with A.Z. Araujo - Episode 96:

Final Days

with A.Z. Araujo - Episode 96:

Final Days

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
We realize we have a greater responsibility beyond building a great business. Being better humans and being out there is a testament to the work and the Do the Work philosophy. If you want something greater, you have to show up consistently.
The Desire to be Better
  • ​We are on November 30th and are heading into new beginnings. Last week we had a two-week crunch meeting, and it was awesome to have so many join me. So many committed to ensuring they don't become complacent in the marketplace. There is a tendency for many in our industry to coast through the end of the year. This year has been a blessing for us here at the brokerage. It has been one of those things where it didn't happen by accident. We were intentional about the actions we were going to take on every single day. 
  • ​These actions aren't easy, and that is why most fail in this industry. The statistics are dire for agents coming into this industry and building something great. You have a better chance of being successful in other industries vs. this one because of the competition and new agents coming inconsistently. Big corporations are coming in and trying to take your market share. To grow to where we are, a 500 million dollar company, gets me thinking about the struggles we have to endure, and we have seen that since 2014. We were all forced to change and wanted something greater. It wasn't necessarily the money that drove us, but the sheer desire to become better business people. To become an authority in our space, realizing we were meant to be something greater and not merely coast through the process.
  • ​This type of mindset has set the foundation here at A.Z. & Associates. It set the tone, realizing that once you come here and decide to run with us, the entire dynamic of how you see life completely changes. We realize we have a greater responsibility beyond building a great business. Being better humans and being out there is a testament to the work and the Do the Work philosophy. If you want something greater, you have to show up consistently. For you to endure the challenges that 2020 brought and yet still be in a meeting two weeks before December makes me appreciate the type of people I am around. To see the individuals still committed when others are coasting, recalibrating, and putting out new targets for the remainder of 2020 is unheard of. Individuals trying to position themselves in a place of finishing strong and starting the new year on fire. These are the steps we need to take, and that is separating us from the competition. 
  • ​As I look through individual numbers and the awards given this year, I am amazed by those who doubled and tripled their business this year. About the commitment to deliver something greater for their families. It gets me excited about the possibilities of the future. Even though it wasn't easy, you pushed yourself to the limit. Your current limit, though, is not your full threshold. It is being tested because you haven't put the right systems and processes into place. That is something we all have to see for ourselves in 2021. We are not going out there for incremental growth. You have demonstrated that you can grow exponentially regardless of the circumstances and what clothes in our industry are doing. You took market share, which means that you are more committed than the competition. Whenever you can grow your business, it's because it's coming through somebody else's business. You were more diligent, more passionate, more intentional about how you wanted to approach life every day.
  • ​This simple philosophy of being consistent with your intention is so tough, especially as a small business owner when there is success within reach each month. Complacency can easily set in. With the number of opportunities out there, it is easy to say it was a great month, I deserve time off, and I don't have to call back my clients because they can wait. Only to realize that one of our more committed and diligent agents will not have the same thought process. That is how we can grow and expand our businesses. I want to congratulate all of you who decided to go all-in in 2020. You have one week to put anyone else into escrow, to put this into fruition. This is the time to deliver to your clients.
The Relentless Pursuit
  • With all of you who showed up for our meeting last week, you planted the seed that the game is not over. The year is not over, and there is still plenty to do. Being able to take action steps, you will thank yourself come March and April next year. You are doing what most are unable or willing to do. You are out there, promoting yourself unapologetically, being consistent with your message. Realizing that the only way to grow your business is to get more attention and accomplish that is through your relentless pursuit of improving your marketing game. 
  • ​As I look back at your meteoric rise to these numbers and what it took to get there. It was a constant reinforcement that the job is not done; there is more to do. I challenge you to believe, and some of you understand that this is the tip of the iceberg. You realize that 2021 will be far more significant, and you realize you will be tested, you will need help, and you need to add additional systems and processes to ensure this wasn't a fluke. This is how you operate moving forward. These challenges stalled many other businesses during this time. There are many agents out there that don't have the same results as you do. Many agents burnt down their businesses during this time, being afraid, having the excuse to slow down, being upset when you didn't. Now they are asking you how you did it. It's these simple steps. 
