June 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Happiness is a choice.
Success often starts with the right habits and rituals. Learn how early morning routines and effective communication can give you a competitive edge.
We'll explore how getting up early, exercising, and making vendor calls before your competitors can turn vendors into passionate advocates for your business.
Consistency and patience are key to long-term success. We'll delve into the power of incremental progress, sharing inspiring stories like a colleague’s 100-kilometer run and personal experiences of overcoming illness.
By focusing on the immediate next step and maintaining discipline in your processes, you can achieve significant accomplishments over time.
Drawing inspiration from sports, we’ll emphasize the importance of playing the long game.
Join us for a deep, engaging discussion on building positive habits and rituals that lead to lasting success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Panos (00:00):
Tom Panos, john McGrath minus Troy Malcolm.
Today, johnny million-dollaragent, winter version how are
you?
John McGrath (00:11):
Yeah good, tommy, I actually love the winter a lot
.
Isn't it funny that so oftenthe initial reaction we always
forget how important attitude is.
You go and see someone and theysay, oh, isn't the weather
terrible?
Oh, don't you hate the rain, oh, it's too bloody cold.
And I of think and, by the way,I actually love the cold and I
love the rain and I sort of loveall weather.
I've maybe trained my brain toit.
But, um, I just find everything, you know, I think I find the
(00:33):
cold is charming, I find, uh,the rain is kind of wonderful
and cleansing and so forth.
Yeah, not in some spiritualkind of hyped up thing.
I just, I just sort of figurethat there's all sorts of
different weather and I like itall, as long as you know, if
it's cold and you're rugged upfor it, it's all cool or you've
got a fireplace.
But it's funny how a lot ofpeople you kind of think so you
(00:54):
only like spring, or you knowsummer's too hot and winter's
too cold and it's too wet andit's too dry, and I think we've
all got to just get used tobeing appreciative for anything
and everything we have.
Because you know, as you know,tommy, someone's walking in
today having their first stagefour cancer treatment.
Someone's going to be doingthat and someone's just walked
(01:16):
out of a doctor's surgerygetting a diagnosis of that and
you think, man, they would loveto, just, you know, sort of feel
the cold air without thatdistraction, and I just think
it's all about mindset, thisgame.
I mean real estate, and you andI, I guess, have made a living
out of coaching process and webelieve in it, and skills and
dialogues, and we believe in allof those, but everything is
(01:38):
trumped by a great attitude andjust a good outlook on life.
Tom Panos (01:43):
Anyway, that's my opening gambit I just want to
mention this.
So I was talking to maddie, who, john, is overseas and has been
all year in copenhagen, and Ihad a look at the weather
forecast and even in summer, soit's summer.
This summer has hit europe nowand it's got a top of 18 in
summer and a low of 11.
(02:05):
And I said to Maddie I said,sweetie, doesn't it get?
You know, like even summer,it's summer, is our winter there
.
And I go, has it got to you?
And she just said, no, daddy,she goes.
You've got to understand there'slots of positives out of it.
And I said what's that?
She goes, oh, you get to layerup and you put nice clothes on.
(02:25):
She loves layering up, right,she goes, you layer up and then
she goes.
You sleep incredibly well.
You love coming to home, right,it's warm there.
And she goes.
There are so many positives.
And she goes because sometimes,when it's really hot, aren't
you rushing in for airconditioning?
She goes when you think ofreally, really hot days.
So Aren't you rushing in forair conditioning?
(02:45):
She goes when you think ofreally, really hot days.
So I think you're right.
I think happiness is a choiceand should not be weather
dependent, you know.
John McGrath (02:54):
Yeah, and not to sort of bore any of our
listeners.
Maybe we are or maybe we aren't, but it is just one of the
simple things.
I know we're going to talk alittle bit about habits and
rituals today, but you've justgot to check yourself.
I think one of the phrases Iheard years ago which I love is
you have to make thesubconscious conscious, and a
lot of people they just say, oh,it's cold and oh, you know,
(03:15):
this is bad, that's bad and it'sit's not because they're bad
people or even negative people.
It's a habit they get intobecause there's good habits and
bad habits.
And, yeah, just as I thought,because today is cold in Sydney,
by the way, for those of youthat aren't in Sydney, but I
find it refreshing and you feelalive.
Let's get into it.
Habits and rituals.
Tom Panos (03:34):
So, john, I suggested that we talk about this because
I use the metaphor.
Metaphors are so good toexplain things to people.
If you're going up a staircaseand you've got to go up hundreds
of stairs the first 10 or 20,like you probably do without
holding onto a balustrade, butif you're going and going, it's
(03:55):
just useful, it's an aid to beable to put your hand, life,
work and business.
We are going upstairs, we aresort of moving forward against
resistance and having abalustrade or something to hang
(04:16):
on to makes it so much easier.
And I thought habits and ritualsare, in fact, the handrails of
life and those real estateagents that have got a set of
rituals that are predictable,repeatable, sometimes scalable,
but they set and forget.
They make life so much easier.
You came to News Corp manyyears ago and I wrote it down
(04:38):
and I've actually adopted it andon most days there are some
days that it doesn't happen Onmost days I aim to do nine calls
before 9am each day and it'sended up becoming a tremendous
thing to have because in atypical week, on a Friday,
you'll end up the week andyou've had 45 conversations and
(05:02):
your approach was three newbusiness calls, three current
client calls and three culturecalls friends, family, suppliers
, that sort of stuff.
John McGrath (05:15):
So I'd love to talk about habits and rituals
that we can use in our life tomake things easier, yeah yeah,
and dr fred uses a similarmetaphor, tommy, when he started
coaching me, which wasscaffolding, he said you know
you want to build thescaffolding around your business
and around your life, you know.
So scaffolding seems like justyour people are sort of an
understanding what we're talkingabout and and you're right, it
(05:37):
can be quotes, it can be habits.
Um, you know daily exercise,you know if you can go for a
walk for 45 minutes each morning, pop a set of headphones on and
listen to an empowering podcastor conversation or whatever,
that's a hell of a sort of afoundational piece to your
mental diet and your habitual.
So firstly, I know in Australiayou were very early on, tommy,
(06:00):
adopting the 5 am club.
