Just 2 Minutes - Interviews by Kamil Sarji

48 - Entrepreneurship Mindset: Leading with Vision in Real Estate

• Kamil Sarji • Episode 48

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Success in real estate isn’t about following a script — it’s about stepping into leadership with vision and confidence. Josh Vanada, business and leadership coach, joins Kamil Sarji to unpack what it truly means to lead yourself and others in business.

From breaking free of limiting mindsets to applying blueprints with intentional action, this conversation dives into the habits, mindset shifts, and leadership principles every entrepreneur needs. Whether you’re a new realtor learning to navigate clients or a seasoned pro looking to scale with purpose, these insights will help you sharpen your edge and own your future.

Discover how vision-driven leadership can transform not just your business, but also the way you connect with clients and build a sustainable career.

Whether you're a seasoned agent looking to stay ahead, a newcomer eager to learn, or a client seeking reliable real estate advice, "Just 2 Minutes" offers a wealth of information in a convenient and enjoyable format. Join us as we explore tips, tricks, and insights from industry leaders and professionals that can help you navigate the dynamic world of real estate.

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Welcome everybody, I'm Kamil Sarji, the host of Just Two Minutes, and today I have Josh here. Josh, you wanna tell us about yourself? Hi everyone, I'm Josh Veneta. I do leadership business coaching as well as strategic advising. And so I think the easiest way, I get asked a lot about what it is that I do, is actually just to share a story. About one year ago, one of my clients hired me and said, hey look, I'm working 80 hours a week and I actually want to, I wanna work less. I just got married and my wife's really not up for this. And so he ended up hiring me and three months into it, he sent me an email saying, hey I'm thinking about expanding the business. And so now he's actually expanded his business out into Iowa and he's working 40 hours a week versus working 80 hours a week. And the way we did that together was to figure out what it was that he really wanted and then to create an intentional plan around that and work together to achieve it. Nice, that's awesome. And you're here so we can talk about business and real estate and people not knowing, yeah, because you can run a really good real estate team but running the business is completely different mindset, different things. So yeah, I'm really excited to have you here. But first we have our just two minutes. So, I have my timer here. Are you ready for? Let's go. And, so if it's green, mushy, does that mean it's guacamole? I think it's likely. I think it's likely. If it's green, it's mushy, it's probably guacamole, yeah. Okay. Who's, like what, if you look at like all the animals, I'm looking for not just not the fastest runner but the longest runner out of these two. An elephant and a hippo. I'm gonna say it's probably gonna be an elephant. For the long run, right? For the long run, yeah. Because they're used to being outside of the water. The hippos have to cool off. Hmm, okay. So if someone says it's true, how do you know it's really, that they're really saying that it really is true and they're not trying to get your social security number? Oh, so like if somebody's calling me. I would say trust but verify. I think that's a great Ronald Reagan maxim. So figure out how we could verify that what they're actually saying is really true. Okay, how would you verify someone? I think I would probably ask, I would ask to either call them back or do some more research or something like that. Okay. And so if an AI Jesus was talking And so if an AI Jesus was talking to you and telling you, hey, everybody should be nice and not fight, would you believe that? I think if AI Jesus was talking to me, he would probably say that my grace is sufficient, my mercy is inexhaustible, and my love is unconditional. Okay, awesome. Awesome. I know they say when it rains, it pours, but when it snows, it... Presumably, if you carry the analogy out, it would be it blizzards. It would blizzard. Nice. What do you think? It's funny. I mean, that's not the type of stuff that I typically do, but it's fun. I mean, it's creative. It helps us to not take ourselves so seriously, which I think is important. Yeah. All right, so really excited to talk about real estate business. But I mean, as far as what you do and how you've changed people's way of thinking and even running their businesses, pretty impressive. What do you think people don't notice when they're going into a business? Oh, man, that's a great question. I mean, I think there's probably a lot of things and it varies. I think what I would say is kind of a general or an umbrella statement would be, we don't know what we don't know. And there's this great story from good to great, Jim Collins book, what's called the Stockdale Paradox. And there was this guy from the Navy. And there was this guy from the Navy. His name was Jim Stockdale and he was shot down in North Vietnam. And he ended up in this prison camp called the Hotel Hanoi, which was one of the most vicious in that war. He was there for eight years and he ended up getting released at the end of the war. He made it the whole time. And so Collins had an opportunity to