How Daily Habits Turned A Tough Upbringing Into Real Estate Success

Your business can’t outgrow your habits, and this conversation proves it the hard way. I sit down with Yetzak Pearson, a Texas real estate broker whose path to success starts in a place most people can’t imagine: an off-grid childhood inside a religious cult, years of family labor, and then a rough “normal life” that included partying, arrests, and a rock-bottom wake-up call. What changes everything isn’t a hack or a lucky break, it’s the decision to get better every single day and keep making small, aligned choices when nobody’s watching.

We get practical about what that looks like in real estate: doing the pre-work before you get paid, investing in education beyond the bare minimum, building belly-to-belly relationships through networking, and creating content even when you feel awkward on camera. We also talk about identity and self-talk, why learning your strengths (DISC, CliftonStrengths, coaching frameworks) can make you a better communicator, and how “permission to say no” protects your time and raises your standards. If you’re searching for real estate mindset, real estate coaching, time management for Realtors, or how to grow a referral-based business, you’ll get clear steps you can use immediately.

We also tackle AI in real estate, including how Yetzak uses ChatGPT and systems to offload low-value work, and where he draws the integrity line so technology supports relationships instead of faking them. If you want to build a career that lasts, this one will challenge you and give you a plan. Subscribe for more Real Estate AF, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with the one habit you’re committing to next.

Transcript

Get Better Every Day Mindset

SPEAKER_00 0:00

At the end of every day, look at yourself in the mirror and ask, did I get better today? Monday, get better. Tuesday, get better. Wednesday, get better. If you do that for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, how much better will you be? Are you getting better every single day? That's the real question. And it all comes down to taking small steps. You don't have to accomplish everything in one day or even one week. Just focus on getting a little better every single day.

Mark Jones 0:32

And welcome back to another episode of Real Estate AF, where the AF stands for and finance, and I'm your host, Mark Jones, and we are powered by LoneBot, Smarter Mortgage Matching, now available on the App Store and Google Play. And on today's discussion, it's going to be a little bit more than just selling houses. We're going to be talking about habits, we're going to be talking about consistency, and we're going to be talking about growing your business by working on yourself. So I brought along a gentleman that I just recently met. We haven't closed a transaction together just yet, but the way that he handled himself led me to dig a little deeper. And when I did, I found a YouTube channel with some outstanding content that I believe the world should see. So without further ado, let me introduce Yetzak. How are you? I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

How are you?

Mark Jones 1:17

Did I say that correct?

SPEAKER_01 1:18

I always say Yitz like Ritz Carlton. Yet Sak. Yetzak like October. Okay. So yeah, Yetzak.

Mark Jones 1:24

Yetzak Pearson.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yep.

Mark Jones 1:25

There you go. Uh move that mic a little closer and do us a solid and tell us a little bit about yourself. Start from the beginning. We got about an hour. All right.

Growing Up Off Grid In A Cult

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah, I have a very untraditional, out-of-the-normal upbringing. Easiest way to say it. I grew up in a religious cult. Okay.

Mark Jones 1:44

Matter of fact, I have that written down here that I didn't have on the original agenda, but what's this about the cult?

SPEAKER_01 1:51

So, yeah, my my dad was kind of the leader, and he wanted us to be off the grid. So we were home births. I have four other sisters. Holy cow. And I was born in the back of a cab over camper truck in a forest in Oregon. You know, my mom squatted and delivered me in this truck, and then we left a few days after that. Uh so my name kind of came from that, his experience with God. He said he heard my name, being kind of God sharing it with him. And we were staying with a guy at the time. His name was Stanislaus Petrowski, and he was Polish. Okay. And he was studying Hebrew at the time. And so my dad asked him, Hey, have you, is there any name like this? And I was like, Yeah, it's Yetzak. It's Hebrew for Isaac, and it means laughter. And so then my full name is Yetzak Stanislaus Pearson. And so Wow. So very unique name. Uh, it's helped me a lot in my business. You know, beat my uniqueness is now my superpower, which I didn't fully appreciate when I was younger. Even when I got into the business, I tried to conform and fit in and go by a nickname. And you know, that just when I wrote my book, I took more ownership of my identity and it helped me heal a lot. And it's it's been very conducive to like having a business. And my biggest clients are actually Jewish, and they they found me on my YouTube channel. But yeah, grew up off the grid, sheltered, homeschooled, and then we had lots of family businesses. So I ended up starting working when I was about 10 years old. We had a furniture and pottery and wrought iron business where we'd go import from Mexico and then resell retail here. Started setting up furniture on the side of the road, displaying it when I was 10 years old, unpack the trailer at the beginning of the day, pack it all back up at the end of the day. We had two stores and then a construction company, and then we got into farming. And so I was just working full-time for the family businesses. By the time I was 13, we were going down to Laredo back and forth buying furniture and pottery and bringing it back up here. So I was working seven days a week, and my dad put more emphasis on real life experience and common sense and working for the family businesses than he did school. So I just I quit school when I was 13. I had already probably got behind. I was in the seventh grade and I just stopped doing school. He never really said anything, and I worked from 13 until I turned 18. When I turned 18, I guess a couple years before that, my mom finally she left the group and went out on her own and kind of just broke away from my dad. And then she decided to help us get our birth certificates and social security numbers so that we could have somewhat of a normal life. Mine was the most difficult. I have four sisters. They were a little bit easier. We were all of us born in different states. One, my older sister in Kansas City, Missouri, me in Oregon, then two in Montana, and then one here in Texas. Wow. Part of that. Yeah. My parents met and got married in five days. So they were from San Antonio, grew up here, met at church on Sunday, got married on Friday, packed up everything, and like went and traveled the country for five years and had five kids, and then finally came back here to Texas and settled down. But my mom is kind of one of my biggest supporters and one of my biggest inspirations for where I am now in life. But she, you know, worked to help us have a normal life, get us our birth certificates and socials. And then kind of as the older I got, I started thinking about who's going to take care of my mom and started thinking more outside of myself. At first, I was just like changing my life to be a better version of me and have a different life. And then I've been able to take care of my mom and take care of her living expenses and all of that and helped her retire.

Mark Jones 5:55

To this day.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Yeah. Yeah. She lives with me and just bought a new house and she has her own space and uh taking her to Greece this year is her bucket list trips.

