positive habits | Thoughts on Leadership

By Gino Blefari

This week my travels find me starting the work week on Sunday with a flight to Kansas City where I prepared to testify in a class action lawsuit. On Wednesday morning, I testified in court and on Thursday, I spent some time writing this post to you.

Our October theme has been preparation, planning, time management and routine, and in case you’d like to revisit some of the posts that fit this theme, here’s a list:

Now, you know I love my sports, and it’s a fun coincidence that this month of planning and prep coincides with a popular baseball term, Mr. October, (or Ms. October) one of the highest honors bestowed to the most outstanding player or team in the Major League Baseball postseason. The term was coined by Reggie Jackson. In the 1977 World Series, he hit three home runs on three pitches, earning the name “Mr. October.”

In real estate, October is also your time to shine. What you do now will help determine how your 2024 will play out, and why not make it your best year yet?

As a lifelong student on a mission to perpetually improve, I’ve been on my own journey of time management and self-improvement, especially when it comes to my on-the-road routine. I found it easy to make excuses while I traveled as to why I didn’t work out that day. No hotel gym. Too tired from time zone changes. On and on the excuses went until finally I said to myself, “Enough!” I made a commitment that every day while I was traveling, I’d do a minimum of 100 air squats and a minimum of 100 pushups, no matter what. It was an easy commitment to make because those exercises can be done from anywhere.

And in making this commitment I identified a crucial component to all positive habits and time-management strategies: environmental design. Atomic Habits author James Clear wrote: “Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. We tend to believe our habits are a product of our motivation, talent, and effort. Certainly, these things matter. But the surprising thing is, especially over a long period of time, your personal characteristics tend to get overpowered by your environment.”

In other words, the key to creating more positive habits is to design an environment conducive to your success. I eliminated the need to find a gym with my air squats and push-ups commitment. I could do that from anywhere and it was easy. Clear says whenever possible, design your habits so they fit within the flow of your current processes. This way, they won’t feel like such a stark contrast but more like a welcome addition to what you’re already doing.

Another way to add positive habits and manage your time well is to ask yourself: “What pleasure will I get by doing this thing?” And “What pain will I feel if I don’t do it?” Recognize exactly what you’re giving up and gaining through the activity and you’ll be more likely to complete it.

You can even write your answers down in a notebook, and having a notebook handy is one of my strategies for better time management. There’s a direct correlation between writing something down and getting it done, and the more detail you include, the more likely you are to finish the task. Leadership author Mark Murphy, in an article for Forbes, explained: “Vividly describing your goals in written form is strongly associated with goal success, and people who very vividly describe or picture their goals are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish their goals than people who don’t.”

I also like to complete short tasks first, as it gives a sense of accomplishment that motivates you for the rest of your to-do list. When scheduling your week, be sure to add in a “buffer day,” which is a time for catching up on emails, returning calls, having meetings, delegating tasks, and doing paperwork. For me, those buffer days are Friday and Sunday evening.

With October coming to a close, make sure you’ve planned out the remainder of the year, including days off like holidays, vacations, birthdays, date nights, exercise sessions, doctor appointments … everything that will give your life balance. Next, plan all the training you will do, personally and professionally. Finally, schedule all the activities from your business – planning time, prospecting, lead follow-up, office meetings, staff meetings and your appointments.

So, what’s the message? As the saying goes, if it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse. Let’s all commit to avoiding excuses, planning our schedules, and committing to those goals that will make our personal and professional dreams come true. And as the 2023 World Series begins Friday, be on the lookout for the next Mr. October.

By Gino Blefari

This week finds me traveling back on Saturday afternoon from AREAA and meetings in Chicago, then starting Monday conducting my typical WIG calls with CEOs. On Tuesday, I participated in the early morning Berkshire Hathaway Energy call and then the monthly HomeServices of America leadership meeting. Yesterday, I had two succession calls, and today, I sat down in the morning to write this post to you.

We’ve been talking a lot about business planning and scheduling, and how the best way to ensure a strong 2024 is to do those things now. As you’ve heard me say before, real estate operates on a 90-day cycle; so much of what you do in October and November will pay out at the beginning of next year. It’s also why I say this is the perfect time to reinforce positive habits and eliminate negative ones. The time to start changing for the new year isn’t when you make resolutions for January 1 … it’s now.