interview him and he said, hey, what happened there? Like, tell me, what was it like in there? You know, a lot of people died, who died? And he said, well, actually, it's interesting you ask that. He said, the people who died first were the optimists and they died of a broken heart. The people who died second, pessimists. Okay, well, what about the survivors? He said, we never lost hope in the fact that in the end, we could get out with the fact that we were currently going through hell. And I think there's a real sobriety and a willingness to confront what's going on and not losing hope in the entrepreneurial journey. And I think when we lean too heavily in one of those two areas, that's actually when we get ourselves in trouble. It can be that we will succeed and it's extraordinarily difficult. And I think having that type of sobriety when we're going into business is super important. Wow, that's a crazy story. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, it's a really amazing story. Because I mean, like, you know, being in that, I don't know, how would you feel? Like, I would probably be optimistic and probably die. But yeah, I've thought about that often. I mean, when I read that, I was like, I probably would have been one of the first ones to die because the people were thinking, okay, I'm gonna, you know, we're recording this in July. You know, I'll be out by the end of the summer. And the end of summer comes and you're not released and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas. And they eventually, he actually, I think the quote is they eventually died of a broken heart. So I think that's probably, I relate to that. I probably would be an incredible optimist. Yeah, wow. The determination just to, wow, that's goodness. So in business, surviving is the way to go? I think, well, I think it's, I mean, they actually think it's about perseverance. And I think what's underneath that is a sobriety about, like, how are things actually going? I mean, you network a lot, you host networking events. How many times do you ask people how they are? And what's their, what's the de facto response? Good, great. Yeah, like, what does that even mean? Yeah, or you have those moments, right? And I mean, we've all been guilty of this, I'm sure, where you ask somebody how they're doing and they're like, great. Oh, you should tell your face that. Right? And so I think it's, I actually don't, I don't think it's, I think it's sobriety on the one hand and just being willing to be super honest about where things are. And then figuring out that we still can achieve the goals we want, the outcomes that we want, but it's taking the continuous small steps to get towards that. We're not stuck and we don't have to stay there, but we have to have a starting place and a destination. Those are both necessary for us to figure out how to make a successful journey. If I asked you how you were gonna get to a particular location, you'd be like, well, where am I going? And if I said, well, I'm not really sure, how could you ever get there? Yeah. And if you didn't know where you were starting from, same thing. It's like when your phone's in a GPS and you're in an area, say, you're up in Vermont or something and it can't find actually where you are. Well, it can't give you directions. Right. And so I think there's actually a really cool metaphor there about figuring out what's going on, figuring out where you really wanna be, and then charting a map to get there. And then it is about perseverance. I think perseverance has a lot to do with success in business. Not in like a rah-rah type, but life's unfair. Business throws you curveballs you don't expect. How do you adapt to those and overcome those challenges? I've thought about it this week. So someone starts a business, and I think entrepreneurs are different than regular people. Entrepreneurs are different thinkers because the worker that goes to the nine to five, they rely on that, and that's how they make their money. But entrepreneur mindset is, I don't need to rely on someone else. I'm in charge of my future. Exactly. But to make it successful, I think, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs probably see this, they give up so quickly. Like it could be their first year they give up or second year. But I think anybody can run a business eventually and be successful eventually. Like if they had no other choice in life but to like, this is my calling, this is my business that I need to make successful, I have no other option. Then year one, they're failing. Year two, they're failing. Three, it could take them a longer time. But different people have that timeline, have different timelines of how long it'll take them to get successful. Is that right, you think? Yeah, I think it's 100% accurate. And I think comparison, I can't remember who it was, but saying comparison is the thief of joy. And I think that that's actually true. I had an interesting story when I started my coaching business, and I thought I was gonna go out there and I was gonna crush it, right? I mean, we all do when we're starting a business or a new endeavor. And I did not crush it. And it wasn't that I actually couldn't do the work, it's that I couldn't get clients. And so about, I'm trying to think, about a year, about six months in, I hired my own coach. And that would prove to be incredibly transformative. It was amazing, the blind spots that I