Mark Jones 6:04

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

But yeah, I would say growing up the way that I did, now looking back on it, going through a lot of adversity and not having a normal upbringing, I think it was beneficial to being an entrepreneur, being different. Because I grew up in an entrepreneurial life, but at that time I didn't want anything to do with it. So as soon as my mom got us our birth certificates, I moved out the day I turned 18. And then I got a job in manufacturing, worked for a big company called Thermon Manufacturing. We built big electrical panels for nuclear power plants, oil refineries, and I just all I knew was manual labor. So like that's mostly what I did. I did metal fabrication, started out at the bottom, but I was a hard worker, and so I got recognized there, but learned that working for a company typically it's for the birds. Yeah. It was they they tried to get the the most out of you for the least amount of pay, no ladder to climb. You fall to the like so when I first started, I got employee of the month, I got some raises, but then the longer I was there, I saw everybody else like slacking off, or I was like, Well, this guy's making more money than me, and he's doing less work. He's just sitting there and yeah, you know, goofing off. And so after a while, I also got into partying at that time. I did, you know, being so sheltered, I did everything that I was never allowed to do.

Mark Jones 7:28

Tattoos, time to smoke some weed. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah, I get it. And so from there, well, here's the little secret.

Mark Jones 7:35

I wasn't as sheltered, and I still went through that phase, so you you didn't miss anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

I mean, it I I I met a lot of people that that was my like intro was like started to smoke weed, and then I even started to sell. I was I've been entrepreneurial.

Mark Jones 7:51

That was my first hustle.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah, it was like, oh, why would I why would I pay for this if I can just buy it and smoke it for free? Yeah.

Faith After Trauma And Healing

Mark Jones 7:57

So that's smart. Well, yet that's a lot to unpack right there before we actually get into this show or the the the prime discussion. And the first thing I want to start with is is uh honing in on what you just mentioned, but I want to frame it in the following way. Most people, because you said growing up normal, so therefore there is a norm, and I'll call them most people, grow up with go to school, make good grades, get a good job, have a good life. But in your aspect, you were raised with a completely different foundation. And me hearing it, going, okay, comparing it to my life, my parents were very transparent, hardworking, that kind of concept. They didn't own businesses yet, but they did teach us the value of failing and and continuing forward, etc. Which also helped us gain the street knowledge, so to speak, that you don't find in school. And when I'm listening to your story, I'm like, man, looking back on it, I hope he's super grateful for this because it's like most kids or I should say most adults now are behind because they're just now experience it, or they never even experienced that concept of working for yourself or building something or failing and having to continue. And being that you were so close to the family businesses, I can guarantee that was in your everyday life. Yeah, it was just the way of life, you know. So you didn't know any better. And I want to say that that put you ahead of a lot of folks, no matter what you ended up doing, you were going to carry those traits forward, good, bad, or indifferent. Right. The next thing I was talking about, oh, being that you were so, and I hate to use the word indoctrinated in the religious faith moving forward now. Are you still religious?

SPEAKER_01 9:54

It's an ongoing. Yeah, yeah. I would say there's a lot of religious trauma there. And I can only imagine. It's hard for me to separate my dad from when I hear about churches. And then there are certain things my dad essentially, you know, got a lot of people to give him money and give up their whole lives to come serve him and you know what he wanted our our family businesses and all of that. So now when I hear about churches, like I don't necessarily think that you need to go to a very large church in order to have a relationship with God. A lot of the people that I follow, Ed Milet is one of my biggest people. He's very faith-based. Uh same here, yeah. I'm listening to just a podcast with uh Myron Golden, who's very faith-based. And so I listen, I went to uh Life Surge and got to see John Maxwell and Ed Milet, and and and I'll and so I'm open to it. I just focus on being a good person, and I don't try to go down a rabbit hole with it and and and try to figure it out. You know, it's my relationship is a lot different with it now than when I was younger. I was completely against it and averse to it. Um, I was speaking to somebody recently and they said, you know, it made sense to me. I'm a very logical and analytical person. So she was saying, you know, she believed in God and and said that you know, the devil uses people in a in a bad in a way to like where the devil could have used my dad, and now his five kids all don't believe in God because of the way how he did it. And so, like, even in that sense, I I was like, okay, well, yeah, if if God and and the devil are real, then yeah, he could they he could have used my dad to like turn people away from God even that because my dad was abusing. And that's where I've watched the Waco documentary, The Branch Dividians, and that was very similar to how I grew up. And so, yeah, it's a it's a it's an ongoing process that I'm very open to it now. And I think there's a lot of good principles, and I think that having in faith is a good thing, and that especially I'm more focused on like men and young boys that are losing their way or feel lost. And so I think God is a great example. Like, I wouldn't have the same ethics that I have now if I haven't hadn't been raised with learning the Bible and and knowing good versus evil. And so I took a lot of really good things away. I was very conscientious when I was growing up, especially the last several years of my teenage years before I moved out to take the good and leave the bad.

Mark Jones 12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

That my dad was a good person. Ultimately, he had narcissistic personality disorder combined with religion. Sure. You know, you just get this over-inflated sense of self. And but he was still, he did the best that he could with what he had. Um, he passed away last year, and so there was a lot of healing that came with that and reflection, and that that was like, you know, he tried to not pass on a lot of the things and the abuse that was done by you know his parents, the things that he let did. So knowing that he cared about us and he loved us, it is just he was a flawed person, and yeah. But I am grateful for everything that I was taught and who it made me today. He was still probably the most influential person in my life. And now I even like I do a lot of coaching and personal growth and development. There, we realize that there's themes in life where we're programmed from a young age, and I still have a lot of programming that I am realizing now as an adult that was from him. Like, sure. I being outgoing like this, I'm naturally an introvert. So, like getting on making all these videos, I had to come out of my comfort zone. I'm not naturally like a loud person, I'm more of a quiet person. And I realized recently that that's because he had more made us very quiet. It was always be well, not even be seen. It was don't be seen and don't be heard. Ah, and so like the whole first 18 years of my life where I was programmed to be quiet, be quiet, don't question things. And so now as an adult and getting into the real estate business and helping my clients, I've had to be more vocal more vocal, more advocate for my clients and push back on things. And that was something that I struggled to to come out of my comfort zone to do.

Mark Jones 14:26

And and I can I can tell that by you going through that, that innate ability to reason, the ability to like you're you're saying that you're more introverted. Totally, I I I am too. People don't realize that. As a matter of fact, I was more extroverted, and as I get older, I'm becoming more introverted. But similar to you, I wasn't in a cult or anything like that, but I grew up in the church. My grandfather was a a uh pastor, and I steered away from it after because it was just too much growing up, and now as I get older, I'm almost, and I think this is what's happening with you that our DNA knows the Bible, it knows the word, and now I'm applying it to my everyday life, going, wait a minute, were they right? Okay, they just went a little too far, a little extreme for my taste or what have you. But yeah, that's cool. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Uh well that's what I've learned. Everybody has their own path. Everybody has their own. We all have different frames of reference for the same thing, and somebody could have taken it too far, but that doesn't mean that you have to have that same relationship with it that they did. You can find your own relationship with it. And same with like real estate. You know, I was told, oh, you need to do cold calling, you need to do door knocking. I've never done either one of those things. It was like finding my own formula. I talk, I have a talk that I do about finding your ingredients for your recipe for success. It's like first you have to figure out what your version of success looks like, and then you can look at other people and what they're doing, but you can't go do exactly what they're doing because you're not them. So it's picking ingredients from different people to form your recipe for success. But again, you have to have the clarity to know what success looks like to you before you can start that journey.