So whether it's 5 am or 6 am,but getting an early start is a
pillar or a foundation, what youdo at that minute.
And if you go for a 45-minutewalk and then if you add to that
listening to a podcast that'sempowering and inspiring, well,
all of a sudden you've tickedthree boxes by 6 am.
Now that absolutely has to giveyou a jump on your competition.
(06:23):
I remember I used to love doingall of that and a bit more, and
then driving to work at 7.15 inthe morning and I was looking
around I'm thinking all mycompetition is asleep, all my
competition is asleep, and Iused to love that.
And then I'd be on the phonesand getting organized at 7.30am
and by the time most of themwere getting in their car from
home and go to work.
(06:43):
I'd kind of already done mydaily vendor calls and I'd done
my exercise and I'd done mygrowth calls.
So these are the things.
So Dr Fred called itscaffolding.
I love your staircase metaphor,but yeah, I think there's some
of the one of them I justmentioned then, tommy, was my
daily vendor calls.
When I was selling.
I very early got to realize thatthe number one thing or one of
(07:04):
the many things that pissedvendors off about agents was
lack of communication.
And it wasn't always becauseagents are bad people, sometimes
they're disorganized, but oftenthey were working on the
premise that I'll call thevendor when I have something
positive to say.
And yet most people when Ipicked up expired listings and
I'd say, is there anything fromyour previous experience that
(07:25):
you don't want us to duplicate?
And they'd say well, you know,I went for three weeks I never
heard anything.
I don't know if they're workingon the property if they had any
inquiry, but nothing.
And then all of a sudden, youknow there was something.
So you know, I think, a littledaily vendor.
So I've spoken about getting upearly, spoken about a little bit
of morning exercise andstretching.
We've spoken about someempowering audio podcast.
(07:47):
We've spoken about, you know,some daily vendor calls and
people say, oh, wow, that soundslike a lot of hard work.
Well, yeah, it is a lot of hardwork, but at that point you
turn vendors into raving fans.
They become your conduit oryour connection to your next 10
listings.
And then, if you up yourschedule and if you increase,
(08:09):
you know, your efficiency, youthen ring all of those vendors
and this becomes a wonderful,self-fulfilling, perpetual
upward spiral of success.
So, yeah, there's four or fivejust in the first hour of the
day, right?
Tom Panos (08:21):
100%.
I've got to tell you, if youwin that first two hours, I
reckon you win the day.
I think if you win those twohours, you win the day.
Some of the others that Iactually thought of is deleting
negative people, and I don'tmean you press a delete button,
(08:42):
but I mean there's sometimespeople you talk to and I don't
know whether they've got thisconspiracy theory about the
world or whether they're notsupportive of something that
you're thinking of doing becausein their eyes they see it as
not being achievable.
But that would be a great habitand ritual where you turn
(09:04):
around and say I will actuallyhave on a daily basis, more
conversations and tech exchangeswith people that are
illuminators, cheerleaders, notenergy suckers and complainers.
And I think some people, somepeople are not.
They're not complainers beingbad people.
(09:26):
I think it's become habitual inthem.
They're just the kind of theyactually often I find they're
quite likeable in other areas,but they just complain about
everything.
John McGrath (09:36):
Yeah, no, I agree, tommy.
I think it's really criticaland you're right If you number
one is take the negative peopleout of your life.
And some people feel reallyguilty about this.
And I get why.
Because sometimes you know, yougrew up with them, sometimes
they're kind of they could berelatives, you know who knows
but often they are people thatyou've had quite a close
relationship.
But we all grow at differentpace and I find that if I try
(09:59):
and and I don't try to coach myfriends, but I try and show them
the error of having negativeviews on life, and if they don't
kind of get it, then I juststart moving away and I figure
that we've got.
You know, stoicism.
What do they say?
Memento mori, remember, we'reall going to die.
We've only got a limited numberof hours left on the planet,
each and every one of us.
And if you're going to allocateor allow 10, because this
(10:23):
happens without you eventhinking right, they just sort
of they get into your vortex andthey destroy it or pollute it.
So if you're going to allow 5%or 10%, that's your
responsibility, man, and ifyou're up for that and you're
okay with that, that's cool, andif not, I would find a way and
sort of unhook your guilt aroundit.
Just find a way to avoid themand you can do it subtly.
(10:47):
You don't have to offend themand rather than see them once a
week, you might see them onceevery three months.
So I'm not saying you've got tototally remove these people,
but you definitely might want toput yourself on a starvation
diet of negative people, becauseit gets into your head and
sometimes you walk away from ameeting and you just feel bad,
whereas on the opposite side,tommy, you and I are both
(11:09):
fortunate to have many greatfriends and inspiring people
that we get to connect with on aregular basis and you walk away
from those meetings and bang.
Everything feels lighter andexciting and something you
walked into that meeting youthought was a problem and all of
a sudden you got threedifferent solutions.
So I think it's.
It's really, really important.
(11:29):
Um, I love that slide.
What was that?
Have you still got that slideup?
I'll just bring it.
I'll just uh, really good bitson there while you're doing that
.
I'll just mention, I'll mentionnow.
I was just going to say oneyear.
I said we said before it can bea little habit or a ritual, can?
It can also be a philosophy ora view on life, and one of my
(11:49):
micro rituals is be like water,which was a phrase I heard I
think it was Bruce Lee that saidit years ago the famous martial
arts and then come actor.
And you know, I see this allthe time and it seems increasing
, tommy, at the moment, people,they come up against an issue
and it and it explodes and theyfocus on it, they tell everyone
(12:11):
about it and you know it, they,they.
You know it might have been anissue to start with, but now
it's a macro issue.
Bruce league, be like water.
And the metaphor is as watertravels downhill and it hits
rocks and inevitably hits treesand and all sorts of things, it
doesn't stop and complain orstop, it actually just finds a
way around it and it just flowseffortlessly until it gets to
(12:32):
the bottom of the hill.
So again, I find myself sayingthis more and more on a daily
basis to people be like water,my friend, don't get hung up on
it, don't give it oxygen, don'tfocus on this.
Shit happens.
If you just accept in life,shit happens right.