My own morning routine has changed for the better lately. After walking my dog June, I go straight to doing cardio on a power plate that fits right in my office, then spend 30 minutes in an infrared dry sauna before moving to a steam sauna with eucalyptus and lavender, which clears out my sinuses.

And instilling new, positive habits goes hand-in-hand with time management. As Atomic Habits author James Clear said: “Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.”

It’s true. While in Chicago last week, I had the honor of presenting my “76 Points On Time Management And Efficient Operations” to the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago team, and here are 10 takeaways from that talk:

Time management and forming habits is as much about discipline and daily practice as it is about identifying the routines that will give you an edge. Once you decide on the habits you’d like to implement, your next step is committing to the daily practice of those habits, so they become part of your subconscious and a natural element of your everyday life.
Pick four positive time management strategies to focus on each month; once you’ve got those down, move onto the next four in the following month. As I told the team in Chicago, don’t try to do all 76 at one time. If you start this process now, by picking four each month, you should have about 16 new and positive time management strategies incorporated into your routine by the time the new year begins.
Energy is paramount. The secret to time management is that productivity isn’t about time; it’s about energy and focus. There are 1,440 minutes in a day; invest your time wisely to make the most of every moment.
The task that will have the single biggest impact on your time management is prioritization. Determine and prioritize your Most Important Task each day.
Don’t be afraid to say “no” to things that don’t fit your goals or schedule. Research has found that people who say “no” in response to requests for their time tend to be happier and have more energy.
One quick way to improve email management (and thus time management, because how much time do we spend on email?) is to implement a policy of descriptive subject lines. This way, you can know immediately what you’re addressing in that email. Also, when the subject of the email changes, the subject line of that email should change. I abide by the “touch it once rule” for email management: answer it, delete it, or file it.
Each day, list the seven most important things you need to do, noting the time it’ll take to complete each task, and get those seven things done in the time allotted. Put the most important task first. This simple step will give you a tremendous sense of control and accomplishment. According to the Law of Single Handling, the ability to start and complete your most important task determines your productivity more than any other skill. And as for the timeline, the reason why you put timelines next to each of the seven things is Parkinson’s law, which says work expands or contracts to fit the time allotted; that’s why you always want to do everything in the time it should take. You can put buffers in your schedule, but don’t pad the time it takes to do any given task.
Avoid Rocking Chair Syndrome, which is movement without going anywhere at all. Mental toughness is required for real progress, and it means doing what you’re supposed to do even on the days you don’t feel like doing it. Discipline is the ability to make and keep promises to yourself, and it’ll determine your success. Remember, the pain of discipline weighs ounces, the pain of regret weighs tons. Your destiny and professional growth are your responsibility, not anyone else’s.
When it comes to time management and being effective, the most important thing you can do is to follow your schedule and never make a commitment of your time without checking your schedule first. This way you won’t miss any meetings, or anything you’re asked to do. You also won’t make a commitment of your time without checking your schedule first.
Have a goal board in your office. List the goals you have set and the things you have accomplished. They keep you on track. A strong accountability partner will also keep you on track with your commitments and goals. Record your numbers daily, at the same time each day. Allow 15 minutes at the end of your day to complete this task. As the saying goes: When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.

In Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World, he offers 10 scrolls that are designed to instruct you how to take bad habits and replace them with good habits. You may all recall the famous saying: When you keep your thoughts positive, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits and your habits become your destiny.

If you’re looking for more inspiration to begin better habit-forming practices now, here’s a good reading list to get you started:

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh

So, what’s the message? There’s no better time than today to take a bad habit and turn it into a good one, and I’ve been endlessly inspired by Og Mandino’s teachings, and was fortunate enough to have him as a friend and mentor. Thank you, Og Mandino, for always reminding me that my life goal should not be to win or be number 1; it’s to be the best version of myself. As another mentor of mine Bill Walsh says, if you do that “the score takes care of itself.”

Pictured: Gino and Og Mandino circa 1986.

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Posted by HomeServices of America

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Posted by HomeServices of America