  • ​The simple steps of making sure you show up powerfully each day. We have responsibilities as I have for my body. Making sure that I take care of it, and I am in a place of power, not succumbing to the stressors of what will be today. As small business owners, we are being attacked on all fronts. The pressure is immense, and it's easy to subside by eating the wrong things, not exercising, and not feeding the right things into our minds. What we have done this year is because of the process you have decided to lean into. If you take care of yourself, you will be in a position to see greater opportunities. We all know that.
  • ​The days you don't live up to your commitments, there is a place of being slowed down by thinking, and by the thoughts that we should have done it. When we can live up to our commitments, we move at a face pace. What we have done as a collective for 2020 is amazing. The amount of sales per agent is unheard of. You contributed to that. Some of you are so close to hitting the 10 million dollar mark, or the 15 million or 20 million dollar mark. You are that close, and it's exciting to realize it's just the beginning. If you continue to do the right things, you will always get the results you desire. It's falling off of that game, not doing the things that get you there, to begin with. I know it's monotonous and sucks sometimes.
The Foundation is Set
  • Today was day one of Ironman training. I signed up for an Ironman in Oceanside at the end of March. I didn't look forward to the training this morning. I was beginning to like exercising in my direction. I was more focused on building muscle than going out there and preparing for an endurance sport. Waking up this morning, I was overwhelmed by going back to the hard work and things that I disliked. Yet, I was on fire when I signed up. It's like that with anything. When you stop doing the things that got you there, it becomes harder, less exciting, and monotonous. We don't appreciate what this is doing for us. Everything I am doing to prepare is helping me finish strong. As you begin to market consistently or live videos, you will realize it can be tough to develop content and put ourselves out there because we have done it so many times before. 
  • ​Realizing we set a foundation before, I'm not starting from scratch. I am building on what I did the last 20 weeks before my first Ironman. I have to get through it and reframe my mindset, the situation. This is all meant to help me finish strong as you start looking at how you can finish strong and benign the new year on fire, going back to those things that made you successful. Reaching out to your clients, sending daily texts, going live, hosting multiple times a day does not stop at this point but is more crucial to do it now vs. in January. Everyone else at that time will be beginning the process. If you can do things when most are taking their ease will allow you to grow exponentially. If you were in the game from January to November, you saw the benefit if you were showing up most of the days. My thought process was to be at the bull's horn's tip, where we take charge and lead from the front. Instead of grabbing onto the tail end of the bull. It was a decision, and we all knew this would be a bull market. It would go straight up. 
  • ​Those that doubled and tripled your business, hitting milestones most won't hit for five or ten years. For those of you, that built a ten million dollar business is not common to happen in a few years. For those of you that built a 20 million dollar business, most won't hit that for ten years into their real estate career. Some of you did it from one year to the next. You decided to be on the bull's horn, that you would double down. Not merely ride the wave of a bull market, you would be on the leading edge of it. All of us had the same opportunity that I explained in last week's meeting. You have that now as most are taking their ease; this is where you strike. This is where you give the competition no rest; this is where you trigger the rest to shut down. 
  • ​I don't want you to do what your mind is telling you to do; hey, it's Christmas time, we have to shop. You can do all things, and this is your opportunity, so please see it like that. Don't fall into a complacent mindset, not realizing the great opportunity here for you. You set the foundation from January to November; This is where you start to build up. The foundation is just one part of the process. YOu start building up as many are hibernating right now. As many are doing the least amount possible to be able to deliver for their clients. This is where you go all in and remind your clientele base what you are about. You come very focused on how you will market moving forward. I have laid the foundation for this Ironman, and now I am building for speed and endurance. I'm not merely going in there, not knowing how fast I will finish; I have a game plan, and it will push me to my limits.
It Wasn't a Fluke
  • As we come to the end of this year, I have decided to move forward. I will start something new as the year ends. I feel good about it. I want all in with this and have an elaborate setup at home. I bought a nice trainer to make sure my training is on point. I bought a desk, a new tv, and I will be training on my bike from this thing virtually. I did this because I don't want to be in the cold working out. I found a different way to train. A little safer and more effective. I wasn't going to let the excuse of it being too cold, too dark, unsafe to stop me. There is a side of me that is relieved. I took a beating the last time I was out there. 