Sadly, friends die, people bashyour car, someone's going to
(12:53):
rob you, you know, sometimes youmiss a listing.
Sometimes you miss 10 in a row.
Whatever it is, stuff is goingto happen that doesn't appeal to
you.
Yeah, the fast yet at beinggood at moving on from these
things.
Learn from them and you canlearn quickly.
What could I have done?
That was different, but don'tdwell on it, that's, you know.
There are some people they'relike it becomes a part-time job
(13:14):
for them to whinge about thelast unfortunate experience they
had and it just holds them backin their future over to you.
Tom Panos (13:22):
So, john, before you go on.
I just thought of something yousaid before.
We moved on that rumination,which is what we're really
talking about.
You get a bad phone call in themorning, can make a bad morning
, and then you ruminate on itand then, before you know it,
you've dramatized it and you'vemade a bad day and knowing that
(13:44):
tomorrow this thing is anon-event, but you've destroyed
a day over the fact that yougave it oxygen.
But the point before you made avery good point, John, whereas
is when you talked about you'vegot to watch it, because
sometimes you can get entangledin the negativity.
This morning, christina, myother daughter, she's sick.
I think she may have COVID, I'mnot quite sure.
(14:05):
Anyway, as soon as thathappened, I realised I'm going
to stay clear.
I took out, you know, the spray.
Make sure I got it there, andit's not hard.
A physical virus is not hard toidentify and you take action.
But the mind virus, they're theones that you can, and I think
Dr Wayne Dyer used to speakabout it.
He says we worry about thephysical virus, but the mind
(14:28):
virus, before you know it it'sinvisible.
You're in a conversation andsomeone takes you to their line
of thinking and before you knowit, you've actually moved from
an optimistic view to apessimistic view, because you've
just listened to that story andthen your story's been edited
and you've got to be forensicwith it, john, because I've made
(14:50):
a big effort today, because Iknow that infections are spread
by one person to another, so I'mmaking, you know, an effort to
not get it Listen.
John McGrath (15:02):
Yeah Well, you're right about the mind virus and
strengthening your mind, justlike you do your body, and daily
affirmations for me are just aterrific.
You know, and there's so manydifferent places.
Just Google daily affirmationsor Esther Hicks or whatever.
You're going to find lots.
But the things you tellyourself about the world and you
(15:23):
repeat and basically habits andmind.
Habits and mindset are justthoughts you keep repeating to
yourself and if you just keeprepeating to yourself a number
of things that are taking youand Ryan talked about future,
future, ryan, ryan Serhant sorryfor those that didn't get to
Eric, which unbelievable.
I watched him the other night.
I went over to Paul andAnthea's place with Kelly.
(15:45):
We went over there and we haddinner and they kept asking
about Eric.
What was Ryan Reynolds like?
What was Matty Steinway?
Because you know word aboutMatty Steinway's talk had
traveled all the way down and weheard about Ryan Serhan.
So I linked into the ARICvideos and I just threw them up
on the Apple TV screen and theywere mesmerized.
Man, I had all three of those,but especially Matty Steinway
(16:06):
and Ryan Serhan.
But it's all about mindset andthat was one of the key things.
And he told some terrificstories about his real estate
career and his life prior toreal estate.
But what separates him?
And yeah, he's energetic andI'm sure he's now got good
product knowledge and he's builtsome good negotiation tactics
(16:26):
but at the end of the day, thething that separated him was his
mindset, his enthusiasm, hispassion, his belief in himself.
And that had to be learned,because when he got into real
estate he didn't have aparticular.
He got into real estate to payhis rent because New York was so
damn expensive and he was ahand model, an occasional bit
actor on a few small parts, andhe thought I'll get into real
(16:50):
estate, maybe it'll help me paythe rent.
So he didn't have a deep-seatedbelief, but he built that.
And again, I just keep sayingto people don't think you have
to be born with a deep-seatedbelief in yourself and your
ability.
You have to build it.
Like you go to the gym and youdo curls.
One strand of your muscle at atime.
Every time you do a curlstrengthens your muscle a little
(17:12):
bit more, a little bit more.
Every time you do a dailyaffirmation, every time you have
a small win.
Every time you go for a morningwalk, whatever are your habits,
each time you tick them off.
So I really encourage all ourlisteners and your gym members
really to make sure that youjust see these little, little
little things.
Nick Muzza, I told you aboutNick that you know he was, you
(17:34):
know beforehand at ARIC.
He'd stopped exercising for along time and streak starts with
one, which was ChipEichelberger's great saying, and
he's now been exercising for 17days straight.
I can hear it in his voice, tom, when I speak with him I say,
nick, you sound like a newperson, bro, like, literally
sound like a new person.
And he, just because there wasone little thing that he heard a
(17:57):
streak starts with one and10,000 push-ups is, I think, 28
a day or something, and it wasjust broken down into something
that was achievable.
Chip was very good, by the way.
I never asked you what youthought about him, but I thought
he was very good, very good.
Tom Panos (18:15):
Yeah, well, a lot of people weren't aware but chip
actually worked very closelywith uh, because a lot of people
ask me I mean, who is this guy?
He worked alongside anthonyrobbins for a fairly long period
, wasn't he?
John?
John McGrath (18:28):
yeah, probably a decade.
That's where I met him.
Um, when the first time tonyrobbins ever came to australia,
uh, ian low, who's a friend ofours and and ours and Ian was
part of the company bringing himout and he said I want to bring
this guy, chip Eichelberger, toyour office.
He's a part of Tony's forwardteam that goes ahead and talks
about what Tony's you know andbasically, you know, boil it
down.
He was there to sell ticketsright by saying here's what
(18:50):
you're going to learn.
And so that was the firstexperience I had and I just I
latched on to him.
I loved him.
He's just a terrific fella andI loved, uh, his, his technology
.
You know, I'm talking aboutmental technology, not not, uh,
computer.
Yeah, and then we went to meettony and all you know, it was
just great, but so many goodthings.
I just so excited when I waswatching with paul and anthea,
(19:11):
the, um, the, the, the videosthe other day, you know, it was
just so much fun to watch themfor the first time, watching,
you know, and listening to thesetalks.
