PHOTO: Mel Robbins shared the 5 Second Rule on Day 2 of AREC 2022.
Just as Day 1 delivered something for everyone, Day 2 at AREC 2022 saw plenty of laughter, a few tears and a host of inspiring takeaways. We were there for all of the action once again and have narrowed down our Day 2 highlights…
Mel Robbins
The 5 Second Rule
In one of the most highly anticipated sessions of the two-day conference, bestselling author and global personal development and transformation specialist, Mel Robbins shared a “brain trick” that enables users to interrupt habit loops and change their behaviour.
“The secret to life, to reaching business goals, to leadership and to happiness is knowing how,” she says.Mel says the 5 Second Rule is not a tactic that allows you to quickly eat food that has dropped on the floor, but instead makes you do things you know you should be doing but would otherwise be too scared to complete.
“How to make yourself do things you don’t feel like doing. How to motivate yourself when the market starts to soften.
“Everything comes down to action. You can’t think your way to more money; you can’t think your way to confidence or the courage you need to be better at prospecting.”
Mel says the 5 Second Rule is the simple task of counting backwards, ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1’, when you find yourself hesitating and overthinking a task you know you should do.
She says it’s a simple trick, but not to dismiss it because it appears so easy.
“Knowing what to do is easy, doing it is a whole different ball game, especially when you’re stressed,” Mel explains.
She says when you continually make tiny negative decisions, they have the power to take your life off-track.
In 2008, after the collapse of her family’s restaurant business, Mel and her husband found themselves $800,000 in debt. So she used the 5 Second Rule to get back on track.
Every morning when she woke up and found herself procrastinating about getting out of bed, she started counting ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1’ before getting up.
“I knew I had to get up, to start looking for a job, to stop yelling at Chris, and to stop drinking so much,” Mel explains.
“I knew I had to stop laying in bed like a pot roast marinating in fear.”
Mel says using the rule helped her get her life back on track.
She says one way to start using the rule is to set your alarm half an hour early in the morning, and as soon as you feel the urge not to get up, count backwards and then get out of bed.
“Don’t count up; it doesn’t work,” Mel says.
“Counting up is a habit stored in your subconscious. Counting back interrupts habit loops such as fear, laziness and impostor syndrome.
“Count backwards, then get up. If you can do that, you know the secret to behaviour change.”
Hanan Cawley
How to prospect fearlessly
When Hanan Cawley arrived in Australia from New Zealand 4.5 years ago, he transitioned from being a commercial fisherman to becoming a million-dollar agent in under three years.
He says the secret behind his success was learning to prospect without fear. But he insisted it was no easy task.
“I was given a phone, a laptop, scripts and dialogues and told to prospect,” Hanan says.
“I was paralysed with fear, looking at the scripts, with no idea how to get over it. I asked to be put in a back office so no one would see me fail at the scripts.
“I wasted the first three months of my career scared of prospecting, scared of the phone.”
Now with Harcourts Coastal, Hanan says three things helped him prospect fearlessly
1. Confidence
Confidence is built through consistently keeping the promises you make to yourself daily. If you say you will get up at 5am, don’t hit the snooze button the next morning.
“You’ll wonder why you’re not feeling as sharp as you could, and it’s because you told yourself you would do something, and you didn’t do it, so you believe in yourself a little bit less.
2. Consistency
You need to consistently do the tasks you know will progress you forward every day.
Similar to being a child who repeatedly gets back on their bike when they are learning to ride without training wheels, you need to get up every time you get knocked down.
3. Discipline
Most people think of discipline as restrictions, but it’s about taking enough action for long enough to make serious changes in life.
Make 50 prospecting calls every day, Monday to Friday.
“Once motivation wears off, discipline has to click in to move through the tasks.”
4. Go the extra mile
Hanan also revealed his commitment to going the extra mile for his clients to turn them into raving fans that sell with him repeatedly and send him multiple referrals.
He shared the story of a sale where the buyer arrived after settlement to find the property had not been cleaned as previously arranged.
Hanan’s cleaner was fully booked, but the buyer had a cleaner who would clean the property before it was used as an Airbnb.
So, Hanan paid the $1000 bill for the cleaner.
“I received a text saying she couldn’t believe it and 30 seconds after that, I got a referral from it,” Hanan says.
Helen Yan
Diversify how you help your clients
One of Australia’s best female agents, Helen Yan sat down for a highly-engaging Q and A with Tom Panos on the AREC stage.
The Ray White Balwyn director revealed how, early in her career, she assisted many Chinese families moving to Australia with a lot more than just real estate.
“When I started, I had no listings, and I had no idea what to do,” she says.
“Many Chinese people from overseas were coming over wanting a property in a certain school zone. I also helped by picking them up at the airport, with hotels, with showing them around and helping them get internet, phone and electricity connections.”
The pay-off is that Helen created a referral-based business, and she now doesn’t have to prospect. The business comes to her.
Five lessons in real estate
Helen also shared her most pivotal real estate lessons and the key criteria that have helped her build her successful business to the point where, in 2021, she sold $300 million worth of property despite COVID-19 lockdowns.
- Never give up. You have to make things happen. Real estate is a very tough job. No listing is easy, and vendors have very high expectations.
- Maintain your integrity and always do your best for your vendors.
- Have confidence and believe in yourself. With every property, you have to think you can do it – get the sale and get a good price.
- Good communication is essential. This business is a people business, not a selling houses business.
- Pay attention to buyers. At the moment, the market in Victoria is still very tough. People have money, but everyone is holding back, so spend time with the buyers.