  • ​My body ached from falling, and I don't want that to happen anymore. I can't take it. I could, but I know I am not starting from scratch, and either is you. 2021 is not about starting from scratch. You have a baseline; a foundation has been set. You overcame the challenges of 2020. Don't look at this as a tedious process to do it all over again. Feed it into your mind and tell yourself that it is no longer about incremental growth. Some of you have been stuck on that. I was thinking that going from 5 to 7 million is okay. I challenge you that the foundation has been set. It is time for you to go vertical and above and beyond what you thought was possible. This is where we lay the foundation for that so we can build up. This is not about incremental growth, and it wasn't a fluke. 
  • ​You have the wrong mindset if you wonder how you will hit it next year. If you hit it this year, start thinking about how you will get more. You have demonstrated what you are made of. Going from ten to twenty is a whole lot easier than going from zero to ten. You have to have that in your mind that it isn't incremental, and you are made of more. See yourself going somewhere bigger. You will realize how the dynamic at home and what you can afford, the things you can do have changed. It will take investment, the sacrifice of complacency. Not of anything else. The sacrifice of mediocrity and not of your family.
In Closing
  • This is about exponential growth, and I am excited because I have seen it first hand. Now you need to see it for yourself. It wasn't a fluke; you did the work, the market is competitive, and you still showed up. Challenges with the economy and you were still that positive light so that others who needed to buy and sell saw you. 
  • ​Going back to the fundamental processes is what you need to do. You understand how you got your clients and how to build your business. Do more of it, and you will see how 2021 will be one for the books, just like 2020. This is the reason why I decided to challenge myself to another Ironman. Why I wanted to put myself through three-hour workouts each day for six days a week, it pushed me to the limit and told me I was capable of so much more. The thought process of incremental growth can no longer be in my vocabulary; I can reach for something much greater. 
  • ​I made the most significant decisions of my life with confidence during my training. I want to feel that way of moving forward. I do that by challenging myself physically and shatter the stories that I held onto for many years. I'm not a runner, a swimmer, a cyclist, or an endurance athlete. The hell I'm not. When I can shatter those stories, I broke into new horizons, new levels in my business. I'm led to believe that the decisions I made during that time were because of the stories I shattered for myself. It opened up a new paradigm for everything else. That is why I'm doing it. 
  • ​I'm excited about 2021 because I know what I did in 2020 will be a fraction of who I become. I'm leading the charge, and I am choosing this pain voluntarily and choosing to push the limits of my capacity voluntarily. I'm not waiting for the outside circumstance to try and break me. I am building my capacity and my mind. I'm choosing this voluntarily. It is no longer about incremental growth; it's exponential. 
  • ​Look back at what you wrote down last week; are you in alignment with those things you committed to? You have four or five weeks to prove that. I know that if you can stick to the game plan, it will wet the tone for 2021. What will you choose to push you to your capacity, your limits? What will you do physically for yourself, knowing whatever you do there will bleed into your business, your relationships. You will become a better human being, realizing you feel that power within. I feel charged, and it took a reframing of the story, that I'm not building a foundation anymore. The foundation has been laid, and I worked my ass off for years. You have done the same and have been in the game for five or ten years. The foundation is there. It is time to go vertical. I know you are with me, and I am excited for what's to come. 
  • ​The challenges that come at you will be far greater than what you have ever faced. With your concrete foundation, you will not crack. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Mindset Mastery. What does it mean to you? To finish strong, to recalibrate and reframe your thought process? What does it mean to you? To think about exponential growth and not just incremental? What does it mean as you reflect on 2020, realizing you could have easily succumbed to the noise? You came out strong, and I want to thank you for continuing to lean into yourself. To lean into something greater for yourself. 
  • ​Have a great day; let's finish strong. You have one week to determine what your 2020 will look like. Then you have a lifetime to determine what you are made of. Thank you all who joined me today. Now that the foundation has been set don't hold yourself back another year. We all need this when it is easy to be complacent; we just need to reframe our mindset. The foundation has been set; it's time or vertical, exponential growth. It's exciting to realize what you have built—shattering the stories that have held us back and seeing something more significant than what we have ever imagined. 
  • ​Thank you again for joining me, and I will talk to you next week.

