Are You a Plane, Helicopter, or the Control Tower?

Momentum is important—whether you’re flying a plane or trying to advance your real estate business.

Momentum is a key factor in nearly everything you do. When you work on something consistently and gain momentum, it becomes easier and easier. When you lose momentum, starting up again becomes harder and harder.

And that could not be more true for real estate.

The importance of momentum in flying (and real estate)

When you start out in real estate, it’s all about momentum. It takes consistent, daily effort—usually for months—before you see results. We tell our Associates to not expect much in the way of results for at least six to twelve months after they first get into real estate.

We are, however, constantly working on what we call “TTFD” or Time to First Deal. We’re starting to consistently hit 120 days with our students and we’re working constantly to improve.

But getting through that timeframe takes momentum. The reality is that it’s much easier to do something today if you did it yesterday. And it’s easier to do something tomorrow if you did it today.

Take outgoing calls, for example.

If you tried to sit down every Saturday and do 20 calls in a row… It would suck. First of all, that’s a huge time commitment. And second of all, it’s tough to get the ball rolling on a project that large.

But if you just do a couple of calls per day you can get consistent momentum. When you did two calls yesterday, it’s easy to do another two calls today.

I liken it to flying a plane…

My father used to fly—he had a private plane that he shared with another business owner—and sometimes he would take me up in it and cut the engine. He would show me all the things you needed to get the engine started again and bring the plane back up to speed safely.

But if you’ve ever been in a plane when the engine gets cut, you know that it drops QUICKLY! When you lose forward momentum, you sink incredibly fast.

And that’s similar to getting started in real estate. As soon as you lose momentum, you’re going to sink—and it’s going to take a lot of effort to get back on track. Which leads me to something that you may or may not have heard me talk about…

The power of ACAA

ACAA is an acronym that stands for:

• Taking ACTION
• Getting a CRITIQUE
• Making ADJUSTMENTS
• Taking ACTION again

Whether you’re flying a plane or building a business, you need to be practicing ACAA the entire time. This is a simple process anyone can use to make sure they’re on track in whatever they do. (For more on ACAA see my video on the Smart Real Estate Coach YouTube channel.)

Think about it… If a pilot takes off and they’re even 1% off course, they’ll end up in an entirely different city. The same goes for you!

What are the chances you start out on the exact right trajectory and stay on course throughout your career? It’s virtually impossible. When you start out, you need to constantly adjust as you go. If you don’t you’ll end up missing your objectives by miles and you’ll need to put a lot of work in to get back on track.

This process of adjustment is never going to stop, but the intervals in between will get longer and longer. After your third or fourth deal, you’ll be able to stay on course for longer without adjusting. Now your plane is a jet and you’re off to the races.

The jet, the control tower, or the helicopter?

When you get to this point, you have a choice to make… You can either stay in your jet, step back and sit in the control tower, or get in a helicopter and hover. Confused? Let me explain.

Staying in your jet means you’re going to keep doing deals and propelling forward. As you take on more and more deals each year, you can generate more and more revenue. It’s a lot of work, but you’ll be consistently growing and making more money for yourself while creating huge long-term wealth.

Sitting in the control tower means taking a step back and letting your business run itself. By hiring a team, outsourcing certain tasks, and offloading your responsibilities to someone else—you can create a self-functioning business, controlling everything from your tower.

Getting in a helicopter is possible when you get to a place where you’re financially comfortable. Helicopters are able to hover, and if you are able to get a number of long-term deals lined up you can simply take a step back and hover while you get paid over the next six to eighteen months. Maybe more, depending on how you structure your deals. This might sound crazy to some people, but it can still be lucrative if you want to step back and focus on other things while staying small, or even remain a solopreneur for the long term.

So, what are you going to be… The plane, the helicopter, or the control tower?