Leaving Manufacturing For Real Estate

Mark Jones 16:16

That's right. And and a lot of people will tell me, and I think you're on the money with that. A lot of folks will tell me, Mark, why do you put so much transparent content out there? Meaning, like, why are you giving us the secrets to the stuff that you do? And for me, I've always had the mindset that number one, I want this to be so hard that people try to do it, but they still don't. Number two, utilizing what uh human characteristics we already have. You go to a pump you up seminar or anything like that, motivational, you get all these endorphins, you get all this motivation, you leave a day later, it's done. That was it. It wore off. So essentially giving that content out there for the select few that are gonna use it, fantastic. That's what it was there for. But for the others, chances are they're not even gonna move forward yet. So it doesn't bother me one bit, which is also why this show has become so successful, is my guests are open and honest and willing to share, you know, the the behind the scenes. Matter of fact, thank you for opening up about the the the previous life that you lived, yeah, to be honest. So now let's get into our discussion. As you were growing, you were in the uh industrial side of things, then you switched over to real estate. You've only been in real estate for what, four years? Five five years.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Right around? Yeah, I got it. Uh well, it got licensed December 31st, 2020, and then I did apartment locating for the first 10 months, and then went all in November of 21.

Mark Jones 17:53

And I think I heard it on another podcast you were on, but they called you a COVID agent. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Well, and the funny thing is, I, you know, I didn't know the market or anything at that time. It was just like I had started looking into real estate investing in 2018 because I was like, okay, uh, where am I gonna put my money? I started thinking differently after I turned 25, and then I just went down rabbit holes, YouTube, you know, podcast learning, like, and it just was a recurring theme. Real estate investing, no matter what career somebody made their money in, they hold it in real estate, and it's the one thing we're not making more of, and it gets more valuable over time. And so started looking into investing in 2018, then 2020 happened, COVID, you know, and I was like, my manufacturing got job got progressively worse. You just realize how much of a number you are, and and just they didn't really care. And and so I was like, well, if I get my license and immerse myself in the industry, it'll help me with the investing side. And and then I also saw that I'd get around a different type of people and have a dip who had different mindsets and more opportunities. So, but I had no idea what the market was gonna be like. And I, you know, that was a blessing in disguise. I just I I got in and and you know, hit the ground running and and started learning, and it's been a blessing.

Mark Jones 19:14

As a matter of fact, you got in in 2020, but you were doing apartment locating, so you really didn't get to experience 2022. Okay, so essentially you didn't even get to experience the windfall that we received in way of if you were a practicing real estate mortgage professional in 2020, 2021, you made the most money you ever made on a W-2 or 1099 ever. If you didn't and you're still around, I don't know how, honestly, because it was anyone and everyone was closing everything. There were bidding wars, as you know. So when you tell me that you started in 2022, and I look at your accolades and I look at how much you've accomplished in a short period of time without even experiencing all of that money that you could have made two years prior to, it bleeds the question, how? And and that's a broad question, but let's let's narrow it down and and kind of chop it up. So essentially, you're doing the apartment locating, you jump in, you start selling homes in 2022. At what point did you realize, okay, I could really make some money at this, but I need to sharpen my craft first?

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Absolutely. From the beginning, I mean, listening to Ed Milette, listening to successful people, that was that I I would say that was the the start of the journey of okay, and it wasn't just real estate. So I I from the beginning, it was like thinking outside the box, not doing the traditional thing, but also treating it like a business. So taking business advice from other industries, listening to successful people, what they did. That's one of the things that I like about Ed's podcast is it's kind of how where'd you come from? How'd you get to where you are? How are you staying where you're at? Where are you going? Right.

Mark Jones 21:08

And we've got a similar, similar platform outline.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Yeah. Yeah, it's great.

Mark Jones 21:13

Until we get to the end, because then it's rapid fire. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

It it it was, I didn't relate to a lot of the successes because it was so far out of my personal reality. So I related to the struggles a lot more. So I heard a lot of the struggles and tried to learn from those proactively getting into the business. So I it the best investment is investing in yourself. And when I got into licensing, I realized that most agents do the bare minimum education and they just go out there and start, you know, without a plan. They're just, you know, find a brokerage. I found EXP.

Mark Jones 21:48

Focus on your sphere of influence. Yeah, exactly. Sell your mom, dad, brother, sister. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah. So all of those things that they they teach you as you're going through licensing, I feel very grateful that I found eXp. Realty. And it was just relationships too. So my mentor, I had ran into him at a double date like a couple years prior. I remembered he did something with real estate, ran into him at the gym. Uh, he was with Keller Williams at the time. And then I was gonna go be under him because he was the only agent that I knew. A lot of that is why you join a brokerage. Usually it's because you know somebody, it had nothing to do with what they offer. Exactly. So he founded EXP Realty right about the time. He sent me a nine-minute video being entrepreneurial. It made sense to me. Like I've just never been the traditional route. My lifestyle has not been traditional at all. And so joined EXP. They offer a lot of training. I got involved with my local real estate board. I started taking classes, education, and then part of the the formula again, it's never one thing. I I met a a coach, a life coach at a networking event, started doing networking. I had never done that before, and had some great results. And this was around what what time? November of 2021.