More Episodes

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
We realize we have a greater responsibility beyond building a great business. Being better humans and being out there is a testament to the work and the Do the Work philosophy. If you want something greater, you have to show up consistently.
The Desire to be Better
  • ​We are on November 30th and are heading into new beginnings. Last week we had a two-week crunch meeting, and it was awesome to have so many join me. So many committed to ensuring they don't become complacent in the marketplace. There is a tendency for many in our industry to coast through the end of the year. This year has been a blessing for us here at the brokerage. It has been one of those things where it didn't happen by accident. We were intentional about the actions we were going to take on every single day. 
  • ​These actions aren't easy, and that is why most fail in this industry. The statistics are dire for agents coming into this industry and building something great. You have a better chance of being successful in other industries vs. this one because of the competition and new agents coming inconsistently. Big corporations are coming in and trying to take your market share. To grow to where we are, a 500 million dollar company, gets me thinking about the struggles we have to endure, and we have seen that since 2014. We were all forced to change and wanted something greater. It wasn't necessarily the money that drove us, but the sheer desire to become better business people. To become an authority in our space, realizing we were meant to be something greater and not merely coast through the process.
  • ​This type of mindset has set the foundation here at A.Z. & Associates. It set the tone, realizing that once you come here and decide to run with us, the entire dynamic of how you see life completely changes. We realize we have a greater responsibility beyond building a great business. Being better humans and being out there is a testament to the work and the Do the Work philosophy. If you want something greater, you have to show up consistently. For you to endure the challenges that 2020 brought and yet still be in a meeting two weeks before December makes me appreciate the type of people I am around. To see the individuals still committed when others are coasting, recalibrating, and putting out new targets for the remainder of 2020 is unheard of. Individuals trying to position themselves in a place of finishing strong and starting the new year on fire. These are the steps we need to take, and that is separating us from the competition. 
  • ​As I look through individual numbers and the awards given this year, I am amazed by those who doubled and tripled their business this year. About the commitment to deliver something greater for their families. It gets me excited about the possibilities of the future. Even though it wasn't easy, you pushed yourself to the limit. Your current limit, though, is not your full threshold. It is being tested because you haven't put the right systems and processes into place. That is something we all have to see for ourselves in 2021. We are not going out there for incremental growth. You have demonstrated that you can grow exponentially regardless of the circumstances and what clothes in our industry are doing. You took market share, which means that you are more committed than the competition. Whenever you can grow your business, it's because it's coming through somebody else's business. You were more diligent, more passionate, more intentional about how you wanted to approach life every day.
  • ​This simple philosophy of being consistent with your intention is so tough, especially as a small business owner when there is success within reach each month. Complacency can easily set in. With the number of opportunities out there, it is easy to say it was a great month, I deserve time off, and I don't have to call back my clients because they can wait. Only to realize that one of our more committed and diligent agents will not have the same thought process. That is how we can grow and expand our businesses. I want to congratulate all of you who decided to go all-in in 2020. You have one week to put anyone else into escrow, to put this into fruition. This is the time to deliver to your clients.
The Relentless Pursuit
  • With all of you who showed up for our meeting last week, you planted the seed that the game is not over. The year is not over, and there is still plenty to do. Being able to take action steps, you will thank yourself come March and April next year. You are doing what most are unable or willing to do. You are out there, promoting yourself unapologetically, being consistent with your message. Realizing that the only way to grow your business is to get more attention and accomplish that is through your relentless pursuit of improving your marketing game. 
  • ​As I look back at your meteoric rise to these numbers and what it took to get there. It was a constant reinforcement that the job is not done; there is more to do. I challenge you to believe, and some of you understand that this is the tip of the iceberg. You realize that 2021 will be far more significant, and you realize you will be tested, you will need help, and you need to add additional systems and processes to ensure this wasn't a fluke. This is how you operate moving forward. These challenges stalled many other businesses during this time. There are many agents out there that don't have the same results as you do. Many agents burnt down their businesses during this time, being afraid, having the excuse to slow down, being upset when you didn't. Now they are asking you how you did it. It's these simple steps. 
