At the end of 2022 our company, The Agency, embarked on a 3-day journey in Palm Desert with 600 of our colleagues (out of the 1,500 total) and I can say it was one of the most fun, exciting, and inspirational few days of my life. Between hearing from some of the most inspiring and incredible speakers, to meeting and connecting with new people, I came back feeling reinvigorated both spiritually and professionally. I could write a pages long novel and give a play-by-play of the entire experience but that would take too long and might bore you, so instead, I’m going to just summarize my three overall takeaways of the week for you.

If you’re an agent, hopefully this gives you some of what Agency Forum gave me, which was a renewed sense or motivation and love for what I do. Real estate isnt for the faint of heart and sometimes you need a reminder why you do what you do. Agency forum was mine.

1. The first step to succeeding in your business is to BE YOURSELF. 

We hear this over and over but sometimes the meaning and importance of this message seems to get lost in translation, especially since it sounds way too simple on the surface. But this was the common theme that came up with every speaker on the stage… and they were up there because they were either a top producer or someone that brings a lot of value to their clients and therefore could bring value to the rest of us.

It was SO interesting to see so many highly successful people tout this same message. We heard various stories where agents struggled to survive in our cutthroat industry—they were doing all of the right things—prospecting, cold calling, door knocking, marketing, researching, the data points, postcards, follow-ups… But for some reason, they were still unsuccessful. One particular agent from our Agency office in Vancouver was doing all of the necessary real estate practices, all while dressing “the part”, and was still not getting any clients nor closing any deals. He was at his wit’s end and ready to quit. Then one day he decided he would do a “funny” real estate video. Everyone told him this was a stupid idea and would not position him as someone “professional” but he figured he was already at rock bottom with nothing to lose, so why not have some fun and give it a shot. Long story short, and much to his surprise, his first real estate comedy video on Instagram ended up going viral and now he is a successful realtor, who dresses how HE wants, with clients that work with him because of who he is, not who he was trying to be. 

Regardless of what industry you’re in, just know that this whole “authenticity” thing is REAL. People can sniff out the BS. Nobody wants to work with someone who is not being true to themselves. Acting in accordance with your true self will put you on your personal path to success, and will also attract the type of people that you want to work with and that want to work with you. 

2. A strong mindset is what will keep you motivated through the highs and lows. 

Another thing that came up throughout the conference by almost every speaker was, of course, mindset. Again, no surprise here but it’s always a good reminder to hear from successful people re: how they achieve their goals and how they maintain a positive and strong mindset. Many of them discussed their morning routine and how it serves as a foundation for starting the day off on the right foot. Their morning routines were similar in that these people start their mornings by waking up early, meditating (either solo or using an app for 10 minutes to 1 hour for some!), exercising, hydrating, and limiting their screen time. We’ve all heard it before, but I still like getting reminded that people who are thriving, truly do stick to their morning routines—and routines in general—that are non-negotiable. This creates order in your life, and while order seems limiting, it’s actually liberating if you don’t overthink it, or give yourself options or excuses to do anything else other than what you’ve committed to doing. 

Another thing is that a strong mindset doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a muscle that needs to be worked every day. And it starts with awareness. At the conference, I was reminded of the book “The Power of Now” (it’s on my list of go-to personal growth books) and of how important it is to not let the worries of your past and of your future keep you from doing the things you need and want to do NOW, including the difficult things that we know we need to do, as well as enjoying and living life in the present moment. Because the present moment is really all that we have. Anxiety stays strong within us as we’re constantly worrying about the past and the future. However, when you’re singularly focused on the present, most of the time a lot of that anxiety subsides because it’s not real. This mindset does not mean you shouldn’t make goals or plans for the future, but those goals and plans don’t need to manifest in the form of anxiety. 

3. Resilience and Determination 

Two of our keynote speakers, while making the conscious choice to embody those characteristics that I already mentioned above (being authentic and having a strong mindset), brought forth two more ideas that are the final piece of the puzzle that I saw as a further common denominator amongst all of the highly successful individuals that spoke on that stage that week.  

This first person that exemplified all of these characteristics beautifully was Molly Bloom, who inspired the blockbuster movie-hit “Molly’s Game”—a MUST SEE if you haven’t already. Her story is insane with the underlying message being about resilience, determination, and going from having everything to nothing and having to build yourself from the ground up—multiple times at that. I was lucky enough to get to meet her afterward and I was in awe of her, especially because although her story shows her as someone who is fearless and fierce, she was actually different off the stage. She was quiet, shy even, and this intrigued me. I asked her how she became so fearless in her life and she said 1) that’s how her father raised her and her brothers, and 2) that she is not fearless, but she is resilient. She felt the grief, the pain, and the losses in her life but then always remembered to get back up on her own two feet again and start fresh. And each time, with all of the odds stacked against her quite literally, she was able to do just that—start over and look forward, while remaining grounded in the present moment. 

Second was Ed Mylett—our final keynote speaker who imbued so much wisdom upon all of us, that the entire room was left sobbing our eyes out when he was done speaking. I had never been so moved listening to someone speak on a stage in my life. I won’t go into ALL of the details but I will discuss a few of the things that he spoke about that resonated the most with me. 

He was not born with confidence. In fact, he had an extremely traumatic childhood and struggled with self-confidence his entire life until the moment he saw his father become sober. This showed him that people can change, and for him, that meant that he could change too. He didn’t need to compare his life to his past or have his past create a narrative in him that would hinder him for the rest of his life. He realized he had the power somewhere within him, and that he could become a confident person if he wanted to be one. He just needed to do what nobody else was willing to—like wake up earlier and work harder than everyone else. Keep the promises that he made to himself. And he knew he was WILLING to do the work and honor those commitments to himself. 

He also knew that to start, he could actually have confidence right away. Not with his abilities, but with his intentions. He became so passionate and so confident that he could help other people, that he led with that, even without any proof of it working at first. He was so confident with his intentions, that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy that in turn grew into confidence in his abilities, which continued to further compound and has now helped millions of people around the world. I LOVE this message because it’s so freeing… you don’t have to necessarily be confident in your abilities, but you can be confident in your intentions RIGHT NOW regardless of what they are. When you lead with confidence in your intentions, that will then breed true confidence. 

Ed also discussed the power of one more, which goes back to an old principle/adage that is about bettering yourself just a little bit each day. I love this because it’s a tangible way to improve without feeling overwhelmed. Whether it’s one extra push-up or rep in your workout, or making one more prospecting call that you did yesterday, or telling your significant other that you love them one extra time… you can always improve with the power of one more. 

I hope these important takeaways that I learned can inspire you to become the best version of yourself, whatever that means to you.

xx Farrah