had. She would have said, she said six months into our working together, it was so funny. She said, you know, Josh, when I first met you, you were so needy. And I mean, we had such a laugh over it. And I still laugh about it to this day, because she was right, she was 100% right. But I couldn't see that, because I thought I was just going out and trying to do my best, right? And then about eight months into working with each other, my business really took off. And now my practice is full, and it's really fun. But I think part of what happened that year in August was I doubled down on it. And I said, this is all I'm gonna focus on. I had some other things I was working on, some other hobbies that were quasi-business interests, and I said, I'm just gonna go all in on coaching. And that was a complete game changer. But I think you made a really key statement. I don't even know if you realize how powerful it was. The idea that when we put our focus directly onto one thing, and failure is not an option, because it's the only thing we're doing. We're literally putting our chips all in. That's when things change. But what I see often is, we're throttling our effort. And there's many different reasons for that. It could be, I don't wanna look silly by going all in. It could be that I'm afraid to go all in. And on the one hand, it could be the imposter syndrome, which I think is the more classic. But I actually think there's another kind of fear about going all in. We actually don't know what we could really achieve if we set ourselves to it. And I think that type of power can be intimidating, even when we see it inside of ourselves. And so I think sometimes it's easier to choose not to live into that. But I think, yeah, I do see that a lot. And I think everyone's journey is different. We shouldn't be living our lives on Instagram Reels, and seeing the best moments of everybody else's life. No one is, or I should say very few people are publishing the moments in which they're struggling. And it's actually in those places where we learn the most and we grow the most. Yeah, I remember seeing all these super successful speakers, they talk about the struggle to get to where they are. They talk about reaching the lowest of low, foreclosing on their home, repossessing of their cars. Like they hit the bottom bottom. Too bad there's no way to accelerate that and say, like, all right, I'm gonna start a business and get an injection. And you're like, oh my gosh, I gotta make this video. I gotta make this work. And not worry about all the other stuff. Yeah, I mean, I talk sometimes with people who are, we call it catastrophizing. You know, they're looking at like, they could be like, well, it's a little overcast today. Oh, we're gonna get a tornado. You know, it's like, well, actually no, it's just a little overcast. We're not gonna get a tornado. And so I think, you know, you have that on the one hand, but I think it is helpful to look and say, what's the worst thing that happened? Well, this doesn't work and I'll go get another job. Like at the beginning, it's like, oh, okay. Yeah, that's what I would do. And so I'm just gonna, but I wanna give it my all. I remember one time I was sitting with a, I was in the car business before this and I was sitting with a dealer and he was interviewing me for a job. The general sales manager had left. He wanted to hire me and I said to him, okay, he said, everything's really good, Josh. He said, I think, you know, I'd like to move forward. I said, great. I said, there's only one thing left. He said, what is it? I said, you have a horrible reputation for micromanaging people. I said, and here's the deal. I said, you wanna be successful, obviously. I wanna be successful, obviously. But the only way I'm gonna be able to help this team is the way I know. And I said, so I'll take this job if you'll let me do it my way. And if it doesn't work, you can fire me and I'll take it like a man. And if it does work, you look like a genius. And so, I mean, and we had a great run together. You know, and we still talk to each other today. I mean, yeah, we had an awesome run together. It's not a bad story. A lot of people hear that story and they're like, oh my goodness, did you like even get the job? And it's like, no, he actually sat back in his chair and he smiled like this and he went like that. I mean, he was actually pleased that somebody who was gonna work for him would have the courage to speak into that. Yeah. And so, I think that's, I mean, that's kind of at the core of it when we can go all in. And I also think there's another piece to that, which is, I tell everybody that's ever worked for me, I want us to make as many non-life-threatening mistakes as we possibly can as soon as we can. Because that means we can accelerate our rate of learning and we can accelerate our rate of growth and we can accelerate our success. It sounds like something that should be on a T-shirt or on a book or something like that, but it's actually, stuff like that is simple. I mean, if we actually go out and learn, you know, think about networking events in your industry. You know, maybe you're coaching an agent or something and they're really struggling and you're asking how many networking events they're going to and they stopped going to network events two weeks ago because they weren't working, as opposed to figuring out why they weren't working, iterating, implementing new