It was really good.
So, look, I think today we'vegiven people you know, the idea
is have a number of littlerituals and strand by strand,
like building a muscle.
(19:32):
You know the compound interestfactor.
You just keep building andbuilding and you don't have to
go out and run a marathon.
All you need to do is go and doa 400-metre walk and tomorrow
do a 410-metre walk, maybe a500-metre walk the next day,
just layer upon layer, build agirl in our office 100-kilometre
(19:55):
run.
She just did.
Up until recently, fairlyrecently she wasn't a runner and
she decided she'd run.
And then she decided she'd do18 hours running.
Well, it was about 10 hoursrunning and eight hours walking,
but nonstop, you know, justwalking for a little bit of
catch your breath and then goagain, but 18 hours straight, no
stopping, no sitting down, noresting, no meals, 18 hours
(20:18):
straight.
It just shows what you can do,man.
When you put your, I was soproud of her.
Just shows what you can do.
Tom Panos (20:24):
I heard John.
Actually she said it to me.
Jeez, that reminds me back in2000.
I had a John when I got unwelland I started treatment.
They give you a social, theygive you a carer.
The person that you knowexplains it.
Let's call it an onboardingperson, case manager or
(20:45):
something.
Case manager Her name wasSandra.
I haven't seen her in ages.
What a beautiful lady.
Anyway, I said to Sandra I saidhow long have you been doing
this?
She says she's my 25th year.
I said, wow, she goes.
Any advice?
She goes, look, and you have toclimb up these stairs.
Funny, we're talking aboutstairs.
You have to climb up thesestairs to go to Gloucester House
(21:08):
where I got treated beforeLifehouse was built across the
road.
John O'Brien, chris O'Briensorry, unfortunately, chris
O'Brien.
She said to me she goes, seethose stairs there she goes.
I want you to focus not on the20th stair.
She goes.
(21:28):
All you do is you focus on thatone stair in front of you.
Those that do better aren'tworried about week 39.
They're just getting througheach day successfully and she
goes.
You do that.
You string together 100 gooddays, you're done and dusted and
life is good.
Those that think too far aheadget overwhelmed.
Worrying about the 80th stepare the people that end up
(21:49):
getting concerned should Ichange direction in what I'm
doing, this and that?
So just worry about the nextstep, not the 20th step.
John McGrath (21:57):
I just sent you, as you were saying that.
It reminded me of somethingthat I just saw on TikTok a
minute ago.
And, by the way, if you don'tfollow Tommy on TikTok, you're
mad.
I find your content fantastic.
There's another guy if youhaven't followed him, his name
is Matt Easton E?
-a-s-t-o-n.
His name is Matt EastonE-A-S-T-O-N.
I've just texted it to you.
You got it now.
I only just watched it before.
And he was talking about he saidyou know, three deals fall over
(22:21):
.
Doesn't worry me, don't eventhink about it, don't miss a
beat.
Why?
Because I have a process, Ifollow my process and I know
there'll be ups and downs.
And he said three deals gotogether.
I don't care why, because Ihave a process and I trust my
process and I work it hard.
And he said at the end of theday, don't worry about this and
(22:43):
that one, because he said youwill lose three and then you'll
pick up four and then you'llmiss one and you'll get two.
But he said you have to followa process, which is very much.
What you were just saying then,tommy, is the process is what's
the next step?
Listing a property?
What's the next step?
Prospecting?
What's the next step?
Launching a property to themarket, selling it, negotiating.
What's the next step?
Just have a process, step bystep.
(23:04):
Just follow it up.
Grab the handrails that we'vespoken about today and surround
yourself with scaffolding andhandrails that make it
impossible to miss out.
Just have those, or not missout, because you are going to
have a day where you miss a walkor you get sick or whatever,
but just basically, you want tokeep yourself on the track, on
(23:25):
the path to success, everysingle day.
This is a long game.
Don't try and be successful inthree months.
Won't happen.
But I've got to tell you, mostpeople they say what did Robin
say?
Most people overestimate wherethey can be in 12 months.
They underestimate where theycan be in three years.
So today was about really workout.
Tom Panos (23:44):
They'll be in three months.
I think you meant to say Is it?
John McGrath (23:48):
They overestimate where they can be in the short
term?
I'm going to sell 100properties in the next six
months, but they underestimatewhere they can be in three years
.
Tom Panos (23:58):
Yeah yeah.
John McGrath (23:58):
So it's all about play the long game, stick to it,
build a process, be disciplined, keep the next step.
You know I love that metaphorfrom your case manager just the
next step.
What do I have to do?
What do I have to do?
And we'll have a look at that,tommy, after this podcast, that
Matt Easton one Really reallygood Doesn't care whether the
three deals fall over.
(24:19):
It was almost like he just sitsback and he says I'm going to
process, man, I know it's goingto work and I know there's going
to be days I miss threelistings.
That's okay, because I'm goingto keep processing.
Tom Panos (24:29):
Do you reckon that was going through the Bulldogs,
coach Serraldo?
Because it's been going forabout a year and he's just kept
sticking to it and sticking toit and then, all of a sudden,
the last two months, they'vecome good.
John McGrath (24:48):
I reckon it was.
I reckon I go above him.
I reckon it's Phil Gould.
Phil has been there and donethat and had great success.
And he knows, if you create aprocess and you block out the
noise the media noise and thefan noise and everyone else
shouting and you just keepfollowing the path that you know
will lead you to success.
And you look at the Bulldogsnow.
(25:10):
I mean, who knows how long itwill last?
But gee, at the moment I thinkthey're running fifth in the
comp and they were like almostwooden spooners last year.
So, anyway, time to walk my twodash hounds.
Tom Panos (25:21):
I like it.
Hey, Johnny, they're the twobest-looking dogs in the Inner
West.
I saw them the other day atLight Car.
They're lovable, Johnny.
Do they have to wear anythingout?
John McGrath (25:35):
in the cold or they get by.
It's funny you ask that becausewhere I'm, almost because
they're so both low to theground, it's hard for them to
wear little outfits like jumpersand things.
When they're sitting down I can, but when they go for walks
I'll take them out, I'll try andkeep them moving and then I'll
pop them back in the car.