Mark Jones 23:02

Right before. Okay. But you had done some pre, we'll call it prerequisite work before actually going in. Yeah, I'm a planner. Now let me ask you this, and this is important because it seems to be a common theme for many of the guests here that are successful. When you were doing all of this pre-work, were you getting paid to do that? No. Not at all. No, not at all.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Yeah, that was that was the thing. So my first deal, I think I made, I saved up a little bit of money like in apartment locating. I think I did 42 leases, and I probably had to talk to 500 people to get those 42 leases in 10 months. And that was like$14,000. But then I took that money, paid for my real estate association fees, you know, paid for my marketing. And then, you know, I quit a W-2 job. I had paid down some debt, right? At a little bit of an estate, not much. And then I was like, all right, this is my runway. Go start networking. I got putting myself, taking myself out of my comfort zone. I met a lender at my first like networking event and we got to talking. He was super passionate. He I met did a one-to-one with him before I even knew what a one-to-one was, just wanted to learn more about the mortgage side because they don't teach you that much through the licensing. Yep. And then he felt comfortable enough to give me a pre-qualified first-time home buyer. That was my first buyer. That's awesome. And then so from jumping into it within a week or two, had a had a buyer. I went to the gym. I started doing things outside of my comfort zone, did a group cycling class, overheard the instructor saying she was moving, struck up a conversation with her, and she's like, Yeah, we're moving back to California. I was like, Oh, she said, I said, I'm I forget how it went. She said, Yeah, we're we're moving. I was like, Oh, do you need a realtor? And she's like, Yeah. And so, like, from that conversation, I got my first listing within two weeks. And so, like, I got I would I was fortunate to get instant, almost instant results from doing something difficult. So then I was like, okay, well, I let me go do that again. Right. And so I just belly-to-belly relationships, in-person networking, got super involved there. And then social media was the other area where I saw a lot of agents were averse, they didn't want to do it, they don't want to be on camera. I didn't want to do it, I wasn't good on camera, but I just started doing it and putting in the reps and none of that getting paid. My first year, I was fortunate. I did six deals, you know, around 30,000. And this is where personal growth and development and like challenging yourself and coaching comes in. Met the coach through networking, and she started asking me questions, coaching me that had never been asked before, you know. It's like when you first you're like, I'm never even soul searching right now. A lot of self-reflection, self-awareness. So she started challenging me too. And then my second year, I did 13 deals, about 59,000. My only goals to start with was make more money than I made in my previous. It's not a bad goal. Yeah. So that was like 60,000 was like kind of the first goal. And then, you know, I just kept working, uh, learning, taking education. And I just I figured I did a lot of personality tests. The more I figured out who I was and how I functioned and where my strengths were, being analytical, being being somebody who focuses. I wasn't as outgoing. So then, but I I realized the more that I learned about myself, okay, I can I can work on this. Like I can, you know, when I go to a networking event, I can like uh hype myself up and you know, talk to people and make it a goal. And so kind of strategically setting goals to like stretch myself on on being more outgoing.

Why He Became A Broker

Mark Jones 26:37

And what what I found uh you saying this and me reflecting back to the period in time where I'd made the the most growth was when I started learning more about myself, what type of leader I am, what type of personality traits, what am I type A, type B? Am I D, what is it, the disc assessment, all of those things. Myers Briggs, and I had a coach, and all of these things led me to find out who I was, but in finding out who I was, it gave me more confidence in that person. In addition, it also outlined or highlighted the things I needed to work on, and to the point that in my coaching path or my my coaching experience, she said stop working on the things you're not good at. Let's get somebody else to do those things. You make plenty of money, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And it was like, Oh yeah, okay, that makes sense, which then allows me to do more. Yeah, but you don't know those things until you actually take the time to study yourself and be honest with yourself. Look that person in the mirror and say, What what are you about? What are you searching for? How are you gonna get there? Show me the plan. But you saying that kind of brought me back to that reality of when it was taking place and how much people miss out on hitting the pause button and learning about themselves. Absolutely because it it is pretty difficult whether you're an outgoing person, ingoing, what what have you, doesn't matter. It's difficult to do content, period. Especially when it's the kind of content that you're just sitting there talking to a camera. That's the hardest kind. But yeah, that's that's important. And in addition to the social media thing, dude, I've I started doing social media in 2012 as a lender, and no one was doing it. It is how I grew my business to this day, still being referral. I stay presents top of mind, all that jazz. It's what fueled the the YouTube channel and everything else. So, those of you out there that are trying to get to the next level and you're not creating content and putting it out there, there's never a good time. You just hit record, you do whatever edits you want, but you get it out there. It doesn't matter how great you think it is. Bottom line, that's you. I mean, if you want to change you, go to the gym, go to some kind of class, do something for yourself. Like you're saying, invest in yourself. Absolutely. Right? Yeah, so the next segment that we're talking about is we've already talked about the backstory of how you got into there and you leveling up in real estate. At what point did you decide, you know what, I'm gonna become a broker? I'm not, I don't want to just be an agent.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

It was it was definitely wasn't planned, you know. It was doing the education that I saw other agents doing the bare minimum. So that was one area I could see myself stand out from the crowd is like at first, uh, you know, I have alphabet suit behind my name, I have all of these designations and certifications, but it didn't do so much for the public caring, it did more for my confidence and my competence. And so then I realized, you know, on the Gallup Clifton strengths, my number one is I'm a learner. Okay. And so throughout this process, I just realized how much I love learning. I don't like not having the answer to something and or not knowing where to go get it at least. And so that's kind of the I also have people who champion you. My one of my mentors, I took a lot of the classes with her. Her name's Candy Cook, and she's been a broker, realtor, appraiser for 45 years and an instructor for like the last almost 20 years. And so I took a lot of classes with her, and she just uh in the in the classes, a lot of them were on Zoom, and I really liked the learning where I can learn so much at home. She would have put us into breakout classes, and then she'd have us come out and uh somebody be the spokesperson. Well, nobody wants to be the spokesperson. So I was just like, oh, I started doing things that nobody other else wants to do. And so I started being the spokesperson, and then I started getting noticed, and she started championing me and telling me, hey, you know, you should do this and you should get your broker's license. And so that was kind of probably the start of her planting the seed, and then me, you know, just pursuing it. And it was 900 hours of education in in the last four years that I did to get my broker's license. And now I've done way more than that. Right. And then the coaching, I have three different coaching certifications, and those contribute. They help me be a better broker, they help me be a better mentor to my agents, to my clients, because a lot of it is asking questions. That's something that I've had to work on. Like I said, being programmed from a young age to be quiet, I've had to work to ask people more questions, be more curious, be more interested than interesting. And that's something that I've I've spent a lot of time on. And so being a broker, holding myself to a higher standard. I'm on the board of directors for my local real estate board, I'm on the Texas Realtors Professional Standards Committee. All of these things just challenge me to do more and become more, become a better version of myself. If I feel some resistance or hesitancy or I'm scared to do that thing, now I move towards it rather than when I was younger, you know, I'd like stay away or in that normal job type. You that you're you're not rewarded for doing any of this. So it's like the more, the greater the risk, the greater reward in our industry. And so that was what I wanted is something that had no cap on my potential. So this was just another thing that okay, if I get my broker's license and it it transferred to, you know, being a better professional. I have luxury certifications and things that I learned in those luxury certifications. I I help with my clients, whether they're a hundred thousand dollar buyer or a you know, million-dollar buyer. I'm gonna treat them the same way and use some of the things that I've learned in those classes to create the best experience for my clients so that they refer. And that's a it's a relationship-based business. And and I, you know, try to tell newer agents or agents that I mentor is like every relationship that you build is worth a hundred thousand dollars. Like, yeah, because if that person you you take care of them throughout the process, you don't care about necessarily that one commission as like a transaction-oriented agent. Oh, I need that money, or you got commission breadth. It's like you want to make sure that they have a great experience. And then they're gonna tell their friends over the next 10 years, they tell 10 people that brings you 10 deals, that's$10,000 a problem. Like that's that's every relationship is worth$100,000 or more. But you don't even think about that in the time. It's just trying to make sure you I have a intake process and a standardized, you know, standard operating procedures for how I function and bring in buyers and sellers. But then after that, it's knowing more about disk personality assessments, knowing more about communication skills. How do you like to be communicated to? What's important to you specifically? So it's a it's a fully customized, unique approach for each individual on their specific needs.