things, figuring out what worked, changing the rest, and continuously being in that iterative cycle where then all of a sudden they can start to see some success and get some referrals out of it. Yeah. The crazy thing is, like, for these people who are starting their business, they're not, they don't, like, they have people who are in the industry, successful, giving them the blueprints. Like, you do this and you'll be successful. And they still don't or kind of like hesitant to trust that. Yeah, are you familiar with Gallup StrengthsFinder? Have you ever heard of that? Yeah, so one of mine is something called individuation. And it basically means that I could see you as an agent and maybe, you know, know some other agents, and while you guys are doing the same things, I could see your own unique strengths. Oh, cool. And I think one of the things that we often miss is we think, I have a headache, I'm gonna take two aspirin, and I'm gonna be good. If you just follow this blueprint, you'll be successful. There's actually another, there's another element in there, which is, it's a softer element, which we can't measure. We could look at something and say, oh, did you go to these 10 networking events? Yeah, did you make these Instagram posts? Yeah, but no one could do this show like you can. And so what we're not measuring and what we're not looking at is actually how is that person showing up to follow that blueprint? Are they coming at it afraid? Are they timid? Are they standing in the corner at networking events? So it's not necessarily about the tactics, it's how we do the work. And I think what the most successful salespeople I've ever seen are the ones who do the work in the fullness of their own personality. It's not that it gets diminished, it actually gets enhanced and strengthened. And it looks as if they are fully alive, because in fact, they are. And there's something inherently charismatic about us as human beings, particularly in sales, that invites us to those types of things. So I think their blueprints work great, but it's actually about the application of those blueprints that matters more than the blueprint itself. So kind of like do that, do the blueprint, but in your own way. Yeah, or maybe the way I might do it would be saying, hey, this is what we have found has been really successful. I'm curious what in here looks the most natural to you, and how would you implement that? Oh, cool. And so what happens in that moment, the difference is between saying, here's the blueprint, do it your own way, and asking them the question, is now they're taking ownership over what's in that blueprint. That blueprint's becoming their own, and they're adopting it for themselves, and they're seeing themselves in it. As opposed to, Camille gave Josh a blueprint. Well, you know what, Camille? The reason this blueprint doesn't work is because it's yours. Whereas if you ask me those questions that I just asked you, and I'm looking at that thing, and I'm working on trying to implement it, it's actually my plan now. And so I'm going back to you saying, hey, Camille, I'm working on the blueprint. Notice I didn't say your plan. I said the blueprint. And this is what's working, and this isn't. It's the difference between, you know, when I was in the car business, the end of my career as a GM, and customers would come up, and I always knew what kind of conversation I was in. But the beginning phrase, it was either, I bought, and they were about to tell me how happy they were, or they said, you sold me, and they were about to tell me how frustrated they were. Do you see the difference in that? In one, they took agency. It was their own good decision. In the other one, they're blaming somebody else, because it didn't work. So I would say yes to the blueprint, and load it with questions on how somebody could see themselves implementing it. Wow, cool. Yeah, I'm actually putting together like a 20-question questionnaire thing for an agent to fill out. And then from that, we're able to create a blueprint that works for them to do their business, yeah. So yeah, but I never thought of it that way. I've thought of it like, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, one of the things, I mean, I use the same methodology in business planning with every one of my clients. The methodology doesn't change. What's produced out of the methodology is really fascinating. It would be interesting, as you're framing your 20 questions and thinking through that blueprinting process, if you had a process to actually, that would guide them through it, so at the end, they were producing their own plan, but it was something that you just helped to guide them through as a kind of an operating system or something like that. That would be really, really cool. Yeah, yeah, I remember when I started in the real estate, I was like, oh, I gotta be professional. I gotta be like, ah, you know, my reputation. Like, you know, I can't be silly. I can't be myself. I just gotta be like, hey, everybody, I'm Camille Sargi, blah, blah, blah. But then, a couple years ago, I was like, screw it. I'm just gonna be myself. What's the worst that can happen? People are not gonna wanna work with me? That's fine, because I don't wanna work with that person, because they don't mesh with me. It's probably better. 