But we have a good at this timeof day.
(25:59):
We'll have a good 45-minutewalk.
Tom Panos (26:01):
And then I have the air conditioning warming the
place up, so when they come homefor dinner it's cosy and warm.
So that's the plan, all right,all right, see you, tom.
Lots of love to you.
John McGrath (26:05):
Take care.
Tom Panos, john McGrath minus Troy Malcolm.
Today, johnny million-dollaragent, winter version how are
you?
John McGrath (00:11):
Yeah good, tommy, I actually love the winter a lot
.
Isn't it funny that so oftenthe initial reaction we always
forget how important attitude is.
You go and see someone and theysay, oh, isn't the weather
terrible?
Oh, don't you hate the rain, oh, it's too bloody cold.
And I of think and, by the way,I actually love the cold and I
love the rain and I sort of loveall weather.
I've maybe trained my brain toit.
But, um, I just find everything, you know, I think I find the
(00:33):
cold is charming, I find, uh,the rain is kind of wonderful
and cleansing and so forth.
Yeah, not in some spiritualkind of hyped up thing.
I just, I just sort of figurethat there's all sorts of
different weather and I like itall, as long as you know, if
it's cold and you're rugged upfor it, it's all cool or you've
got a fireplace.
But it's funny how a lot ofpeople you kind of think so you
(00:54):
only like spring, or you knowsummer's too hot and winter's
too cold and it's too wet andit's too dry, and I think we've
all got to just get used tobeing appreciative for anything
and everything we have.
Because you know, as you know,tommy, someone's walking in
today having their first stagefour cancer treatment.
Someone's going to be doingthat and someone's just walked
(01:16):
out of a doctor's surgerygetting a diagnosis of that and
you think, man, they would loveto, just, you know, sort of feel
the cold air without thatdistraction, and I just think
it's all about mindset, thisgame.
I mean real estate, and you andI, I guess, have made a living
out of coaching process and webelieve in it, and skills and
dialogues, and we believe in allof those, but everything is
(01:38):
trumped by a great attitude andjust a good outlook on life.
Tom Panos (01:43):
Anyway, that's my opening gambit I just want to
mention this.
So I was talking to maddie, who, john, is overseas and has been
all year in copenhagen, and Ihad a look at the weather
forecast and even in summer, soit's summer.
This summer has hit europe nowand it's got a top of 18 in
summer and a low of 11.
(02:05):
And I said to Maddie I said,sweetie, doesn't it get?
You know, like even summer,it's summer, is our winter there
.
And I go, has it got to you?
And she just said, no, daddy,she goes.
You've got to understand there'slots of positives out of it.
And I said what's that?
She goes, oh, you get to layerup and you put nice clothes on.
(02:25):
She loves layering up, right,she goes, you layer up and then
she goes.
You sleep incredibly well.
You love coming to home, right,it's warm there.
And she goes.
There are so many positives.
And she goes because sometimes,when it's really hot, aren't
you rushing in for airconditioning?
She goes when you think ofreally, really hot days.
So Aren't you rushing in forair conditioning?
(02:45):
She goes when you think ofreally, really hot days.
So I think you're right.
I think happiness is a choiceand should not be weather
dependent, you know.
John McGrath (02:54):
Yeah, and not to sort of bore any of our
listeners.
Maybe we are or maybe we aren't, but it is just one of the
simple things.
I know we're going to talk alittle bit about habits and
rituals today, but you've justgot to check yourself.
I think one of the phrases Iheard years ago which I love is
you have to make thesubconscious conscious, and a
lot of people they just say, oh,it's cold and oh, you know,
(03:15):
this is bad, that's bad and it'sit's not because they're bad
people or even negative people.
It's a habit they get intobecause there's good habits and
bad habits.
And, yeah, just as I thought,because today is cold in Sydney,
by the way, for those of youthat aren't in Sydney, but I
find it refreshing and you feelalive.
Let's get into it.
Habits and rituals.
Tom Panos (03:34):
So, john, I suggested that we talk about this because
I use the metaphor.
Metaphors are so good toexplain things to people.
If you're going up a staircaseand you've got to go up hundreds
of stairs the first 10 or 20,like you probably do without
holding onto a balustrade, butif you're going and going, it's
(03:55):
just useful, it's an aid to beable to put your hand, life,
work and business.
We are going upstairs, we aresort of moving forward against
resistance and having abalustrade or something to hang
(04:16):
on to makes it so much easier.
And I thought habits and ritualsare, in fact, the handrails of
life and those real estateagents that have got a set of
rituals that are predictable,repeatable, sometimes scalable,
but they set and forget.
They make life so much easier.
You came to News Corp manyyears ago and I wrote it down
(04:38):
and I've actually adopted it andon most days there are some
days that it doesn't happen Onmost days I aim to do nine calls
before 9am each day and it'sended up becoming a tremendous
thing to have because in atypical week, on a Friday,
you'll end up the week andyou've had 45 conversations and
(05:02):
your approach was three newbusiness calls, three current
client calls and three culturecalls friends, family, suppliers
, that sort of stuff.
John McGrath (05:15):
So I'd love to talk about habits and rituals
that we can use in our life tomake things easier, yeah yeah,
and dr fred uses a similarmetaphor, tommy, when he started
coaching me, which wasscaffolding, he said you know
you want to build thescaffolding around your business
and around your life, you know.
So scaffolding seems like justyour people are sort of an
understanding what we're talkingabout and and you're right, it
(05:37):
can be quotes, it can be habits.
Um, you know daily exercise,you know if you can go for a
walk for 45 minutes each morning, pop a set of headphones on and
listen to an empowering podcastor conversation or whatever,
that's a hell of a sort of afoundational piece to your
mental diet and your habitual.
So firstly, I know in Australiayou were very early on, tommy,
(06:00):
adopting the 5 am club.
So whether it's 5 am or 6 am,but getting an early start is a
pillar or a foundation, what youdo at that minute.
And if you go for a 45-minutewalk and then if you add to that
listening to a podcast that'sempowering and inspiring, well,
all of a sudden you've tickedthree boxes by 6 am.
Now that absolutely has to giveyou a jump on your competition.
