Why Now is Never the Right Time
Podcast Episode #46: Why Now is Never the Right Time
I have had a lot of conversations with Realtors over the last year and a half, mostly around making a decision to move their business to our company.
There is one common theme that continues to pop up for them in making the decision to make a move. It’s just not the right time.
This got me thinking...this could be used in every aspect of life whether it’s wanting to take a holiday. Whether it’s wanting to do a renovation on your home. Whether it’s leaving the job you dislike to pursue the career your love.
We tell ourselves and convince ourselves all the time why now just isn’t the right time. We look at our circumstances and instead of looking for solutions to why it isn’t the right time to do that thing or go to that place, we opt for the easy solution of not doing it.
I know I’ve been guilty of this many times in my life and my career. I went on a vacation to Cuba by myself, years ago, because the person I was supposed to go with decided it wasn’t the right time. I however, made the opposite decision and decided that I didn’t give a shit if I went by myself, I was going to go and have a great time because it was the right time for me.
Put in the context of running a real estate business we often tell ourselves that now isn’t the right time to:
Build or ReBuild your listing presentation
Build or Rebuild your buyer’s presentation
Learn Facebook advertising
Implement different ideas in to your marketing plan
Learn to write
Learn to Podcast or shoot video
Learn to write a business plan
I could go on and on.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Jordan Belfort. You know, the Wolf of Wall Street, the guy that was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio on the big screen. Here it is:
The only thing standing between you and your goals is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself why you can’t achieve it. ~ Jordan Belfort
The biggest excuse we have as entrepreneurs is what? In my opinion it has to be It’s not the right time or I don’t have time.
As agents and entrepreneurs we have to have time for the things we do in business that are going to propel our business forward.
We have to have the discipline to determine what is a time suck and what is going to be beneficial to our businesses.
This is the filter that we should be using to make the decision as to whether it is the right time to focus on the initiative.
It isn’t and never has been, it’s not the right time.
It should be, if I focus 100% of my attention and effort on this one thing, will it help to move me closer to my goals.
There’s no magic here and there is no objection handler that I can use on an agent when they are making a decision to move their business to our company, that will convince them in one sentence that now is the time to make the move.
When looking at your own business whether it is selling flowers or gym memberships or cars or real estate, we have to understand THE BUSINESS we are in first and foremost. What I mean by that is to understand how you got to where you are right now. Understand what it took to get to that point, the good and the bad. And finally have a sense as to how to take it to the next level.
If you find yourself saying, it’s just not the right time, I would encourage you to take a pause and analyze not only the statement you just made but the thing that you just dismissed. Analyze it and look at it very closely from the filter of whether that thing is going to help or hurt. It should never be from the filter of it’s not the right time.
Now, that’s a lot about business, what about this excuse, I mean come on, I’ve been beating around the bush on this here on this podcast but let’s call it what it is. It’s an excuse nothing more and nothing less.
But when it comes to our personal life...do you have a significant other? Is going out on a date with them important to the health and vitality of your relationship? If so, why would “It’s not the right time” even be a part of that discussion.
Maybe you’ve been wanting to take a vacation for a couple of years and it has never been the right time. That’s a bullshit excuse you are telling yourself because you view the planning process around taking a vacation to be difficult and it is EASY just to say that it’s not the right time.
Find a way. Plan out what it would like like if you left your business for a week. Talk to other agents in your office, to the leadership in your office and discover just how much work would be involved in you getting away.
So here is the plan to get away from this lame ass excuse you keep telling yourself:
Each time you hear yourself use this phrase: “It’s just not the right time” I want you to pause, grab a pen and paper and write down at the top of the paper your goals for either your business or your personal life
Second, write down the reasons why it wouldn’t be the right time to do that thing.
Next I want you to write out the reasons why it SHOULD be the right time.
Fourth, in doing that, make make sure the reasons translate back to your goal.
Here’s what you’ll find: The reasons either for or against will either line up or won’t be in line with the goals that you have set out for yourself.
For example, your partner comes to you and says “Honey, I think we should take a vacation this summer, just a little get away for a week, just you and me”
If one of your goals at the top of your list was to get closer to your life partner, to continue to build on the relationship that you have, then this would be right in line with the goal.
On the other side: If someone suggests to you or you get the idea of doing some kind of geo farming for your business, look at your goals to see if the positives will outweigh the negatives.
Goal: To increase my business in a cost effective manner that will produce results right away.
Some of the negatives might be: Expensive. I don’t have the capital right now. I don’t know how to implement this. This is a long term play I don’t have the time or capital for.
This idea might fall into the negative category and it might be best that you just don’t do it. At the same time, you have analyzed WHY you won’t do it and didn’t just dismiss the idea as it came up.
When we are running a business we must be intentional with all of our goals, we must be self aware when we are using an excuse and own that. We have to continue to move the needle and grow our business to a point of comfort, but first in order to get there, we have to get uncomfortable. This exercise might make you uncomfortable at first, embrace it and stop using those bullshit excuses that keep you from accomplishing your goals.