100%, I had a really painful experience, which was catalytic for my business, probably about a year and a half ago or so, and I was on a nonprofit board, and the president and CEO of this organization was a good friend of mine. We had known each other for almost 15 years, and the organization wasn't doing very well. I was challenging some things that were going on. It was clear we were kind of drifting apart. Things came to a head while I was on a trip in Florida, and I came back and said, hey, I wanna meet, and so I went into his office and just said, and I brought with me my letter of resignation. I said, look, our friendship's more important to me than anything else. I don't wanna do this anymore. This is stupid, and he looked across the table from me and he said, you wanna know why people don't like you? Now, this is unsolicited advice. Yeah, that's how he began. He goes, it's because you're too much like a priest. People don't want somebody like that to coach them, and I was like, that's really interesting, and in the moment, I was so stunned. I wish I actually asked him what he meant by that. Now, following, what is it, a year and a half, almost a year and a half later, one of the things my clients tell me now they love the most about me is just how human I am, that I'll relate to them, meet them where they're at, and we just work on it together, and that I never stop seeking to draw the best out of them, but I'm not doing it in a way that's like, I'm not beating them, and so it's ironic, and I think dovetails really well with what you were just saying is I decided after that, I'm like, well, I'm certain there are people who actually want a more human approach, and so I'm just gonna go out and find them, and I did. So, I mean, amen to your story, yeah, 100%, 100%. Yeah, because I think in our industry, people that work with agents, they think they own them. Yeah, I've seen that. It's a very interesting phenomenon. Hmm, yeah, and because of that, they want you to do what they want, even to put offers in the way they want, and not kind of trusting you, but that's the most important part is the trust has to be there, and I think agents get too, I don't wanna say desperate, but that they need the business, so they work with them, and they get miserable, and versus working with someone who matches you, but when you meet someone, how do you tell them? Like, we're not gonna mesh well. We're not gonna be a good fit for each other, so maybe you should work with another agent. I think kind of like that. I mean, you know, it's really tough to say that to someone. Yeah, it is, but you know what? It's actually a kindness to them, and I think it has more integrity than working with somebody that you really don't like. I think one of the things that I've learned over the past year and a half or so, and I've ended up working with a lot of salespeople. Honestly, at the beginning, I resisted it, but I had trained salespeople now for almost 20 years, and I resisted it just because it was like, I didn't think it was really my core client, but after like the third or fourth person who came and said, would you work with me, that was a salesperson, I was like, okay, fine. One of the things that I've been working on teaching salespeople over the past year and a half, specifically, but probably longer, I've had better language for it, is creating agreements. And so when I meet somebody and they're like, I'd like to work with you, my response is, hey, you know what, that's terrific. I'm really excited to learn more about what it is that you're working on, and let's make sure it's a good fit, because you have to trust me, and I have to know that the thing you wanna build, I can actually help you, and I have to make sure there's alignment too. And so let's just get together and we'll talk about it together. And we set it up right from the beginning that this actually isn't a fait accompli. Like, they don't have the obligation to become a client, and I don't have the obligation to become their coach. And that's not rude. I think there's actually a good slowing down in that enrollment process there. And then I think the second thing is creating agreements. Because so often in sales, what happens is, you have a client who has expectations that are based on absolutely nothing other than what they want. And you have a salesperson, a real estate agent, a car salesperson, you know, payroll, whatever. And they're trying to keep their client happy, but there's no shared agreements between the two on how they'll communicate with each other, what the timeline is between communications, et cetera, et cetera. And so if we did more of the work up front, we're gonna get more of the clients we want, and the process is gonna be so much easier for everybody. You know, it says right in my agreements to my clients that I will get back to them within 48 hours, which I will. Most of the time, I'm getting back to them within a few. But there are some instances where life gets busy, where I'll need the two full days to get back to them over email, or something like that. And I think that's a real opportunity that salespeople miss, to be leaders over the process. Clients become more demanding, generally, when they feel like the person is not leading the process. And I think the story you just, you know, the example you just brought up, I think is actually really a good one. And so, that's kind of my response, and my thinking around that is, I think creating more agreements, having an enrollment process, as opposed to just, you know, being