(06:23):
I remember I used to love doingall of that and a bit more, and
then driving to work at 7.15 inthe morning and I was looking
around I'm thinking all mycompetition is asleep, all my
competition is asleep, and Iused to love that.
And then I'd be on the phonesand getting organized at 7.30am
and by the time most of themwere getting in their car from
home and go to work.
(06:43):
I'd kind of already done mydaily vendor calls and I'd done
my exercise and I'd done mygrowth calls.
So these are the things.
So Dr Fred called itscaffolding.
I love your staircase metaphor,but yeah, I think there's some
of the one of them I justmentioned then, tommy, was my
daily vendor calls.
When I was selling.
I very early got to realize thatthe number one thing or one of
(07:04):
the many things that pissedvendors off about agents was
lack of communication.
And it wasn't always becauseagents are bad people, sometimes
they're disorganized, but oftenthey were working on the
premise that I'll call thevendor when I have something
positive to say.
And yet most people when Ipicked up expired listings and
I'd say, is there anything fromyour previous experience that
(07:25):
you don't want us to duplicate?
And they'd say well, you know,I went for three weeks I never
heard anything.
I don't know if they're workingon the property if they had any
inquiry, but nothing.
And then all of a sudden, youknow there was something.
So you know, I think, a littledaily vendor.
So I've spoken about getting upearly, spoken about a little bit
of morning exercise andstretching.
We've spoken about someempowering audio podcast.
(07:47):
We've spoken about, you know,some daily vendor calls and
people say, oh, wow, that soundslike a lot of hard work.
Well, yeah, it is a lot of hardwork, but at that point you
turn vendors into raving fans.
They become your conduit oryour connection to your next 10
listings.
And then, if you up yourschedule and if you increase,
(08:09):
you know, your efficiency, youthen ring all of those vendors
and this becomes a wonderful,self-fulfilling, perpetual
upward spiral of success.
So, yeah, there's four or fivejust in the first hour of the
day, right?
Tom Panos (08:21):
100%.
I've got to tell you, if youwin that first two hours, I
reckon you win the day.
I think if you win those twohours, you win the day.
Some of the others that Iactually thought of is deleting
negative people, and I don'tmean you press a delete button,
(08:42):
but I mean there's sometimespeople you talk to and I don't
know whether they've got thisconspiracy theory about the
world or whether they're notsupportive of something that
you're thinking of doing becausein their eyes they see it as
not being achievable.
But that would be a great habitand ritual where you turn
(09:04):
around and say I will actuallyhave on a daily basis, more
conversations and tech exchangeswith people that are
illuminators, cheerleaders, notenergy suckers and complainers.
And I think some people, somepeople are not.
They're not complainers beingbad people.
(09:26):
I think it's become habitual inthem.
They're just the kind of theyactually often I find they're
quite likeable in other areas,but they just complain about
everything.
John McGrath (09:36):
Yeah, no, I agree, tommy.
I think it's really criticaland you're right If you number
one is take the negative peopleout of your life.
And some people feel reallyguilty about this.
And I get why.
Because sometimes you know, yougrew up with them, sometimes
they're kind of they could berelatives, you know who knows
but often they are people thatyou've had quite a close
relationship.
But we all grow at differentpace and I find that if I try
(09:59):
and and I don't try to coach myfriends, but I try and show them
the error of having negativeviews on life, and if they don't
kind of get it, then I juststart moving away and I figure
that we've got.
You know, stoicism.
What do they say?
Memento mori, remember, we'reall going to die.
We've only got a limited numberof hours left on the planet,
each and every one of us.
And if you're going to allocateor allow 10, because this
(10:23):
happens without you eventhinking right, they just sort
of they get into your vortex andthey destroy it or pollute it.
So if you're going to allow 5%or 10%, that's your
responsibility, man, and ifyou're up for that and you're
okay with that, that's cool, andif not, I would find a way and
sort of unhook your guilt aroundit.
Just find a way to avoid themand you can do it subtly.
(10:47):
You don't have to offend themand rather than see them once a
week, you might see them onceevery three months.
So I'm not saying you've got tototally remove these people,
but you definitely might want toput yourself on a starvation
diet of negative people, becauseit gets into your head and
sometimes you walk away from ameeting and you just feel bad,
whereas on the opposite side,tommy, you and I are both
(11:09):
fortunate to have many greatfriends and inspiring people
that we get to connect with on aregular basis and you walk away
from those meetings and bang.
Everything feels lighter andexciting and something you
walked into that meeting youthought was a problem and all of
a sudden you got threedifferent solutions.
So I think it's.
It's really, really important.
(11:29):
Um, I love that slide.
What was that?
Have you still got that slideup?
I'll just bring it.
I'll just uh, really good bitson there while you're doing that
.
I'll just mention, I'll mentionnow.
I was just going to say oneyear.
I said we said before it can bea little habit or a ritual, can?
It can also be a philosophy ora view on life, and one of my
(11:49):
micro rituals is be like water,which was a phrase I heard I
think it was Bruce Lee that saidit years ago the famous martial
arts and then come actor.
And you know, I see this allthe time and it seems increasing
, tommy, at the moment, people,they come up against an issue
and it and it explodes and theyfocus on it, they tell everyone
(12:11):
about it and you know it, they,they.
You know it might have been anissue to start with, but now
it's a macro issue.
Bruce league, be like water.
And the metaphor is as watertravels downhill and it hits
rocks and inevitably hits treesand and all sorts of things, it
doesn't stop and complain orstop, it actually just finds a
way around it and it just flowseffortlessly until it gets to
(12:32):
the bottom of the hill.
So again, I find myself sayingthis more and more on a daily
basis to people be like water,my friend, don't get hung up on
it, don't give it oxygen, don'tfocus on this.
Shit happens.
If you just accept in life,shit happens right.
Sadly, friends die, people bashyour car, someone's going to
(12:53):
rob you, you know, sometimes youmiss a listing.
Sometimes you miss 10 in a row.
Whatever it is, stuff is goingto happen that doesn't appeal to
you.
Yeah, the fast yet at beinggood at moving on from these
things.
Learn from them and you canlearn quickly.
What could I have done?