Rock Bottom, Sobriety, And Clarity

Mark Jones 33:51

Yes. And and in going through the the the beginning phases of the transaction that we're going through, I noticed a lot of those things, those traits that you you have. I don't want to say real recognize real, but it's true. But the idea behind that, and I want to go back a moment on the comfort radar that you mentioned. And that is now your new gauge on whether you move forward with uh a new task, a new adversity, any any of those things. What is your process like? And how did you go about retraining yourself? Because for some people it comes natural. Like myself, it came natural growing up. If it got hard, I got thicker. It's let's go. I don't know what it was from, probably being too close to the streets and I'm so hood. I don't know. But the idea is there is a choice in every person's life, probably a thousand times a day, that they have to make between do I do this or do I run away from it? And for you, you've trained yourself to okay, I've got that feeling again. I'm getting either the anxiety or the fear or the whatever that feeling is, I know that I need to pursue this. How do you move forward? What what was that transition like in doing that? Was it a commitment to yourself? How do you go through that process? Because I'm sure there are folks out there that are like, yeah, I would love to do that. Uh but Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

I mean, I hope it doesn't happen, have to happen like this for everybody. Part of how I broke my book up was the cult life and then the normal life and now the extraordinary life. Well, the normal life, I got what everything that I wanted. I've been arrested three times, you know.

Mark Jones 35:40

Good thing I don't live in California.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

Uh been into drugs and alcohol and like kind of had more of a rock bottom in my early 20s, you know, 25, I just got tired of this life. And so it was from a point of necessity of like, if I don't change what I'm doing, I'm either going to end up in jail or I'm gonna end up dead. Like the kind of wake-up call at 2022, even after I had started changing my life. If you don't have healthy coping mechanisms or guardrails in place for yourself, knowing yourself, you know, I was transitioning out of manufacturing into real estate and just had a bad day and decided to go out and drink. And, you know, one thing led to another. I woke up in a ditch and I had wrecked my car and uh cops and EMS around me. And like fortunately, I didn't get dramatically hurt. I had my knee went up into the dashboard and had blood all over my pants. They were cutting my pants off of me when I woke up and you know, got arrested. And that was kind of you know, my rock bottom. I've been sober four years, and you know, I drank a couple times after that, but I just got to the point where that didn't fit in my lifestyle or my goals or what I wanted anymore. So there's certain things that I just don't have a choice anymore. It was like, if I want this life, then this I can't do this thing. And so making decisions now are having clarity on what success looks like for me. And you know, my version of success is doing what I want when I want with who I want, getting to spend time with my family, take care of my mom, be a good example for my sisters and my nieces and nephews, and being a inspiration, which wasn't something that started out. It was just like, I'm gonna change my life, and then but now I inspire others, and so that that's the goal is to inspire people every day and I share these things openly because people see the version of me now and they don't know everything that it took to get here for sure. So, like why I'm open and vulnerable and share it is so that, like I said, I related to people's struggles more than I related to their successes, and so it became more believable and achievable for me to accomplish it, and so I want to do that same thing for other people, and so when I analyze a choice now, it's the I have clarity on where I'm going. Does this fit into the vision of the future that I have? Does this future version of me, what did I do to accomplish these things in that I that I see myself doing in the future, does the choice now align with that future version of myself or not? And so that's kind of how I when something comes up, it's getting good at saying no to things that don't align with that. When I first got in the business, I said yes to everything. And then it was like, okay, narrow down, no, that's that's not the best use of my time. That's not contributing to the vision of the future that I have. So having a lens that you evaluate things through.

Mark Jones 38:50

Yeah. I mean, and you you said a couple of things that I I wrote down as as notes that I want to talk about. But before we do that, last piece right there is something that I once I learned the power and permission to say no, it changed the course of my career in in all aspects of each business that I was own owning, all of the things. And one day my coach said, Do you know that you can say no? And I went, you talking about? I'll miss business, I'll whatever the case. And she said, I'm giving you permission today to say no to the things that don't align with what we set out to be your business plan. And moving forward, it was like, holy cow, this this is weird. Like, hey, loan officer comes into my office, I need some help with this. No, not right now, but shoot me a Teams message or something and let's grab a time. You're not gonna just infringe on my time because it's set forth and I'm trying to teach you to do these same type of things. Game changer. Totally. So I appreciate you mentioning that. The other thing is I believe similar to mine, and I I'm I'm not as extreme as yours, but definitely have lived the tough life, the hard knocks, the screwed up a lot. Yeah, if anybody's failed, I've failed a lot. Never been arrested and charged plenty of times, just in trouble, yeah, but also learned young that this isn't the life that I want to have, to be honest. And I think that similar to you, it begs a question, and and this is maybe you answer, maybe you think about it when you leave, but would you be as successful had you not gone through the downfalls, the uh trials and tribulations that you have been through? You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Yeah, no, I I wouldn't, I wouldn't. Isn't that weird? Yeah, yeah. It's like I I couldn't be where I am today without having gone through those things.

Mark Jones 40:54

And you know, and I'm gonna rephrase it for you having made it through those things.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Yes, yeah.

Mark Jones 40:58

Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 40:59

Absolutely.

