Reward for Effort

Rewarding yourself before your important tasks are completed leaves you with nothing to work toward or look forward to, and little motivation to do the work that will make you a successful agent. In this Coaching Tip I’m talking about self-discipline and learning to see rewards as the benefits of your accomplishments after you have done the work that needs to be done.

A mindset of rewarding yourself only for work you have actually finished is vital to building and maintaining momentum. It starts with having a schedule for everything you must do to make sure it gets done. Your rewards are built into that schedule. Set a time to wake up and a time to be at work, and a time frame for the first task of the day. Once that task is completed, have a reward – like a morning coffee. But discipline yourself not to have that coffee until that task is finished. You have to earn that coffee before you get it.

Your most important task every day is to book appointments, and you do that with prospecting call sessions. You may already keep track of your call sessions, but you also need to track the number of appointments you are making. You also need to make sure you are scheduling for the things you need to sustain your energy so you can do your work. For example, don’t skip meals. Meals are not rewards; food is fuel and you can’t keep up with your busy schedule without proper fuel. Think of lunch as your first appointment, just as important as any other, and book that every day.

We use a code to categorise each appointment so we can track them accurately:

MAP = Market appraisal
BAP = Buyer appointment
LAP = Listing appointment

Using the search function in your calendar software you can use these codes to see how many market appraisals, listings and appointments you have done in a given time period. This then tells you where you need to improve as well as where you are doing well. This is also where you can set goals for your rewards.

I find that every six weeks is a good window for setting goals and earning rewards. Know what you need to achieve, and know what you will get for your hard work. Give yourself something to strive for that is personally rewarding beyond the business, like a weekend trip or a family event. After all, working is not an end in itself, but the means by which you enrich your life. These are the goals that will make the work to acquire them more meaningful and enjoyable.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.