How to Create Routines for Success

brilliant talks real estate agent routines Nov 01, 2022

Welcome back to Brilliant Talks, our weekly coaching for real estate agents!

Let’s talk about systems. We all need to have an established system that will help us optimize our resources—money, time, energy, and effort—so that we can maximize the results we want. In this case, the results are our personal and business goals.

Last time, we talked about how to set goals and priorities, then break them down into smaller, more manageable, and actionable chunks. If you missed that, you can check out the replay here. Today we talk more about planning, routines, and how to achieve personal goals for growth, success, and development.

Why do I keep on mentioning routines? Because it serves as a system that we can leverage to drive us closer to our goals. The things we do habitually and subconsciously contribute a lot to who we are, who we become, and what we can or cannot achieve.

Routines also have the power to set the tone for our day and allow us to stay centered and focused when we have the right ones for us.

 

The Importance of Pre-Planning

Last time, I mentioned The Process, which is the tool I personally use to break down my business and personal goals. I also mentioned that aside from yearly planning, it also works for planning out your month and week ahead.

Ideally, you plan the week ahead. You can do that over the weekend. That way, when you try to juggle the hundreds of tasks you need to do on the day-to-day, you have an overview of the priorities and a list of things that you need to get done.

I’ve discussed my evening routine before. I called it PREPARE which is an acronym for Plan for tomorrow, Review the day, Exercise, Practice gratitude, Affirmations, Reflect on your actions, and Embrace the night.

I also have a morning routine, which I call MARVEL (Meditate, Affirmations, Record your previous day, Visualize, Exercise, and Learn). Most of us start our day with our morning routines. But when it comes to planning and staying on top of things to be more organized, I believe that your day starts the night before. That’s why I always highlight the evening routine more.

We all need to set aside a time in the day when we can quiet our minds so that we can stay one step ahead and plan with more clarity and focus. And I can’t stress enough the importance of being able to shut off and embrace the night so that we can rest without worries.

The evening routine serves as a catch-all moment for any tasks you might have missed throughout your busy day, as well as a moment to reflect, be grateful, and be fully in the moment.

 

The Importance of Gratitude and Reflection

We all seek growth. We all want to thrive and succeed. That is only possible when we take the time to reflect on ourselves, our actions, and how we can improve.

Journaling is a good exercise. It helps us get more in tune with who we are and who we want to be, by keeping track of our actions, thoughts, and the words we use. If the words we use are mostly negative, it impacts our health and our productivity.

Humans are naturally wired to remember the negative stuff as a means of survival—we instinctively want to avoid pain because we perceive it as a threat to our survival. So, our minds latch onto things that cause us pain, even if in the modern world we live in, most painful situations are non-life threatening. 

Practicing gratitude and affirmations helps us intentionally change that negative self-talk into something more positive. Of course, I am not saying “be positive all the time” because there is such a thing as toxic positivity too. Embrace your emotions, both the good and the bad, but don’t let the negative emotions take charge of your life. 

You need to bring it back to equilibrium by countering the human tendency to latch on to pain and negativity.

But healthy doses of discomfort are necessary for growth. By reflecting on ourselves and our actions, it might be uncomfortable to face the truth—that we aren’t perfect, or we fall short of the expectations we have for ourselves. That’s okay. The more we become aware and mindful of how we act, the more we can catch ourselves and change our behavior.

 

The bottom line is…

Goal-setting and planning are just the starting line. In order to grow, we need to stay consistent in shaping our thoughts and behaviors toward the direction we want. And to achieve true personal growth that will help us succeed and thrive, we need routines and systems in place—to keep us aligned, on track, and accountable.

The most important piece is this: You don’t have to do all this on your own. Of course, we are responsible for our lives and where we want to take it, but it doesn’t have to be a lonesome journey. You have family and friends to cheer you on and help you, and you have peers, mentors, and coaches to guide you on the way.

If you are in need of some coaching, feel free to message me. I would love to be of help to you.

And speaking of help, we have our November Social Media calendar, fresh off the press! We also have podcasts, where I ask high-achievers and successful people in different industries to share their experiences, insights, and secrets to success. Listen to Brilliant Thoughts, a Success magazine podcast, to get inspired and learn more.