Mark Jones 41:00

A lot of people use the concept of you grow through what you go through. And each of us have the opportunity to grow through those things that we go through each day. But many, probably 99%, choose to relive the same moments over and over.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

Yeah. And it's the the victim mentality of I could have let all of those things, you know, I could have gone further into the hole and kept going with it instead of, you know, making a hard stance of like, okay, I'm not gonna do this anymore. Like, I don't want my life to go this way. And using them, like the challenges and the adversity to catapult me. It's like using it fuel to the fire of like, okay, I'm burned the bridges. There's nowhere else for me to go other than this path. This is where I've set. There's no backup plan. I'm I'm doing this, I'm putting it all in. Even on, you know, there were there was a time I went six months without a closing. And, you know, you start you start thinking about, oh, what about another job? And I double I doubled down though. I was like, no, I need to keep doing the activities, the activities day in and day out, you know, and that's where in success, people want some secret formula or what's the one thing? And there is no one thing, it's a bunch of little things repeated every single day for an extended period of time without seeing results until now everybody I have all these accolades and wins, but that's eight years, and you know, I would even take it back further of like growing up the way that I did, and then getting out and seeing the real world, and then making a bunch of mistakes, and then choosing to get to like, all right, I'm gonna change. And then I still didn't already started changing when I got arrested the last time and crashed into a ditch.

Mark Jones 42:40

Hold right back, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

And so it's it's it's just been years and years of brutal dedication and to to get to where I am now. And this is just one iteration, you know, the the where I see myself going is so much more than where I'm at now. And that's the the hard thing is we're very uh high performers are very hard on themselves. It's like I'm always feeling like I should be doing more, I should be further. Right. And it's also comparison. Like, I'm comparing myself to like the people that I follow is like Ed Milette and David Goggins and Andy Frisella, and like to me, like I'm doing nothing compared to some of these people in the world or Tony Robbins and like these big I I feel like I have the ability to make a positive global impact. And that's one of my like big goals in life is like I may not do it, I may not get as big as some of those people, but I could impact somebody who does do that. And so just from starting within yourself and then your family and then your community, and it ripples out. There's a ripple effect to it, and so that's what I've been primarily focused on is just continually being a better version of myself, being an inspiration to other people and affecting the people around me so that I do create a positive global impact.

Coaching Certifications And High Performance

Mark Jones 43:58

I tell you what, this conversation finally. Fires me up, man, and and probably not for reasons that people think. The reason is is it reminds me a lot of me. I didn't have the mentors uh physically there, so I used a lot of the Ed Milettes to focus on and to grab what I thought was possible and to test myself on things that I didn't know were possible until I was in the bigger rooms. And then you go, wait a minute. I actually know that person, and that person is making millions. Yeah, and then I know that person. So wait a minute. So you're saying I'm in the room with these people, I'm now absorbing and they're telling me they're they're they're uh secrets. Yeah, they're not secrets. None of this stuff is a secret. None of what you're saying, other than the upbringing, the cult, the traits, the practices, the coaching processes, the implementation of them, how we go about it, that's different. But all of the actual hard routines, that's not different. It doesn't change throughout any successful person, thus far that I've determined. And it I don't know, it's very inspiring because just like you growing up with the idea of I want to be more, I want to do more, but how do I change my ways? Oh, wait, there's someone that went through life tough and now he's where he's at. Okay, it starts with one day, then the next day, then the next. It's very relatable. Very relatable to anyone out there listening that is probably going through the same thing or has been through it, and they haven't fully emerged on the other side trying to figure out maybe what is that the fire that I needed to light this cannon? Yeah, maybe it is, you know. Okay, so let's get into let's see. Amy, how are we doing on time? I feel like we're holy cow, dude. I could talk to you for like several hours. We haven't even gotten into most of this stuff. But this is great. Let's see here mindset performance and coaching. So at a certain point, you were doing well at real estate, not crushing the world yet, but well enough that you had at least your time management in line, or else you wouldn't have been able to jump out and go, let me go get certified in three different coaching. What made you make that decision, number one? And in what ways has that helped you?

SPEAKER_01 46:27

So it was out of seeing the positive results that it created for me, hiring a coach. I was like, I want to do this for other people. And so then I got through Texas State University, they have an after continuing education program. I got certified professional life coach, and that actually worked because it was coming from more of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation standpoint. Then after that, EXP, we bought Success Magazine, and then they created success coaching off of that. And Tony Robbins' son, Jarek Robbins, was the president of that at the time. And so that was more coaching around neurolinguistic programming, disc personality assessment. I'm certified in that as well. And then I felt like I had a lot of the ingredients, but not the right recipe. So Brendan Burchard, he has a book called High Performance Habits, uh Motivation Manifesto. He has uh certified high performance coaching. And so I went and got certified with him, and that's uh the certification that I keep up every year, and that's my favorite one because it's very structured, takes people through a 12-week coaching program. It so doing all of those things, all of those are 40-hour coaching certifications. I get 40 hours recertified every. So I'm doing everything that I would ever ask a client to. So basically, I'm paying for coaching for myself because I do role play with other coaches when I'm getting certified. And so that helped me just be a better version of myself. And then that just like contributed to my success in real estate.

SPEAKER_03 47:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

Jim Rohn has a quote that's like your highest level of professional development or your personal development is reflective of your professional life. So those those things, it just it's symbiotic how the more I worked on myself, the more success I had in real estate business. And and for me, I don't think that I would be as successful without doing those things. And it just happens so naturally. Um, and then now that I've I have agents under me being able to coach them, it's just been fantastic. I I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't discovered that in the process.

Mark Jones 48:30

So absolutely. No, I I can definitely see that, and especially someone that is hungry to get better, improve themselves, but at the same time lead by example, because now that you are a mentor and a coach to others, you it's not enough to just talk the talk. Yeah, you got to walk the walk as well.

SPEAKER_01 48:49

Um the biggest thing that I've always I've never wanted to, I'm very genuine and authentic. And it's like I'm not gonna do something that you know I wouldn't ask some, I'm not gonna ask somebody else to do something that I wouldn't do myself. And so I feel like I have to contend just like with production. Like I was like, I'm not gonna go try and teach an agent about producing if I can't do it myself.

Mark Jones 49:11

Right.

SPEAKER_01 49:11

And so yeah, it's it's been a crazy journey.

The 90 Day Turnaround Plan

Mark Jones 49:15

Absolutely. Heck yeah, man. Okay, so we've got a little bit of time left, and I want to squeeze some other stuff in here. Let's see here, part six. I'm skipping all the way down. Practical advice for realtors and entrepreneurs. If you had 90 days to help a struggling realtor turn their career around, where would you recommend that they begin?

SPEAKER_01 49:37

Their calendar. Immediately, like looking at what are you doing on a daily basis?

