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Oh, how we love the idea of “hustle”. It’s part of that culture of busy, busy, busy … go, go, go. Sometimes, it even becomes a competition of who’s the busiest, the most stressed, the most committed to the grind.
In today’s society, there is often a glorification of the hustle culture that emphasises working long hours and sacrificing personal time for professional success.
However, this mentality can be harmful and limiting, as not everyone thrives under those conditions.
In our world of real estate, productivity and success can be achieved in many different ways. What I often see, however, is that many are confusing ”busyness” or the ”hustle” with productivity.
Productivity
Being productive is when you are able to punch out one or two hours of prospecting calls, have critical conversations with your vendors, and delegate non-critical tasks each day.
You know exactly the activity required to achieve the results, and you get in, then get it done, as part of an effective work routine.
Busyness
Busyness, on the other hand, is the opposite.
It’s when we lean into the ”easy” and ”more comfortable” areas of work like getting letterbox flyers printed and folded instead of delegating it to someone else, or filtering through our contact lists looking for the easy call to make.
It’s working on the right script before making the call, instead of just getting on with it. Truth be told, I see a lot of what I’ve just listed above.
And yes, when you do these tasks, you do indeed appear busy. You are absolutely hustling with your nose to the grindstone – but are you really getting things done?
Don’t be kung fu fighting
If you find yourself guilty of being busy rather than productive, then I’d like to draw your attention to the 1970s hit song Kung Fu Fighting.
You might have heard me make mention of this song before, but its lyrics serve as a reminder that not everyone has to hustle to be productive.
By way of a little music history, the song is written about a group of youngsters doing mock kung fu moves in the street. They don’t land punches but instead go through the motions and mimic fight moves made famous by the likes of Bruce Lee.
If we’re busy but not productive in our real estate careers, we are kung fu fighting. We are going through the motions but have little to show for that busyness and those activities in terms of results and outcomes.
So, the next time you feel pressure to hustle and work long hours or find yourself leaning into comfortable tasks rather than diving in and getting those dollar-productive activities done, listen to Carl Douglas’ tune on Spotify and remind yourself a great real estate career isn’t about kung fu fighting.
It’s about doing the right activity at the right time. And trust me, I’ve seen people do one hour of work and achieve much more than someone doing a full day’s work.
Remember, long hours at work, sacrificing your personal time for professional success doesn’t automatically guarantee the right results if it’s hustle for the sake of hustle or grind for the sake of grind.
Instead, lose the hustle, drop the moves, embrace productivity, and do what you know needs to be done.
Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents’Agency.
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