The choice

Really? One decision — one simple decision — can be the most life-changing decision you’ll ever make? Yes. That is exactly what I’m saying. This one decision will positively affect everything in your life, forever, to the degree to which you embrace it. This one decision will revolutionize your practice, your income, and your relationships — both personal and professional. It will change a dull life into a life of action and excitement. It will cause your family to wonder about you at first, and then, quite often follow suit. Your health, energy, and sleep will all very likely improve. You will become an example to those around you. It is the decision that everyone who is truly successful has made, and the very decision that eludes those who complain and never seem to have enough. This decision, simply put, will be transformational.

Are you ready? Here it is: choose excellence. Choose to be an excellent real estate practitioner. Choose to be an excellent human being and to live a life of excellence. As a classically trained guitarist with a musical vocabulary, I encourage you to become a real estate virtuoso!

You’re not born that way

So, what do I mean by “excellence”? By definition, “excellence” means the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. For you, excellence means taking the high road and making decisions that impact you and your business in positive ways — enrolling in a designation course or attending a lead generation seminar or participating in a networking event are just a few examples.

Making the choice of excellence is making the choice that everything you do in life from this point forward, you do right and to the fullest! You no longer allow shortcuts or take the easy route just because it’s easier. You decide what is best in every area of your life, and set yourself on a path to achieve it. You raise the bar on what you will allow for yourself, regardless of what others do and/or allow for themselves.

In my humble opinion, the choice of excellence is the most important decision you will ever make. I teach a 60-90 minute breakout session on just this subject called “How to Get to Your Carnegie Hall.” Making the decision to choose excellence is the first and most important step to rising to the top of your field and becoming the top REALTOR^® in your area. And I call it a decision because no one is born excellent, and no one becomes a virtuoso by accident. In fact, in the absence of choosing excellence, the default is mediocrity. 

With the limited time we have, let’s get you started and on the path. 

You can be right, or you can be free

A life of excellence begins with taking responsibility. You are responsible — no one else — for your own destiny, whether that be your retirement goals and dreams, or whether you’ll make it to your listing appointment on time. Right now, declare that from this day forward, everything in your life is your responsibility, meaning your present, your future, and even your past. Almost all of us have experienced bad and/or negative events before — some horrific and out of our control. Regardless of whatever happened in the past, you face two choices today: blame someone else or take responsibility. Justified or not, blame will ultimately take you down. 

The only path to success is full responsibility for your life and everything in it. You can be right, or you can be free. Victims are absolutely right; but they are not free. The path to joy, happiness and an excellent life is to completely forgive the past and take full responsibility for your present and future.

So, let’s make two decisions together right now. Repeat this aloud with me: “I [your name], from this day forward, resolve to be an excellent human being. I will strive for the optimum, as best I understand it, in every area of my life. I also take full responsibility for my life — past, present and future — and accept that everything, including my success or failure, is completely in my own hands.” 

Done? Congrats! You’ve just risen to the top 10 percent of people in this world. Most people never make this choice. Most people coast through life, doing the minimum and accepting the status quo, in a life of “quiet desperation.” Coasting if fine for a time, but it only happens downhill. But you don’t coast. You aspire to do more, and I love that! Now let’s look forward at what this means.

Your awesome new life

Your work is no longer “putting in time.” You exceed the expectations of your fellow REALTORS^®, your clients and your potential new customers. You do whatever it takes to become amazing, to be the best at what you do. You seek feedback and improvement through modeling and learning from those you respect. You have a passion for learning. And, given the short amount of time in life, you manage your time well. 

You no longer take your finances for granted. You set long-term goals for your business. You are frugal, you seek professional financial counsel, and you operate from a plan.

Your health — improving your diet, exercise and emotional/mental health — is no longer optional or occasional. You have decided to change bad habits, adopt better habits one at a time, and do whatever it takes to get and stay healthy.

Your relationships are now intentional. You strive to become the best spouse, parent, friend and co-worker you can be. You become the one who people rely on, at the same time allowing yourself to rely on others you trust. 

Finally, and in every way, you become a servant. Your professional goal is not to simply sell homes or sign offers; your goal is to serve your clients. In real estate above all else, your goal is to be at the service of your clients. All excellent human beings, even those in the spotlight, consider themselves servants of others. It is a divine paradox that when you put others first and serve them, your needs get met in the process, in ways you could never expect.

Richard Bach once wrote, “here’s a test to see if your purpose in life is over: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” That means there is most definitely a profound, divine and wonderful reason that you are where you are right now, even reading this article. This world needs excellence ... your excellence. What you’ll find is that excellence, though seemingly harder at first, is in the long run considerably easier than mediocrity. It is also easier by comparison because of the extraordinary lack of it in this world. Bless yourself and everyone around you with the choice of a lifetime: Choose excellence. Become a virtuoso!

Mike Rayburn is the Opening Session keynote speaker at the WRA Annual Convention in Wisconsin Dells on September 21, 2014. See him and his guitar in action that day at 4:00 p.m.