Post by Rob Minton
Follow me on Twitter
Earlier this week I hosted a special Question & Answer conference call for Renegade Report members. Members were able to ask me any questions they had about their businesses. One of the members on the call asked me how to overcome limiting beliefs.
To be honest, it wasn't a question I expected to hear during the call. The reason I didn't expect to receive a question about limiting beliefs is because most people don't even realize that what they believe may not be accurate. They don't realize that their believe system holds them back in business and in life. They continue to cling to certain ideas that they believe to be true without any further investigation.
I certainly didn't realize my belief system was holding me back when I first started my real estate brokerage. Then I began attending mastermind meetings with entrepreneurs who had amazing businesses. These meetings helped me to see many things differently.
As an example, one person in a mastermind meeting I attended had launched a new product within his business that generated close to $2,000,000 of revenue in one month. Before hearing this and seeing it happen from the sidelines, I would never thought this was possible.
Guess what?
I had a limiting belief. Because I didn't think this was possible, I never even considered it as an option.
Seeing other people make things happen that I didn't think possible is probably one of the most important benefits of participating in various mastermind meetings. You walk out of the meeting thinking…
"If that guy can make $2,000,000 in one month, I should be able to ______________"
This change in thinking allows you to up your game. It allows you to see opportunities that you didn't believe existed before. It also allows you to try more than you would have previously tried.
The Renegade Report member who asked about limiting beliefs also asked if it was possible to write a book in a weekend. Based upon his question, it was easy to see that he had a limiting belief about how quickly someone could write a book.
To answer his question about limiting beliefs, I suggested that he block some time in his schedule and go to a coffee shop. Take a pen and a notepad. I suggested that he shut off his cell phone and then he should make a list of everything he believed about his business. You might want to do this little exercise too. I've done it many times throughout the years.
To make this process easier, you could actually make a category of beliefs on each page. The first category might be lead generation. So the question to ask yourself is: What do I believe about lead generation? Now write everything down that comes to mind.
Here are some sample limiting beliefs about lead generation that you might have:
- I have to spend money to generate leads.
- It's impossible to automatically convert leads into clients.
- I couldn't possibly generate 400 leads a month.
- I couldn't possibly handle 400 leads a month even if I could generate them.
- Lead generation is too expensive.
- My buyers agents won't call my leads.
- My leads aren't qualified.
- My leads won't sign an exclusive representation agreement.
Now on the next page, ask yourself the following question: "What do I believe about commissions and my income?" Here are some sample limiting beliefs that you might have:
- Sellers will only pay _______% (5%, 6%, etc.)
- Buyers won't pay a higher commission than what is offered in the co-broke
- My clients wouldn't pay a processing fee on top of the commission
- I couldn't possibly sell ______ homes a year.
- I'll never make a million dollars a year.
- Nobody would ever want to buy my business
You can probably get the picture of what this process looks like from these examples. Now, the next step is to go through each belief you listed and ask yourself one follow up question:
"What if this isn't true?"
This is a very powerful question to ask because it helps you challenge your belief system.
Above lets use the limiting belief that buyers won't pay a higher commission than what is offered in the co-broke. What if this isn't true? Would you change anything you were doing if this wasn't true? I would certainly hope so. I would hope that you might set your own commission rates based upon the level of services you perform. In many cases, your commission rate would be higher than what was being offered to you. Could you charge your buyers a flat fee of $2,000 plus the co-broke commission? Maybe!
Limiting beliefs can be very costly. I have them. You have them. We all have them. The trick is to realize that you have them and constantly challenge yourself to see things differently. If you can, take some time this weekend to do this limiting belief exercise. I think you'll find that it has the possibility to change your business and your life.
Before I wrap up this post, I thought I would share one of my biggest limiting beliefs. Are you ready? Here it is:
"I don't have time."
Anytime someone approached me with a new idea or a new opportunity, my first response was always, "I don't have time."
Then I asked myself: What would happen if I did have time? My life changed instantly. I found time to write two books. I found time to hire, train and recruit agents. I found time to launch several other businesses. I found a lot of time I didn't think I previously had. Maybe you have a similar limiting belief. What would happen if you did have time to pursue your new idea? What would happen if you did have time to write a book? What would happen if you did have time to start another business?
Something to think about…
