I'm talking about mental technology, not not, uh, computer. Yeah, and then we went to meet tony and all you know, it was just great, but so many good things. I just so excited when I was watching with paul and anthea, the, um, the, the, the videos the other day, you know, it was just so much fun to watch them for the first time, watching, you know, and listening to these talks. It was really good.
John McGrath:So, look, I think today we've given people you know, the idea is have a number of little rituals and strand by strand, like building a muscle. You know the compound interest factor. You just keep building and building and you don't have to go out and run a marathon. All you need to do is go and do a 400-metre walk and tomorrow do a 410-metre walk, maybe a 500-metre walk the next day, just layer upon layer, build a girl in our office 100-kilometre run. She just did. Up until recently, fairly recently she wasn't a runner and she decided she'd run. And then she decided she'd do 18 hours running. Well, it was about 10 hours running and eight hours walking, but nonstop, you know, just walking for a little bit of catch your breath and then go again, but 18 hours straight, no stopping, no sitting down, no resting, no meals, 18 hours straight. It just shows what you can do, man. When you put your, I was so proud of her. Just shows what you can do.
Tom Panos:I heard John. Actually she said it to me. Jeez, that reminds me back in 2000. I had a John when I got unwell and I started treatment. They give you a social, they give you a carer. The person that you know explains it. Let's call it an onboarding person, case manager or something. Case manager Her name was Sandra. I haven't seen her in ages. What a beautiful lady. Anyway, I said to Sandra I said how long have you been doing this? She says she's my 25th year. I said, wow, she goes. Any advice? She goes, look, and you have to climb up these stairs. Funny, we're talking about stairs. You have to climb up these stairs to go to Gloucester House where I got treated before Lifehouse was built across the road.
Tom Panos:John O'Brien, chris O'Brien sorry, unfortunately, chris O'Brien. She said to me she goes, see those stairs there she goes. I want you to focus not on the 20th stair. She goes. All you do is you focus on that one stair in front of you. Those that do better aren't worried about week 39. They're just getting through each day successfully and she goes. You do that. You string together 100 good days, you're done and dusted and life is good. Those that think too far ahead get overwhelmed. Worrying about the 80th step are the people that end up getting concerned should I change direction in what I'm doing, this and that? So just worry about the next step, not the 20th step.
John McGrath:I just sent you, as you were saying that. It reminded me of something that I just saw on TikTok a minute ago. And, by the way, if you don't follow Tommy on TikTok, you're mad. I find your content fantastic. There's another guy if you haven't followed him, his name is Matt Easton E? -a-s-t-o-n. His name is Matt Easton E-A-S-T-O-N. I've just texted it to you. You got it now. I only just watched it before.
John McGrath:And he was talking about he said you know, three deals fall over. Doesn't worry me, don't even think about it, don't miss a beat. Why? Because I have a process, I follow my process and I know there'll be ups and downs. And he said three deals go together. I don't care why, because I have a process and I trust my process and I work it hard. And he said at the end of the day, don't worry about this and that one, because he said you will lose three and then you'll pick up four and then you'll miss one and you'll get two. But he said you have to follow a process, which is very much.
John McGrath:What you were just saying then, tommy, is the process is what's the next step? Listing a property? What's the next step? Prospecting? What's the next step? Launching a property to the market, selling it, negotiating. What's the next step? Just have a process, step by step. Just follow it up. Grab the handrails that we've spoken about today and surround yourself with scaffolding and handrails that make it impossible to miss out. Just have those, or not miss out, because you are going to have a day where you miss a walk or you get sick or whatever, but just basically, you want to keep yourself on the track, on the path to success, every single day. This is a long game. Don't try and be successful in three months. Won't happen. But I've got to tell you, most people they say what did Robin say? Most people overestimate where they can be in 12 months. They underestimate where they can be in three years. So today was about really work out.
Tom Panos:They'll be in three months. I think you meant to say Is it?
John McGrath:They overestimate where they can be in the short term? I'm going to sell 100 properties in the next six months, but they underestimate where they can be in three years.
Tom Panos:Yeah yeah.
John McGrath:So it's all about play the long game, stick to it, build a process, be disciplined, keep the next step. You know I love that metaphor from your case manager just the next step. What do I have to do? What do I have to do? And we'll have a look at that, tommy, after this podcast, that Matt Easton one Really really good Doesn't care whether the three deals fall over. It was almost like he just sits back and he says I'm going to process, man, I know it's going to work and I know there's going to be days I miss three listings. That's okay, because I'm going to keep processing.
Tom Panos:Do you reckon that was going through the Bulldogs, coach Serraldo? Because it's been going for about a year and he's just kept sticking to it and sticking to it and then, all of a sudden, the last two months, they've come good.
John McGrath:I reckon it was. I reckon I go above him. I reckon it's Phil Gould. Phil has been there and done that and had great success. And he knows, if you create a process and you block out the noise the media noise and the fan noise and everyone else shouting and you just keep following the path that you know will lead you to success. And you look at the Bulldogs now. I mean, who knows how long it will last? But gee, at the moment I think they're running fifth in the comp and they were like almost wooden spooners last year. So, anyway, time to walk my two dash hounds.
Tom Panos:I like it. Hey, Johnny, they're the two best-looking dogs in the Inner West. I saw them the other day at Light Car. They're lovable, Johnny. Do they have to wear anything out?
John McGrath:in the cold or they get by. It's funny you ask that because where I'm, almost because they're so both low to the ground, it's hard for them to wear little outfits like jumpers and things. When they're sitting down I can, but when they go for walks I'll take them out, I'll try and keep them moving and then I'll pop them back in the car. But we have a good at this time of day. We'll have a good 45-minute walk.
Tom Panos:And then I have the air conditioning warming the place up, so when they come home for dinner it's cosy and warm. So that's the plan, all right, all right, see you, tom. Lots of love to you.
John McGrath:Take care.