  • ​The simple steps of making sure you show up powerfully each day. We have responsibilities as I have for my body. Making sure that I take care of it, and I am in a place of power, not succumbing to the stressors of what will be today. As small business owners, we are being attacked on all fronts. The pressure is immense, and it's easy to subside by eating the wrong things, not exercising, and not feeding the right things into our minds. What we have done this year is because of the process you have decided to lean into. If you take care of yourself, you will be in a position to see greater opportunities. We all know that.
  • ​The days you don't live up to your commitments, there is a place of being slowed down by thinking, and by the thoughts that we should have done it. When we can live up to our commitments, we move at a face pace. What we have done as a collective for 2020 is amazing. The amount of sales per agent is unheard of. You contributed to that. Some of you are so close to hitting the 10 million dollar mark, or the 15 million or 20 million dollar mark. You are that close, and it's exciting to realize it's just the beginning. If you continue to do the right things, you will always get the results you desire. It's falling off of that game, not doing the things that get you there, to begin with. I know it's monotonous and sucks sometimes.
The Foundation is Set
  • Today was day one of Ironman training. I signed up for an Ironman in Oceanside at the end of March. I didn't look forward to the training this morning. I was beginning to like exercising in my direction. I was more focused on building muscle than going out there and preparing for an endurance sport. Waking up this morning, I was overwhelmed by going back to the hard work and things that I disliked. Yet, I was on fire when I signed up. It's like that with anything. When you stop doing the things that got you there, it becomes harder, less exciting, and monotonous. We don't appreciate what this is doing for us. Everything I am doing to prepare is helping me finish strong. As you begin to market consistently or live videos, you will realize it can be tough to develop content and put ourselves out there because we have done it so many times before. 
  • ​Realizing we set a foundation before, I'm not starting from scratch. I am building on what I did the last 20 weeks before my first Ironman. I have to get through it and reframe my mindset, the situation. This is all meant to help me finish strong as you start looking at how you can finish strong and benign the new year on fire, going back to those things that made you successful. Reaching out to your clients, sending daily texts, going live, hosting multiple times a day does not stop at this point but is more crucial to do it now vs. in January. Everyone else at that time will be beginning the process. If you can do things when most are taking their ease will allow you to grow exponentially. If you were in the game from January to November, you saw the benefit if you were showing up most of the days. My thought process was to be at the bull's horn's tip, where we take charge and lead from the front. Instead of grabbing onto the tail end of the bull. It was a decision, and we all knew this would be a bull market. It would go straight up. 
  • ​Those that doubled and tripled your business, hitting milestones most won't hit for five or ten years. For those of you, that built a ten million dollar business is not common to happen in a few years. For those of you that built a 20 million dollar business, most won't hit that for ten years into their real estate career. Some of you did it from one year to the next. You decided to be on the bull's horn, that you would double down. Not merely ride the wave of a bull market, you would be on the leading edge of it. All of us had the same opportunity that I explained in last week's meeting. You have that now as most are taking their ease; this is where you strike. This is where you give the competition no rest; this is where you trigger the rest to shut down. 
  • ​I don't want you to do what your mind is telling you to do; hey, it's Christmas time, we have to shop. You can do all things, and this is your opportunity, so please see it like that. Don't fall into a complacent mindset, not realizing the great opportunity here for you. You set the foundation from January to November; This is where you start to build up. The foundation is just one part of the process. YOu start building up as many are hibernating right now. As many are doing the least amount possible to be able to deliver for their clients. This is where you go all in and remind your clientele base what you are about. You come very focused on how you will market moving forward. I have laid the foundation for this Ironman, and now I am building for speed and endurance. I'm not merely going in there, not knowing how fast I will finish; I have a game plan, and it will push me to my limits.
It Wasn't a Fluke
  • As we come to the end of this year, I have decided to move forward. I will start something new as the year ends. I feel good about it. I want all in with this and have an elaborate setup at home. I bought a nice trainer to make sure my training is on point. I bought a desk, a new tv, and I will be training on my bike from this thing virtually. I did this because I don't want to be in the cold working out. I found a different way to train. A little safer and more effective. I wasn't going to let the excuse of it being too cold, too dark, unsafe to stop me. There is a side of me that is relieved. I took a beating the last time I was out there. 