excited that somebody wants to work with you, and just signing them up. Not all clients are good clients. And that doesn't make the client bad, and that doesn't make the realtor or salesperson bad. It just means it's not a good fit. And if we spent more time on fit, then we'd get more referrals, because they're gonna introduce more people like them. To me, it just seems like a more scientific way to engineer business. Wow. You are human. Goodness, like, seriously. I love it, I love you. Yeah, you're awesome. Don't listen to that. I mean, you obviously didn't listen to him, but you, yeah, yeah, I love the way you think, and, like, you know, think things through. Thank you. we as agents, if we're working with a buyer, we have to do a buyer agreement. And, you know, there's a lot of that in there. But, yeah, I think you're right, like, setting the expectation in the beginning, or so they know what to expect from you. Yeah, good stuff. I had a story, I was in a networking group one time, or meeting, and I was listening to a story about this prospective buyer who fired their real estate agent because they were on an airplane and didn't respond to the message. I was, like, I was aghast at that. I mean, I understand it's a now business. But, on the one hand, why didn't we have some clarity around that? Why didn't somebody know that you're gonna be traveling, or whatever else? I mean, the whole thing was just, like, crazy. And then, yeah, a particular agent was, like, you know, I'll always answer my phone. And I'm, like, well, be careful what you create. Because when you get a call at 11 o'clock on a Saturday night, or at six o'clock on a Sunday morning, and I'm always available, just understand you're always available. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's good, good point. Wow, it's got me thinking about, because we have a buyer presentation that we do with everybody. And I think adding that into that, setting the expectation of, if you try to reach me, you have to give me this much time to be able to respond. Don't expect me to respond back within five, 10, 15, 30 minutes. Sometimes there's, you know, I'm in showings. And so, that's very important. And I think, as agents, we all say that. I'm always available. Sitting at my phone, waiting for your text, or waiting for your phone call to answer it. Yeah, I mean just on the human aspect, I mean, what a what a what an anxious way to live Yeah, you know, I mean for everybody. Yeah, it's like we're and You know for someone who spends their their working hours helping people be more intentional. There's nothing intentional about that It's entirely it's not even responsive. It's reactive And it's tough to build something When we're always waiting for something to come in to tell us what we need to do. I think there's actually nothing Offensive there's nothing structural There's nothing foundational about that at all. And so I think that it really causes us to live a more intentional life And I actually think our unhappiness problem revolves around that as a society I mean you read all these world happiness reports and like, you know They're doing those dives and I think our lack of happiness actually has to do with our lack of intentionality. We're we're unintentionally, but Actually willfully living the life that we think makes us look great but if we got to you know, 50 or 60 or whatever and we're like, hmm, I wonder what I What did I do all those decades like why was I doing that I was making all these people happy and I wasn't like And that's where resentments build up So I think some interesting stuff in there that I think happens inside of us and I think when I listen to a salesperson tell me they're really pissed that This client is expecting them to be on all the time and then they simultaneously say I'm always available. I'm like Physician heal thyself. I mean, what are you upset about you literally said I'm always available and they're holding you to exactly what you said Yeah So yeah, I think it's I think it's an important thing. Yeah, that's awesome so You know after someone starts their business and you know, whatever that whatever their timeline is to be successful Or to be busy. Mm-hmm. I think there's Yeah again, it's the Having no other option but to move forward and succeed. So once they do once they become successful and started getting busy Then they get overwhelmed. Mm-hmm and then they're like Should I tone this down a little bit? Should I not and then they get into the okay. How can I? Take on more and be able to so they start trying to like design that but for people who get overwhelmed Do you see some tiptoeing backwards and Sabotaging their business. Yeah, I mean it's it's an interesting thing. I Think burnout is a real problem with entrepreneurs for sure, and I think I'll tell you an interesting story. So I had my boss had called me in January I just come back from teaching for the United States Chamber of Commerce at this engagement And I loved it. And so I just wrote about this on my blog, but you know, there's a there's a coca-cola napkin That's framed in my office That says, you know, I would rather take a temporary pay cut and do work that matters then continue on as a car dealer This is really coming into focus because I wanted to be a coach for almost a year ten years. Excuse me. Yeah So I told my boss I was leaving and he said hey, will you like will you hang around and I said