That was different, but don'tdwell on it, that's, you know.
There are some people they'relike it becomes a part-time job
(13:14):
for them to whinge about thelast unfortunate experience they
had and it just holds them backin their future over to you.
Tom Panos (13:22):
So, john, before you go on.
I just thought of something yousaid before.
We moved on that rumination,which is what we're really
talking about.
You get a bad phone call in themorning, can make a bad morning
, and then you ruminate on itand then, before you know it,
you've dramatized it and you'vemade a bad day and knowing that
(13:44):
tomorrow this thing is anon-event, but you've destroyed
a day over the fact that yougave it oxygen.
But the point before you made avery good point, John, whereas
is when you talked about you'vegot to watch it, because
sometimes you can get entangledin the negativity.
This morning, christina, myother daughter, she's sick.
I think she may have COVID, I'mnot quite sure.
(14:05):
Anyway, as soon as thathappened, I realised I'm going
to stay clear.
I took out, you know, the spray.
Make sure I got it there, andit's not hard.
A physical virus is not hard toidentify and you take action.
But the mind virus, they're theones that you can, and I think
Dr Wayne Dyer used to speakabout it.
He says we worry about thephysical virus, but the mind
(14:28):
virus, before you know it it'sinvisible.
You're in a conversation andsomeone takes you to their line
of thinking and before you knowit, you've actually moved from
an optimistic view to apessimistic view, because you've
just listened to that story andthen your story's been edited
and you've got to be forensicwith it, john, because I've made
(14:50):
a big effort today, because Iknow that infections are spread
by one person to another, so I'mmaking, you know, an effort to
not get it Listen.
John McGrath (15:02):
Yeah Well, you're right about the mind virus and
strengthening your mind, justlike you do your body, and daily
affirmations for me are just aterrific.
You know, and there's so manydifferent places.
Just Google daily affirmationsor Esther Hicks or whatever.
You're going to find lots.
But the things you tellyourself about the world and you
(15:23):
repeat and basically habits andmind.
Habits and mindset are justthoughts you keep repeating to
yourself and if you just keeprepeating to yourself a number
of things that are taking youand Ryan talked about future,
future, ryan, ryan Serhant sorryfor those that didn't get to
Eric, which unbelievable.
I watched him the other night.
I went over to Paul andAnthea's place with Kelly.
(15:45):
We went over there and we haddinner and they kept asking
about Eric.
What was Ryan Reynolds like?
What was Matty Steinway?
Because you know word aboutMatty Steinway's talk had
traveled all the way down and weheard about Ryan Serhan.
So I linked into the ARICvideos and I just threw them up
on the Apple TV screen and theywere mesmerized.
Man, I had all three of those,but especially Matty Steinway
(16:06):
and Ryan Serhan.
But it's all about mindset andthat was one of the key things.
And he told some terrificstories about his real estate
career and his life prior toreal estate.
But what separates him?
And yeah, he's energetic andI'm sure he's now got good
product knowledge and he's builtsome good negotiation tactics
(16:26):
but at the end of the day, thething that separated him was his
mindset, his enthusiasm, hispassion, his belief in himself.
And that had to be learned,because when he got into real
estate he didn't have aparticular.
He got into real estate to payhis rent because New York was so
damn expensive and he was ahand model, an occasional bit
actor on a few small parts, andhe thought I'll get into real
(16:50):
estate, maybe it'll help me paythe rent.
So he didn't have a deep-seatedbelief, but he built that.
And again, I just keep sayingto people don't think you have
to be born with a deep-seatedbelief in yourself and your
ability.
You have to build it.
Like you go to the gym and youdo curls.
One strand of your muscle at atime.
Every time you do a curlstrengthens your muscle a little
(17:12):
bit more, a little bit more.
Every time you do a dailyaffirmation, every time you have
a small win.
Every time you go for a morningwalk, whatever are your habits,
each time you tick them off.
So I really encourage all ourlisteners and your gym members
really to make sure that youjust see these little, little
little things.
Nick Muzza, I told you aboutNick that you know he was, you
(17:34):
know beforehand at ARIC.
He'd stopped exercising for along time and streak starts with
one, which was ChipEichelberger's great saying, and
he's now been exercising for 17days straight.
I can hear it in his voice, tom, when I speak with him I say,
nick, you sound like a newperson, bro, like, literally
sound like a new person.
And he, just because there wasone little thing that he heard a
(17:57):
streak starts with one and10,000 push-ups is, I think, 28
a day or something, and it wasjust broken down into something
that was achievable.
Chip was very good, by the way.
I never asked you what youthought about him, but I thought
he was very good, very good.
Tom Panos (18:15):
Yeah, well, a lot of people weren't aware but chip
actually worked very closelywith uh, because a lot of people
ask me I mean, who is this guy?
He worked alongside anthonyrobbins for a fairly long period
, wasn't he?
John?
John McGrath (18:28):
yeah, probably a decade.
That's where I met him.
Um, when the first time tonyrobbins ever came to australia,
uh, ian low, who's a friend ofours and and ours and Ian was
part of the company bringing himout and he said I want to bring
this guy, chip Eichelberger, toyour office.
He's a part of Tony's forwardteam that goes ahead and talks
about what Tony's you know andbasically, you know, boil it
down.
He was there to sell ticketsright by saying here's what
(18:50):
you're going to learn.
And so that was the firstexperience I had and I just I
latched on to him.
I loved him.
He's just a terrific fella andI loved, uh, his, his technology
.
You know, I'm talking aboutmental technology, not not, uh,
computer.
Yeah, and then we went to meettony and all you know, it was
just great, but so many goodthings.
I just so excited when I waswatching with paul and anthea,
(19:11):
the, um, the, the, the videosthe other day, you know, it was
just so much fun to watch themfor the first time, watching,
you know, and listening to thesetalks.
It was really good.
So, look, I think today we'vegiven people you know, the idea
is have a number of littlerituals and strand by strand,
like building a muscle.
(19:32):
You know the compound interestfactor.
You just keep building andbuilding and you don't have to
go out and run a marathon.