  • ​My body ached from falling, and I don't want that to happen anymore. I can't take it. I could, but I know I am not starting from scratch, and either is you. 2021 is not about starting from scratch. You have a baseline; a foundation has been set. You overcame the challenges of 2020. Don't look at this as a tedious process to do it all over again. Feed it into your mind and tell yourself that it is no longer about incremental growth. Some of you have been stuck on that. I was thinking that going from 5 to 7 million is okay. I challenge you that the foundation has been set. It is time for you to go vertical and above and beyond what you thought was possible. This is where we lay the foundation for that so we can build up. This is not about incremental growth, and it wasn't a fluke. 
  • ​You have the wrong mindset if you wonder how you will hit it next year. If you hit it this year, start thinking about how you will get more. You have demonstrated what you are made of. Going from ten to twenty is a whole lot easier than going from zero to ten. You have to have that in your mind that it isn't incremental, and you are made of more. See yourself going somewhere bigger. You will realize how the dynamic at home and what you can afford, the things you can do have changed. It will take investment, the sacrifice of complacency. Not of anything else. The sacrifice of mediocrity and not of your family.
In Closing
  • This is about exponential growth, and I am excited because I have seen it first hand. Now you need to see it for yourself. It wasn't a fluke; you did the work, the market is competitive, and you still showed up. Challenges with the economy and you were still that positive light so that others who needed to buy and sell saw you. 
  • ​Going back to the fundamental processes is what you need to do. You understand how you got your clients and how to build your business. Do more of it, and you will see how 2021 will be one for the books, just like 2020. This is the reason why I decided to challenge myself to another Ironman. Why I wanted to put myself through three-hour workouts each day for six days a week, it pushed me to the limit and told me I was capable of so much more. The thought process of incremental growth can no longer be in my vocabulary; I can reach for something much greater. 
  • ​I made the most significant decisions of my life with confidence during my training. I want to feel that way of moving forward. I do that by challenging myself physically and shatter the stories that I held onto for many years. I'm not a runner, a swimmer, a cyclist, or an endurance athlete. The hell I'm not. When I can shatter those stories, I broke into new horizons, new levels in my business. I'm led to believe that the decisions I made during that time were because of the stories I shattered for myself. It opened up a new paradigm for everything else. That is why I'm doing it. 
  • ​I'm excited about 2021 because I know what I did in 2020 will be a fraction of who I become. I'm leading the charge, and I am choosing this pain voluntarily and choosing to push the limits of my capacity voluntarily. I'm not waiting for the outside circumstance to try and break me. I am building my capacity and my mind. I'm choosing this voluntarily. It is no longer about incremental growth; it's exponential. 
  • ​Look back at what you wrote down last week; are you in alignment with those things you committed to? You have four or five weeks to prove that. I know that if you can stick to the game plan, it will wet the tone for 2021. What will you choose to push you to your capacity, your limits? What will you do physically for yourself, knowing whatever you do there will bleed into your business, your relationships. You will become a better human being, realizing you feel that power within. I feel charged, and it took a reframing of the story, that I'm not building a foundation anymore. The foundation has been laid, and I worked my ass off for years. You have done the same and have been in the game for five or ten years. The foundation is there. It is time to go vertical. I know you are with me, and I am excited for what's to come. 
  • ​The challenges that come at you will be far greater than what you have ever faced. With your concrete foundation, you will not crack. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Mindset Mastery. What does it mean to you? To finish strong, to recalibrate and reframe your thought process? What does it mean to you? To think about exponential growth and not just incremental? What does it mean as you reflect on 2020, realizing you could have easily succumbed to the noise? You came out strong, and I want to thank you for continuing to lean into yourself. To lean into something greater for yourself. 
  • ​Have a great day; let's finish strong. You have one week to determine what your 2020 will look like. Then you have a lifetime to determine what you are made of. Thank you all who joined me today. Now that the foundation has been set don't hold yourself back another year. We all need this when it is easy to be complacent; we just need to reframe our mindset. The foundation has been set; it's time or vertical, exponential growth. It's exciting to realize what you have built—shattering the stories that have held us back and seeing something more significant than what we have ever imagined. 
  • ​Thank you again for joining me, and I will talk to you next week.

More Episodes

A.Z. & Associates Real Estate Group - 2019