Mark Jones 49:41

How simple.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

Yeah, go for it. Time management is it's like what are you? You have 24 hours in a day, same as every other high performing agent. What are you gonna do? And we whether it's education, that would be the first thing is like, okay, if you're a newer agent or a seasoned agent, back to the basics, go through the training, go go do what you need to do to start reaching out to people. Whatever it is, you got to figure out something and stick with it. But those 90 days, it's like if you really want to be serious, you're gonna be working seven days a week, you're gonna be doing activities seven days a week in order to fill up your calendar, to get in front of people, to build relationships. So that would be the number one thing that I recommend is getting better at time management, looking at your calendar, education, investing in yourself, whether it's going taking classes, mentorship, conferences, courses. Don't get shiny object syndrome when you're doing that, but it's like figure out what you're trying to accomplish and then reverse engineer it. What are the things that are going to help me accomplish this and break it down into smaller steps and then just start taking action every day? Imperfect action is better than just analysis paralysis.

Mark Jones 50:51

I love the imperfect action because that is the one piece to the equation that most can't do or don't do or choose not to, whatever the case, they create all of this time and creating this plan and getting the material and putting it and double checking it. And then it's like time for action. Well, we're a month later. You're it's your opportunity passed, buddy. You know, and many times instead of doing all the planning, go do, assess, then plan, then go and do it again.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

Absolutely.

AI As A Real Estate Level Up

Mark Jones 51:25

You know, trial by fire, or or going through it and and finding your own way of going about how whatever that task, that trait may be. All right, let me see if I can pull one more before we get to rapid fire. Matter of fact, this isn't even on it. I want to know your opinion. And the last couple of discussions, we've brought this up, and I think it's gonna continue as as we progress. But what are your thoughts on artificial intelligence in real estate? Is it gonna be the killer or is it gonna be the the ultimate level up?

SPEAKER_01 52:00

Oh, ultimate level up. I I wouldn't have the level of success that I do without adopting it early. You know, I heard about it for a few months before I finally started looking into it, and then I just like went all in. Part of my YouTube channel was making a video every single week of I would use Chat GPT, help me with an idea, come up with a script, read from a teleprompter, put it out there every single week. And then I, you know, went off of that. But yeah, AI is top of mind. I use it every day in my business. I wouldn't have the the same again, it's uh I see a book, Who Not How. That's right. And that's that's where I don't need to know a lot of these things. There's so much stuff with social media that I can offload that. I need to be focused on what's the highest and best use of my time. So anything that I can offload to AI or my virtual assistant, or I have my virtual assistant use AI to accomplish the tasks faster so that we get more time for the things that are important.

Mark Jones 53:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 53:02

The one area that I probably won't offload to AI, I see a lot of agents making AI clones of themselves. I won't ever do that because you're breaking integrity with your audience as soon as they realize that it's not actually you. And part of what people appreciate is like building the relationship with you based off of seeing the things that you do that are similar to what they do and that you're not perfect and that you're putting yourself out there and that you're, you know, a lot of people know how hard it is to make content, so they appreciate that too. So that that's the you got to draw a line somewhere. I think on the back end, like using AI is great, but on the front end, I don't I won't use it that way.

Vote Request, Rapid Fire, Closing

Mark Jones 53:41

I think you're on the money. I'm I put out a uh series. Matter of fact, Amy, if you could uh throw this up there, I will show them under playlists. So by the way, guys, we're like a hundred subscribers away from that 50,000 mark. So if you haven't already, and studies show that 30% of you guys out there have not subscribed to our show. Anywho, so under the playlists over here, I am putting out a playlist called AI for Realtors series, and it is 10 separate videos that essentially show you how to use AI from Chat GPT all the way to base 44, how to leverage it. But the one thing that is not in there that I specifically tell you not to do is to have it replace the things that you're supposed to be doing. Amy, you can kill that. And uh the that idea and and what you're talking about, not only do I use and leverage, but I learned that as well from my coach. She had me read a book called Procrastinate on Purpose. And the idea behind the book, it uh articulates the focus funnel. And this was goodness, 2016, 17 when I learned it. But now using those same processes today has become tremendously easier because the idea is you take every task that it takes to do you list it, and then you go, okay, what can I automate, uh, delegate and eliminate from my process? Everything left you've got to do for your business to run successfully. And that whole automate piece, oh my goodness, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We forget or we don't realize how many of the mundane tasks that we do every day to complete our profession, if that makes sense. And a lot of it doesn't require this, it just requires the consistency and the repetitiveness. So, yeah, definitely that is something that I've I've adapted to. Let's see here. So before we get into rapid fire, is there anything you want to add to this? Any brief discussions you got? Open forum. If not, no worries, but I'm gonna give you the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

Well, so uh I'll ask for a vote. No worries. I'm in uh I've won best real estate agent in my city the last two years, and that was something that I had to self-promote was difficult. Um so yeah, uh best real estate agent in Ubrawn Foles were in the first round of voting until April 17th, and then the second round of voting. I I assume I'm manifesting it, I'll make it to the top three right now, and so then the final round of voting will be in June to win best real estate agent in my city again for the third year in a row.

Mark Jones 56:25

That's awesome. I'm trying to pull it up on social media so everybody can uh go to that page to I saw it this morning. Boom, boom, and let's see here. And confirm. And we're gonna go here, here, and I saw it. That's a good looking group right there, man.

SPEAKER_01 56:52

Which one? Right here, yeah. That's mama.

Mark Jones 56:54

That's all right. Uh, where did I see it? Right there. So, guys, I'll put a link in the description of this so you can go here and vote because it is true, he's kind of a badass on the down low and needs to get out a little bit more. Amy, you can kill that. So let's start rapid fire. Rapid fire is a segment at the end that I've been doing that essentially is just answering questions. No explanation. You just give your answer with no remorse. All right, okay. No baxies either. All right, all right. So let's start this. What is one habit that changed your life?

SPEAKER_01 57:34

The easy, simple one that's very common, making my bed.

Mark Jones 57:38

Make your bed first. Oh, okay. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning person. Okay. Book, podcast, or mentor that impacted you the most.

SPEAKER_01 57:50

Ed Milet, uh you know, podcast, his book, yeah, all of the above.

Mark Jones 57:54

Have you met him yet?

SPEAKER_01 57:55

I have. I got I got to do a meet and greet with him briefly. Very good. Seen him speak twice now. One of my goals is to be on his podcast.

Mark Jones 58:03

That'd be so dope. Yeah. Okay, I'll put in a good word. Awesome.

unknown 58:06

Thanks.

Mark Jones 58:07

Let's see here. What is one word that you try to live by?

SPEAKER_01 58:19

I mean, integrity is the first thing coming.

Mark Jones 58:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 58:22

Do what you say you're gonna do. Show up when you say you're gonna show up, you know.

