We discussed in the last episode the key to realizing high levels of achievement was having a clear understanding of what your 20% is related to your job/business. Those activities, that if not done consistently would eventually lead to you going out of business or losing your job. These are the core responsibilities that require your attention and consistent execution. Now that we’ve talked about (and will be working on) identifying these key areas, the next step is to set ourselves up to win by weaving in an ample amount of vitamin A with your 20%.  As I reflected on the last episode, I realized the importance to raise our awareness around this as they both tie into one another...and...typically, one without the other prevents maximum results.  Many of us may be aware of our 20% and yet lack accountability OR tend to have an accountable approach to their daily lives and lack clarity on that 20% activity is to lead to 80% of your results.

Vitamin A is for Accountability.  We’ve all heard about the importance of accountability and yet, when we all do an honest assessment of our lifestyle,  find very little evidence of having solid, effective accountability in our daily lives.  Defined: The opportunity for an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept full responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner.

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitments to results.”

“It is easy to blame others when things are broken...the hard part is recognizing the role you played in it all.”

“Either you make yourself accountable, or you will be made accountable by your circumstances.”

I’d like to look at this two ways...we hear about “being accountable” and  “some who is accountable”.  I think being accountable is an outside-in approach. Meaning, you are doing this for someone else,  its external & often not fully sold out or on board - often with some level resentment.  When we talk about someone that is “accountable” I see this as in inside out approach.  You’ve decided, accepted, and on your own terms chose to be accountable to whatever task, project or goal that is in front of you.  

This is typically when you have a clear picture of the end result, the benefits of taking such action. In the end, the person that comes from an “I am accountable” frame of mind. These people live the accountability lifestyle and take this approach in all things they do

Let’s look at the five stages of the accountability cycle:

Now let’s look at the opposite, what are the five stages of the victim approach...

What can someone do we avoid a victim mentality?  

The research is very clear on this - be open to accountability.

EX: The effect accountability has on goal setting - Individuals that don’t write down their goals rarely if ever accomplish them.

Individuals with written goals were 39.5% more likely to succeed.

Individuals with written goals and weekly accountability were 76.7% more likely to succeed. That doubles your odds of meeting or exceeding your goals!!

The 11th commandment: Thou Shall Not Kid Thy Self

Accountability isn’t optional -  We can fall to into the trap of thinking accountability is optional.  Meaning, if we don’t “intentionally” decide to accept accountability into our lives we are somehow avoiding it and therefore, it doesn’t exist. We all have a choice; we can allow accountability to find us by default or we can take it head on by choice.  Many years ago I was listening to an audio program; they were talking about the “hard road and the easy road”.  That when we think we’re avoiding what is “tough” or “hard” by taking the easier road, we’ve essentially avoided facing whatever this may be.  When in reality, taking the hard road in most cases gets easier, and the easy road gets harder.  We all know people that live their lives by tackling things head on, facing whatever comes their way and have an “if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me” attitude.  We also know people that constantly are looking for loopholes to get out to doing what’s necessary, and ways to beat the system.  Here’s the bottom line, what I came to realize years ago...the only way out is through.  When we are willing to face the work, obstacles or whatever may come our way, just put our heads down, blinders on and get on with it, knowing the results will be worth the effort - knowing the shortcut is to go through and not around what may be challenging us.

5  tips to establish and incorporate accountability into your business/life.

1. Accept you can accomplish what we set out to do - in less time when we adopt living the accountable lifestyle.  Do so on purpose or by default.

2. It’s a fact; we are more likely to stay the course if we have an accountability partner(s) that are willing to take a stand with us for what we’ve set out to accomplish.

3. Establish accountability standards and boundaries upfront and review regularly.

4. Be Creative - have some fun with this.  

5. Always be looking for new accountability partners. Turnover can be high, don’t let this discourage you

Today we’re going to talk about staying focused on your 20%. The 80/20 principle.  

Time is The Great Equalizer

Q - We all know or have heard of someone who has had extraordinary success. How do they do more,  achieve more, earn more, have more?

A - They get to the heart of things...They go small.

“Going small” is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do.  It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.

What exactly is this 20% secret?  

We have found that every job or role in business, has a measurable way of tracking performance. To determine this, we ask three questions. 1. How do you gauge success in your job or business? 2. What are the things/activities that contribute to that success? 3. Out of those things/activities, which is the priority item? Meaning, if you didn't do that activity at all, you would essentially see your business fail or lose your job? This concept comes from the Italian philosopher named Vilfredo Pareto, who was born in 1848-1923. Pareto was studying the Italian economy and realized that 80 percent financial wealth in Italy was controlled by 20% of the population. Then, he looked at real estate and noticed 80 percent of the real estate was controlled by just 20 percent of the population.