Yeah, I will I mean he goes We're gonna look for your replacement, but would you kind of hang around and like consult? No, just like help us but help us bridge the gap. Okay, okay and so I'm like Yeah, I think I will I mean they were great to me and this is a in the car business This is a highly unconventional arrangement like you give your notice and like, yeah, you know immediately they're like, okay We're on our way to pick up your keys. Actually, you know what? We're not even good like leave immediately like yeah Yeah And get out and and get out of there But I think I didn't I didn't realize coming out of that like how burnt out I was and so for months I actually just like rested and I played golf and all that kind of stuff And so I think related to that is yeah, I wasn't doing anything. That was like really fulfilling to me And so I I think I do see some sort of decline But once I got back into that I think there was like for me personally was it like those really clicking the story I shared before my the two-minute segment earlier with somebody who's like, hey I just want you to come in and help me work less hours and now his business is up, you know I don't know 25% last year. He's on pace for another 25% increase this year You know, that's significant and it's material but it's about getting really serious and sober-minded about what it is that we want And I think for me I was spending a lot of time chasing things that I actually didn't really want and so I Think that's that's the real matter of it is what what does success actually look like and it's a it's a process I think we need following them what the people who are really really really good. I mean Tom Brady Michael Jordan They fell in love with the process and they just wanted to get better You know, I'm a golfer we were talking about that before we started recording and The more you worry about what you're gonna shoot the worse your score is but if you just go out there and enjoy every shot and when you hit a bad shot you forget it and you move on to How you make that in the next shot the best? That actually seems to me to matter the most and what I found is the moment when we can refocus ourselves We come up with a real plan Directionally that we want to go. I go into the my first follow-up quarterly meeting with a client And they're like Josh. We're already like three quarters of the way to our yearly goals and it it never fails Because what happened was we got serious about what mattered and we can actually do more in a shorter period of time than we can imagine When we give it our real focus. So I think that's actually what's going on In the midst of it is there's a bunch of other voices going on and we lose sight of why did we actually get into? This what is it that we want out of it for me? My sole motivation and starting my business was freedom it was financial freedom. It's the freedom to set my own schedule it's the freedom to be home and be the dad and the husband that I really want to be and everything else Including my business has to serve that purpose Not the other way around. Yeah So I think in answering your question. Yeah, I do see things that slide back but it's very easily correctable Hmm, and this is a great time of year for people to be doing it You know, it's you think about how many people go away on vacation, right and they come back and you know Maybe you're talking to a close friend or something. They're like, oh, it's such a great time on vacation I think I'm gonna change jobs Yeah, how many times does that ever happen? Right? Oh, yeah but it's because we actually have the opportunity to slow down and think about what we really give a damn about and that makes a Really really significant difference And I would argue That we ought to live our lives at a pace similar to that so we can be attentive to what's actually happening But we're running from thing to thing to thing I mean, I'm sure if you pulled out your calendar for the rest of the day, it's full You know I'm gonna go and meet with three or four of my clients after I'm I'm done here like, you know I was with an executive director of a nonprofit last week and we were talking about calendaring and she's a really really bright woman and she said Yeah, I run from meeting to meeting to meeting and I was like, yeah I said I used to do that and then I put in 15-minute breaks in between and I was like the 15-minute break you just go stand outside and Just take a deep breath and totally just get to chill out and it's I mean There's actually scientific research to support that it resets your nervous system That's interesting. Yeah, it's really really interesting stuff So I know you asked about backsliding in business, but I think all of this stuff really matters I Hired my own coach. I said, what kind of coaching do you do? She said I do a mindset and transformational coaching I was like, oh that's interesting. Yeah, okay And I was like, yeah, I'm hiring her because she's grown a coaching business like in my mind. I have said what I've realized now is that Business bleeds into personal and personal bleeds into business this idea that you know You're gonna drive your car up here to meet with me and you get out of the car and whatever happened before this morning is like somehow forgotten and like Segmented is crazy. It's it's loony. And so I actually think you know, if all of this stuff is like well, yeah But I want to grow my