Mark Jones 58:27

That that is what do they say, 90% of it?

SPEAKER_01 58:32

Well, and self-integrity to yourself, keeping promises to yourself. Like when you say you're gonna do something, and I think you know, little habits, like that's habits has been the number one way that I've changed my life. People want this big answer. It's tiny habits every single day. You have a bad habit, work to replace it with a good habit. And then like a day in, day out, try to keep up that habit, the making the bed thing. But then when you don't keep promises to yourself, you lose that confidence in yourself. So that's integrity to yourself, keeping the promises to yourself that you make. I'm gonna go to the gym today. I'm gonna go make this call. I'm gonna go do this thing.

Mark Jones 59:07

So and and I'm gonna add to that because a lot of folks set out to do new habits. They get a week in and they miss one day and they think that they failed in those instances. It's okay to miss a day. You're human. Get your ass back on the horse the next day. Don't let yourself off the hook two days in a row because then that is gonna become your habit.

SPEAKER_01 59:27

Would you agree? I agree completely.

Mark Jones 59:29

All right, let's see here discipline or motivation.

SPEAKER_01 59:32

Discipline all day.

Mark Jones 59:34

What is one thing top performers do differently?

SPEAKER_01 59:42

The one thing that I'm working on and be more interested than interesting. I like that. And that's the it was like trying to get everybody to know me when I got into the business. And now, like, I a lot of times the pendulum swings one way and then back too far. I feel like me, I'm trying to be more interested, ask more questions, remember people's names, like that. And I think that's something that really successful people do is it's a relationship, it's a it's a transference of energy and being able to have people remember you because you remember them and appreciate them and think about their family and all of those things.

Mark Jones 1:00:20

So that's I'm gonna add to that. I'm a little older than you, not by much, and you can't tell at all by the grace. The idea of what you're talking about is 1000% true, and a way that I remember that or that helps me remember to practice that in every day, every customer, every engagement that I have, what have you, is how are you going to get that person to be interested in you if you're not interested in them? And in order for you to extract what you need to advise, to build a relationship, to connect with, it's all in that other person's mouth, essentially. So if you're not asking questions, if you're not absorbing what they're telling you, then you're already destined for failure with that individual relationship. So in every relationship you have, find a way to dig as much out of that person as you can. That then all of a sudden you start going, oh, wait a minute, I can connect with that, I can connect with that. Now we've got somewhat of a relationship that we can build off of. Nothing starts instantly, you know, but the idea of there's plenty of times where I'm not that interested in the person, but my mind tells me ask a couple more questions, then all of a sudden, boom, they answer the question in a way that I go, ah, now you got me. We're talking.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:44

Yeah.

Mark Jones 1:01:45

If that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:46

Absolutely.

Mark Jones 1:01:46

I don't want to say it's like a game, but it is definitely a reminder that how the hell am I gonna get them to be interested in me if I don't know anything about that person or that, you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:56

Yeah.

Mark Jones 1:01:57

So a couple more biggest mindset killer.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:03

That identity, like I am, saying I am bad with names, saying I am, or I'm just not that person, or so like the the words, like the self-talk, like that's the biggest killer is like the way we don't even we're programmed, we don't even realize we're saying things that keep us from going further in life. So like being able to catch your thoughts and your words and change them and realize that everything you think isn't true. And when you say something, ask, is that serving this version that I want to be, or is it holding me back from the version that I want to be and changing your language and your thoughts?

Mark Jones 1:02:37

That's pretty solid. One thing people get wrong about success.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:44

I would that that you're gonna feel different, or that it's gonna change anything internally. Like, you know, now the more successes that I've had, I don't feel any different. You know, I'm I'm able to buy nicer things and have more time, and that's really awesome. But yeah, there's like I haven't hit something yet where it's like everything changes. There's no, there's no just this magical moment where life is completely different because you achieve some level of success. It's being happy with where you're at and enjoying the journey, and that's something that I'm constantly working on. It's like, okay, be where my feet are, enjoy where I'm at now. Looking back in the future, you're gonna think these are the good old days, and this is, you know.

Mark Jones 1:03:26

So I agree with you to a certain extent. And the reason why I'm saying this is because I can relate to that. I believe that the reason why you don't feel differently yet when you hit those goals is you're your dead set and destined for much bigger goals. You know you're now capable of much bigger goals. It's like the first time you walked into that room and you met that person that does have a successful business, and they were willing to share a little bit of their advice with you that then told you, holy cow, it's possible. That then shaped into this massive goal that you have set for yourself that nobody else knows, only you. That you're now just checking off these boxes to get there. So, no, you're not gonna have that same uh euphoric feeling because you're waiting for that euphoric feeling at the end when you're Ed Milette type concept. Yeah, I I totally get it. I totally get it. Doesn't mean you're numb inside, but I can definitely tell that you're on a path, man. You're definitely on a path. Matter of fact, we'll end it there. That was pretty, pretty solid. Every bit of it that was uh engaging, more so relatable than anything, and very insightful. I I appreciate you sharing that raw upbringing because a lot of people have not grown up that way. A lot of uh realtors, entrepreneurs, they all have some story behind it. They we all do, they're not all the same. And most of us, if not all of us, have used our story to fuel the rest of the journey. And you definitely have displayed that and and definitely looking forward to getting to know you more. Um hopefully starting a relationship because you're my kind of people, man, for sure. For sure. I'm glad we came into contact.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:28

Yeah, me too, Mark.

Mark Jones 1:05:29

Anything else you want to add?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:31

No, uh yeah, it was a great interview. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I share, I guess I uh one of the reasons I share a lot of those things is like you said, everybody has their own journey. And I want to show no matter how far behind the starting line you feel you are, how far you've fallen from you know, grace or like how deep of a hole you were in, you can always dig yourself out. You can always get to the next level and use those things to propel you forward in life.

Mark Jones 1:05:56

Most definitely. Man, that was awesome. No, thank you very much for that. Those of you out there, let's throw this up real quick, Amy, and then we'll kill it after I show it. Let me see. Bing Zoom. 49.9, y'all. No need to say it. I appreciate every single one of you for watching our content. Hopefully you're getting something out of it. Obviously, sharing it with friends and subscribing. Four years ago when we started this thing, we never thought it would be what it is today. But my commitment to you guys is to continue to bring you guests that will be transparent, that will be different, and that can show you a little bit of value in what you do as a realtor, lender, even a home buyer or homeowner. Man. As we continue, I think that we're gonna could go down this road of deeper, tougher conversations. And and as we've been building up, hopefully you've noticed that. But make sure to continue to like, subscribe, tune in, all that jazz. But we will catch you on the next one.