What’s interesting is, this shows up everywhere in our lives - it is a principle as true as the law of gravity! Pareto’s Principle, it turns out, is as real as the law of gravity, and yet most people fail to see it’s significance. It’s not just a theory—it is a provable, predictable certainty of nature and one of the greatest productivity truths ever discovered. Richard Koch, in his book The 80/20 Principle, defined it about as well as anyone: “The 80/20 Principle asserts that a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards.” In other words, in the world of success, things aren’t equal. A few causes create most of the results.

Is Less really more? - Pareto points us in a very clear direction: the majority of what you want will come from the minority of what you do. Extraordinary results are disproportionately created by fewer actions than most realize. Pareto’s great insight was that not everything matters equally; some things matter more than others — a lot more. What amazes me is that often, people don’t accept this like they do the law of gravity. Here’s a great example of what I am talking about.  If I took you to the top of a 20 story building and asked you to step off the building - with no protective gear, would you? No. You accept the law of gravity completely. Someone people don’t live the 80/20 principle the same way. I understand Pareto isn’t a new concept to everyone. What I don’t understand is why most people don’t like it, follow it or make a point of following it. Why is this? Likely due to the fact it’s not commonly talked about, taught and trusted to work.  

Trusted to work? What does that mean? We have become so accustomed to living in “chaos” and sadly have (even if not consciously) accepted it as a way of life.  When in fact, it doesn’t have to be the case.  How do we do this? First, we have to raise our awareness.  Once this is done, we can get a clear focus on what truly matters, put the blinders on and get into action doing The ONE Thing, the right thing, everything else becomes easier or unnecessary. You have only so much time and energy, so when you spread yourself out, you end up spread thin.   You want your achievements to add up, but that actually takes subtraction, not addition. You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects!

How can we practice the less is more strategy - Ask - What is your ONE Thing in business? In other words, what is your 20% activity that yields 80% of your results? Do you know what your 20% is? To figure this out, as it relates to your business, we’ll focus on your role as a Realtor, what is the ONE THING you know is the MOST important activity, that will make everything easier OR unnecessary? I would suggest this is the habit of lead generation.  For a Realtor, there are many opportunities to be pulled in numerous directions.  That’s the trap we must A.) be aware of and B.) consciously avoid falling into the 80% activities that, fill up our day and make us feel “busy” and yet prevent us from being “productive.” This is why so many people find themselves working hard, making a sincere effort to  achieve and year after year coming up short of our goals and frustrated.  

Give Yourself The Gift of Leverage - Overcome, overwhelm.  There’s no doubt, we all have many “things” that need to be done.  Here’s the million dollar question to ask yourself  “Is this in my 20%?” One common issue I find comes into play with many people I have coached/trained is they find themselves in this position because they are unwilling to let others help them.  Simply put, they have some control issues to move beyond.  I’ve been there myself, when I finally accepted and for that matter realized, I have a skills set that doesn’t encompass everything, and other people have stronger skills in the areas where mine we’re not as strong, I learned to trust and let go. It’s about building a team of people around you. It’s fair that anyone, that feels that everything that has to be done, must be done by themselves are going to feel overwhelmed quite often.  In order to grow, you have to let go. Do what you do best, what your role calls for and delegate everything else. We can do this through the leverage of a transaction coordinator, listing coordinator, or the support of a virtual assistant. If you drink water without a water filter, then you are the waterfilter.  It’s no different in business, if you don’t find people to assist you, then you are the assistant.  Successful agents don’t do what assistants do, and successful assistants don’t do what successful Realtors do.  I would be willing to bet, based on my experience working with 1000’s of agents across the country, you feel overwhelmed because you are doing everything yourself, working on growing your business and you can’t keep up with everything. No one could! In fact, we’re also stunning the growth of our business when we use this approach. Give yourself the gift of leverage, have more time and increase your production.

Final thought - I just want to repeat this ...You have only so much time and energy, so when you spread yourself out, you end up spread thin.   You want your achievements to add up, but that actually takes subtraction, not addition. You need to be doing fewer things for more effect instead of doing more things with side effects! Find your 20% activity, trust it and watch your results skyrocket!  Remember, 90 day cycles!

We had an amazing event a few weeks ago...I mentioned the CRLS course I was offering.  We SOLD out and the agents that attended were amazing!  They came ready to play all in, had great energy and it was a hugely successful event.  I will be in Grapevine TX coming up on June 28/29 offering the CRLS Course - you can go to www.crlsdesignation.com to get all the details.  Our venue can only hold 50, so get registered asap as this will sell out too.