Coach’s Corner: Are You Feeling Stuck? Don’t Settle For Safe!

Mark Johnson 
Chief Executive Officer, JP and Associates Realtors

Over my career, I’ve coached many real estate professionals and entrepreneurs who just feel uninspired or flat. There is one common theme: Settling for safe!

When they were new to the business, they pushed their comfort zones, tried new and innovative things to launch a new real estate business. They pushed through uncertainty to achieve a goal. Then what? Certainty creeps in, settling for safe creeps in, and suddenly you feel flat. 

We all need that balance of certainty and uncertainty.

Yet, in my practice, I’ve seen a direct relationship between business success and uncertainty. Ironically, the more you grow, the more uncertainty surrounds you. This is because, as your business grows, everything else does too: more team members, customers, partners, competitors, and more decisions that can go right, wrong, or indifferent. 

Because there is no certainty about what will happen during a time of change, many leaders either try to control events or simply shut down. Both can be problematic and lead you to sub-optimal results. 

I’ve observed that my most thriving associates deal with change and uncertainty by focusing on daily progress — which provides comfort and clarity — that allows them to embrace and create uncertainty. 

How? Consider these four steps: 

Winning The Day

You can embrace uncertainty with healthy daily habits like taking your M.E.D.S. Meditate, exercise, diet (nutrition), and sleep. 

Give The Status Quo a Jab, Jab, Hook 

The associates I’ve worked with that struggle have convinced themselves that their status quo is precisely what they deserve. And they go about and base their identities around that belief. I’ve observed that my associates live where they have attached their identity.

The good news? We have the power to choose the meaning we attach to anything. Make a compelling choice and give the status quo a jab, jab, hook 

Connecting to a Compelling Vision And Reason 

We all solve problems for a profit. What does your ideal day, week, and month look like?

It’s proven, you will face hurdles when embracing uncertainty, and it is the reason “why” that will push you through to the other side. What matters most is that your reasons resonate with you deeply, not just superficially. 

Burn The Boats 

In 1519, Captain Hernán Cortés landed in Veracruz to begin his conquest. Upon arriving, he gave an order to his troops to burn the ships in which they arrived. In essence, he gave them no other option but to succeed at the goal of conquering.

“Burn the boats” is a concept in which you leave no other option for yourself in context to something that you would like to achieve.

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Take it to the next level.

1. What’s one thing you can add to your daily routine to win the day?
2. Set an intention for how you’ll handle a situation that might trip you up this week.

I’d love to hear from you! Win the day!

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Mark Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer of JP & Associates, a rapidly growing full-service real estate brokerage. He is focused primarily on productivity and service. He has invested nearly 25 years in understanding the inner workings of high performing real estate agents, teams, managers, and leaders in major markets across the world. In prior assignments, he served as a Business Coach, in progressive leadership capacities for the 5th largest US-based real estate brokerage firm, in sales and marketing leadership capacities for a major consumer goods company, and served a stint in the US Army, Medical Service Corps. He was recalled to active duty during Desert Storm. Mark is a father of 3, lifelong learner, Spartan, and adventure athlete. He earned his MBA from California State University and a Behavioral Change Certification from the National Association of Sports Medicine. Several years ago, he decided to make “One Helluva Move” and not play it safe. Since that decision, he has climbed the world’s tallest free-standing mountain — Kilimanjaro; completed the Spartan trifecta, the LA Marathon, and the world-famous Iowa border to border RABGRAI ride, among other crazy adventures.