Greatness Is Predictable—But Are You Great at Real Estate?

Your greatness in real estate is as predictable as your mediocrity. What’s the metric? Goethe said, “Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.” What you do — and how you do it — ultimately dictates whether you’re great, good, or mediocre in the industry. So, the question really is: how are your behaviors?

It’s a sad fact that most agents will fail in this industry. The statistics paint the picture very clearly: the vast majority of agents just don’t make enough money to keep on going. They aren’t bad people and their lack of success doesn’t change their value as humans, but their results directly correlate to their behaviors and how they run their businesses. An expert viewing their efforts over time would clearly predict their failure or success based on what they do daily, weekly, and monthly.

Is it silly to ask if you want to make a higher income than the average agent? Average agents are, after all, average. If you behave in an average way, you’ll get average results. That might be enough to keep you in the industry. It might even be enough — some years — to make you a high income. But if you want consistent greatness in real estate, you need to put great behaviors into place and you need to start doing it now.

Mediocrity Is Predictable

You can succeed enough in real estate to not fail out of the industry and still not be a top performer. Maybe you find yourself content with just enough or have found an income level that you feel suits you. If that’s the case, that’s fine — there’s really nothing inherently bad about living the way you want to live. I’ve found, though, that these “average” agents tend to come and go. Too big a market shift will take them out because they aren’t making consistently high enough commissions to keep going.

If you haven’t heard of James Clear’s Goldilocks Rule, I have a treat for you. Hearkening back to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, James wrote: “The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.” This suggests that if you aren’t pushing yourself, you’re bound to fail eventually. Average agents are really just mediocre ones waiting to reveal themselves.

You need to be more. You need to do better than that. You need to be pushing yourself enough to stay motivated, weather harder markets, and grow your commissions year over year. If you aren’t growing, you’re losing — and it’s not just because of inflation.

Predictable Greatness Comes From Great Habits

So, how do you do it? A study of the greats might be instructive. The way others have done it may well work for you. Because greatness is predictable, applying yourself to the same habits and systems others use might be just the ticket. There is much wisdom to be gleaned from the lives of others.

Something I’ve seen time and again is that without an outside perspective, people tend to be blind to their own gaps and needs. Coaching is a great option for those good agents who want to become great — and research suggests it’s great at every level of an organization. The right coach can help you define systems, processes, and habits to adopt that can make your greatness predictable.

Now, for the obvious elephant in the room: I work for an organization that coaches business owners in real estate. I must only be suggesting coaching for your business because it helps my bottom line, right? While I do think Workman Success Systems’ business coaching is a fantastic option for many, many real estate professionals, this post really isn’t about us — it’s about you. If you feel ready and willing to put in the work required to become great, Workman certainly offers proven systems and coaching that helps make that greatness predictable. If you’re still on the path to figuring out what you want out of your career in real estate, that’s a valid place to find yourself.Don’t settle for being an average agent — especially not when greatness is so predictable. Learn the ways, habits, and systems used by the greats to become great, and apply yourself to it. Average agents eventually settle into mediocre agents and you deserve better than that. As a step on your path to greatness, I offer up a free resource that I’ve found valuable: Workman Success Systems’ Daily Habits Tracker. Go check it out for free and start your path to Predictable Greatness.

Up Next: Just Do It: The Future Comes From Your Actions Now