All you need to do is go and doa 400-metre walk and tomorrow
do a 410-metre walk, maybe a500-metre walk the next day,
just layer upon layer, build agirl in our office 100-kilometre
(19:55):
run.
She just did.
Up until recently, fairlyrecently she wasn't a runner and
she decided she'd run.
And then she decided she'd do18 hours running.
Well, it was about 10 hoursrunning and eight hours walking,
but nonstop, you know, justwalking for a little bit of
catch your breath and then goagain, but 18 hours straight, no
stopping, no sitting down, noresting, no meals, 18 hours
(20:18):
straight.
It just shows what you can do,man.
When you put your, I was soproud of her.
Just shows what you can do.
Tom Panos (20:24):
I heard John.
Actually she said it to me.
Jeez, that reminds me back in2000.
I had a John when I got unwelland I started treatment.
They give you a social, theygive you a carer.
The person that you knowexplains it.
Let's call it an onboardingperson, case manager or
(20:45):
something.
Case manager Her name wasSandra.
I haven't seen her in ages.
What a beautiful lady.
Anyway, I said to Sandra I saidhow long have you been doing
this?
She says she's my 25th year.
I said, wow, she goes.
Any advice?
She goes, look, and you have toclimb up these stairs.
Funny, we're talking aboutstairs.
You have to climb up thesestairs to go to Gloucester House
(21:08):
where I got treated beforeLifehouse was built across the
road.
John O'Brien, chris O'Briensorry, unfortunately, chris
O'Brien.
She said to me she goes, seethose stairs there she goes.
I want you to focus not on the20th stair.
She goes.
(21:28):
All you do is you focus on thatone stair in front of you.
Those that do better aren'tworried about week 39.
They're just getting througheach day successfully and she
goes.
You do that.
You string together 100 gooddays, you're done and dusted and
life is good.
Those that think too far aheadget overwhelmed.
Worrying about the 80th stepare the people that end up
(21:49):
getting concerned should Ichange direction in what I'm
doing, this and that?
So just worry about the nextstep, not the 20th step.
John McGrath (21:57):
I just sent you, as you were saying that.
It reminded me of somethingthat I just saw on TikTok a
minute ago.
And, by the way, if you don'tfollow Tommy on TikTok, you're
mad.
I find your content fantastic.
There's another guy if youhaven't followed him, his name
is Matt Easton E?
-a-s-t-o-n.
His name is Matt EastonE-A-S-T-O-N.
I've just texted it to you.
You got it now.
I only just watched it before.
And he was talking about he saidyou know, three deals fall over
(22:21):
.
Doesn't worry me, don't eventhink about it, don't miss a
beat.
Why?
Because I have a process, Ifollow my process and I know
there'll be ups and downs.
And he said three deals gotogether.
I don't care why, because Ihave a process and I trust my
process and I work it hard.
And he said at the end of theday, don't worry about this and
(22:43):
that one, because he said youwill lose three and then you'll
pick up four and then you'llmiss one and you'll get two.
But he said you have to followa process, which is very much.
What you were just saying then,tommy, is the process is what's
the next step?
Listing a property?
What's the next step?
Prospecting?
What's the next step?
Launching a property to themarket, selling it, negotiating.
What's the next step?
Just have a process, step bystep.
(23:04):
Just follow it up.
Grab the handrails that we'vespoken about today and surround
yourself with scaffolding andhandrails that make it
impossible to miss out.
Just have those, or not missout, because you are going to
have a day where you miss a walkor you get sick or whatever,
but just basically, you want tokeep yourself on the track, on
(23:25):
the path to success, everysingle day.
This is a long game.
Don't try and be successful inthree months.
Won't happen.
But I've got to tell you, mostpeople they say what did Robin
say?
Most people overestimate wherethey can be in 12 months.
They underestimate where theycan be in three years.
So today was about really workout.
Tom Panos (23:44):
They'll be in three months.
I think you meant to say Is it?
John McGrath (23:48):
They overestimate where they can be in the short
term?
I'm going to sell 100properties in the next six
months, but they underestimatewhere they can be in three years
.
Tom Panos (23:58):
Yeah yeah.
John McGrath (23:58):
So it's all about play the long game, stick to it,
build a process, be disciplined, keep the next step.
You know I love that metaphorfrom your case manager just the
next step.
What do I have to do?
What do I have to do?
And we'll have a look at that,tommy, after this podcast, that
Matt Easton one Really reallygood Doesn't care whether the
three deals fall over.
(24:19):
It was almost like he just sitsback and he says I'm going to
process, man, I know it's goingto work and I know there's going
to be days I miss threelistings.
That's okay, because I'm goingto keep processing.
Tom Panos (24:29):
Do you reckon that was going through the Bulldogs,
coach Serraldo?
Because it's been going forabout a year and he's just kept
sticking to it and sticking toit and then, all of a sudden,
the last two months, they'vecome good.
John McGrath (24:48):
I reckon it was.
I reckon I go above him.
I reckon it's Phil Gould.
Phil has been there and donethat and had great success.
And he knows, if you create aprocess and you block out the
noise the media noise and thefan noise and everyone else
shouting and you just keepfollowing the path that you know
will lead you to success.
And you look at the Bulldogsnow.
(25:10):
I mean, who knows how long itwill last?
But gee, at the moment I thinkthey're running fifth in the
comp and they were like almostwooden spooners last year.
So, anyway, time to walk my twodash hounds.
Tom Panos (25:21):
I like it.
Hey, Johnny, they're the twobest-looking dogs in the Inner
West.
I saw them the other day atLight Car.
They're lovable, Johnny.
Do they have to wear anythingout?
John McGrath (25:35):
in the cold or they get by.
It's funny you ask that becausewhere I'm, almost because
they're so both low to theground, it's hard for them to
wear little outfits like jumpersand things.
When they're sitting down I can, but when they go for walks
I'll take them out, I'll try andkeep them moving and then I'll
pop them back in the car.
But we have a good at this timeof day.
(25:59):
We'll have a good 45-minutewalk.
Tom Panos (26:01):
And then I have the air conditioning warming the
place up, so when they come homefor dinner it's cosy and warm.
So that's the plan, all right,all right, see you, tom.
Lots of love to you.
John McGrath (26:05):
Take care.
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