5 Steps to Turning Great Ideas into Successful Realities

All great things start with great ideas. But how do you consistently encounter great ideas and, more importantly, turn those ideas into success stories??

Seek out Great Minds

Eleanor Roosevelt once said that great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people. Personally, I get bored extremely fast when I’m not around great minds, so I actively seek them out. I’ve met many great minds at real estate events. Some of these people have become my closest friends. I’ve also met many great minds online (e.g., Facebook forums). What I have come to appreciate throughout my career is that every successful venture starts with an idea, so the more ideas you encounter daily, the more successful ventures you’ll have. Put simply, surrounding yourself with great minds is the best way to start propelling yourself and your business forward.??

Implement

There is probably nothing more challenging than implementation. Think about all the notes you’ve taken at past events and webinars. How many have you implemented? Sadly, most of us just don’t implement. I once picked up a great idea from my good friend Oliver Graf,? the founder of Big Block Realty. Graf suggested that whenever I go to a big event or conference, I book an extra day or two off after the event to decompress and review all the great ideas I’ve encountered. Over the years, I’ve discovered that’s where some of the best thoughts and conversations happen. I prioritize all the best ideas and pick one I want to run with. Once I choose, I start to move forward on it immediately.??

Systemize?

Before doing anything else, I systemize the process I’ll use to execute my idea. Taking the idea out of your head and putting it down on paper is essential. This isn’t to say you can’t just pick up and start running with an idea, figuring out solutions on the go. In fact, this is how many entrepreneurs do things—they jump out of the plane and figure out how the parachute works on the way down! However, if you have time to figure out a process before you take the leap, I don’t see anything wrong with doing so.?

It all starts with creating standard operating procedures for every step. Designating team members for certain tasks and creating accountability metrics to make sure things get done efficiently is super important. Creating benchmarks and setting goals based on those benchmarks is also critical. Essentially, you’re building a foundation before launching. I always try to simplify it so that a.) if I leave, someone can easily? pick up where I left off, and b.) it’s easy enough for a third-grader to understand and replicate!?

Execute?

Now that you’ve put everything down on paper, you need to focus on execution. Execution separates amateurs from professionals. Anyone can be a real estate agent, but not everyone can be a top producer. Executing at a high level requires preparation, talent, desire, consistency, luck, often money, a lot of willpower, tenacity, and grit, the ability to handle stress, pressure, anxiety, the capacity to perform under pressure, and the list goes on and on. Some people are born with these skills. Some aren’t. If you have raw talent, use it. If you don’t, cultivate the skills needed to succeed. Ultimately, in order to have a long-lasting, successful career in any business, especially real estate, execution is critical. It’s more than just showing up daily and putting in the work because focusing on the wrong things and not executing the right way can lead to disaster.??

Build Stamina and Consistency?

Finally, don’t be a one-hit-wonder. Once you start down a path, your willingness to stick to it and finish strong is also a huge factor in long-lasting success. It is not based on how you handle your wins but on how you handle losses and frustrations. Will you quit? Can you take a punch, fall down, and keep going? If things aren’t going your way, can you make adjustments? Are you able to handle confrontations with your team members when they don’t perform? All these things are things I’ve personally struggled with and have worked hard to overcome. Another one is financial grit. What happens when you have a few bad months? Can you handle the pressure related to watching your savings dwindle? How long are you willing to ride it out before throwing in the towel? Bad times are always right around the corner, so how you handle them will make or break you.??

One thing that has always worked for me is to stay focused on moving forward. Also, having a very supportive wife has been a huge asset. She always has my back, no matter what happens, and that’s been super important in helping me handle the high levels of anxiety and stress that accompany being an entrepreneur. Having friends that I can count on to respond to questions and help when things aren’t going well, or I need to make adjustments has also been essential. Personally, my business is part of my lifestyle. It’s just what I do. It’s also a blessing and a curse. I was lucky enough to have early success, which gave me the confidence to often just wing it. In fact, when winging it, things often worked out. I know I’m not alone. I bet many people reading this can relate (and you know who you are). I can say from experience, however, that when I started to plan things out and put things down on paper, my business really started to skyrocket.