I get asked the question all the time, and I thought maybe I should just address it on video. The question is, “How do I continue to operate at level 10 without burning out?”
So if we just stop for a moment and we really listen to that question, we can ascertain pretty quickly that the two ideas are mutually exclusive, because you can’t be at level 10 and be burned out. I mean, if we identify level 10 as being your best, theoretically, the better you get, the more balance you will have and the less burnout you will have to endure. I think it’s about systems. I also think it’s about belief. I’m going to address systems on a different and video, but right now I want to talk about belief.
If you’re burning out, you’re not doing it right
It’s very interesting when we talk about what really needs to happen for a business to work well. And what really needs to happen is few things need to be done really, really well by each of the individuals. And so for you, or for me, I can’t burn out unless I am working really hard and I’m terrible at what I’m doing. That’s burnout. Burnout goes away when you get better. And so in my mind, there’s a couple of really important distinctions here.
You’re not paid by how many hours you work, which is generally where burnout occurs. You’re actually paid on what you do for every hour you give to labor.
How to Work Fewer Hours and Make More Money
If you’re a commissioned mortgage originator and you make $4,000 a transaction for a family served, you could make $4,000 in an hour. So how much burnout would you have if you were really, really good and you had really good conversations with borrowers, and you could get one borrower a day in two hours of the day to not only say yes, but to do all the applications and getting ready to go and being done, what would you do with the other six hours?
Well, if you have a team, you don’t have to do anything, but the goal is not to work more hours. The goal is to get more out of the hours you work. And that’s the assignment. That is really what it comes down to. If I’m a real estate agent, I get paid to work with sellers. I get paid to work with buyers and I get paid to negotiate. And oversee my team. That’s pretty much it. I don’t need to do all the other stuff. So I need to make this really, really clear:
Burnout only happens when you’re not getting better and still working hard.
And sadly, that’s true for a lot of people. You need to understand there’s a better way. There’s a better way to do this business. There’s a better way to be efficient in conversations. Stanford University’s done some research and it’s like after 55 hours a week, no matter how many hours you work, the extra hours produce nothing. So why would I work those additional hours?
Overtime Doesn’t Work Over Time
One of the comments I make to leaders all the time is that overtime doesn’t work over time. Because overtime is like paying people to work more hours. Well, we already know that after about 50 hours, they’re not doing anything good anyway. They’re just not being efficient. So we’re paying for inefficiency. But if this gets back to just you, you avoid burnout when you achieve mastering. It’s that simple. And the reason why I invented Sales Mastery was because I want to help people become their best. I know a guy right now that last year made three and a half million dollars as a loan officer. Bought 82 rental properties and took almost 20 weeks off last year. He’s not burned out at all, at all.
What are you giving to your business?
So pay attention to your life force, pay attention to what you’re giving. You’re giving your heart, your soul and your body and your health to the business. You should not be burned out. You could be tired.
Last year, maybe you were tired because you had big pipelines and maybe this year you’re just tired, but even tired can be fixed. Do in four days what it takes you five to do and then take the fifth day off and have three days of rest, family, and whatever makes you happy.
Burnout and Success don’t go hand in hand. You can’t be your best and be burned out. Hope that helps.
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