business. I Would say that this actually is how you grow your business Like it's doing it's taking breaks. It's being intentional. It's it's really doing all the stuff. We're kind of unpacking today Otherwise, we're just gonna get whatever the market gives us. Yeah, and isn't it convenient to just blame the market and yet somehow The good ones they defy the market. Yeah Yeah Yeah, and I I actually journaled when I was on vacation saying like the pretty much the the gist of the whole vacation journaling was vacation and time off is Important to grow my business Amen because that's the only time I get to slow down even though I'm I mean I'm working but um, you know chill and I'm like forecasting the future trying to figure out where do we want to be as a brokerage in the next five years ten years and Really planning that out and I don't get to do that when I'm running the day-to-day Operation. Yeah, it's true. It's a hundred percent. So Every year we take two days away with my clients and I take two days away To work on doing something like that and every quarter we come back to it for half day off-site Lunch the whole nine yards just to slow down and take like to take stock of what were the wins What were the disappointments? Where we need to be in the next 90 to get us where we want to go and then monthly, you know You you're working on Just making sure that it's like a mini quarter we've got to make sure that all all three periods actually use a hockey analogy are aligned so that we get where we want to Be in that quarter and then when the four quarters add up we have a good we have a good game So, yeah, I think that's and that stuff's really really really important I actually found that I communicate with my coach probably more when I'm on vacation than when I'm working Oh just because of the the amount of creativity. Yeah, that's going on to your point. It's amazing the ideas We have we go to Lake George every August. I'm saying our third or fourth and I look forward to that vacation every year I don't work but inevitably work comes into my mind and there's some incredible creativity and refreshment that happens as a result of that So, yeah, it's cool. Yeah, Ashley and I started what is it January? We went away to Kind of like to planning like yeah, and Kind of like where do we want to take the business? How do we get there? You know kind of planning out the our our future it's It's pretty good. Yeah stuff. I love that. You guys are doing that good for you. Yeah, it's cool that we're teamed up and yeah, it just It changes things because I'm you know what I can do and what she can do now It's like multiplied because we're it's like and it's broader spectrum from you know what I can do like But yeah, it's it's awesome. I'm you know, I love diversity and Agents here all like different experiences different everything and it's awesome to put everybody together and kind of like Talk things through come up with ideas together and you know, mm-hmm. Yeah, I love I love doing that. I think We covered everything Nothing else that you wanted to talk about No, I'm glad we finally got to do this I know we talked about doing it before I'm glad we're able to do is really appreciate the opportunity I always enjoy talking about business. Yeah what it takes to be successful in business and in life. Definitely. Yeah yeah, and and you're you know, I respect and appreciate everything you do and Your knowledge and experience and everything Makes you who you are today and awesome coach. Thank you brother. Appreciate that. You're awesome. So how do people find you? Yeah, so they can easiest place to find me is on our website. It's my first name So Josh dash Vanada VA and a DA just like Canada with a V comm And we're on social and LinkedIn and all the rest of that stuff. Just look for me under my name But the easiest place to get in touch with us and figure out what's going on is on our website I put out a newsletter that goes out twice a month Which is always fun. I meant my purpose behind my newsletter isn't to sell anything. It's literally to create conversation And I always love when I and I get usually get five or so after every newsletter people send me notes And that's what I like. So if you're if this conversation was cool and you wanted to just keep it going Sign up for my newsletter They come out every two weeks and we talk about different kind of something different that's going on Full of stories and practical stuff. Yeah. Yeah, I love it because you are You're unique in that way that not many people do that put a lot of thought into their blog It's just I mean, I don't know how much what percentage but it was like a I blog. Here you go Yeah, I think I mean, yeah, it's an interesting is an interesting thing I think it's a great tool for us, but I actually I've been reading increasingly more studies on this and I'm Convinced of it. I actually think it's gonna much like kovat did and Having us increase our hunger for human interaction. I just think AI is gonna Have us appreciate more people's humanity Because AI actually can't solve all the problems and I don't want AI writing stuff like that Like it has to to me. It has to be personal because I want it to be a conversation, you know, yeah, awesome Yeah, well, thanks for coming by and yeah, you bet. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you Okay, that was awesome good

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