Growing up, I was a city boy that would get out in the country every once in a while. One year, a good friend of mine who lived on a farm asked if I want to help them in the harvest season. He informed me that when it came to the harvest it was all hands on deck and they had to move as quick as possible to get the crop off the field.

In particular, he had planted four acres of tobacco that would need to be harvested by hand. He would pay me $5 a hour and it was a good opportunity for me to make some money.

Sounded awesome to me. I was all in.

I went at it on that first day with no understanding what I was doing. I soon found out that this farming thing isn’t easy. Especially picking tobacco. I worked so hard that day.  I was in so much pain by the end of the day, that I skipped dinner on the farm. And those that have had farm dinner (or supper as we say in Wisconsin), it’s hard to pass up. I just wanted to get home to a shower and to my couch. I was done!

The next morning I was to be to the farm by 6am. I set my alarm for 5am. I woke up at 8am with my alarm still ringing. Which means I slept through my alarm for 3 hours!!

I missed my ride, I missed my opportunity, and I missed the harvest.

What does this have to do with your real estate business? Let me explain…

Farming and Real Estate

Let’s say that doing open houses is one of your pillars in your business. And let’s say you have made it your goal to do 3 open houses a month.

You set out on Monday and you found the perfect open house for this coming weekend. You run a Facebook ad campaign, you get the signs set up on Thursday, you door-knock on Friday, and you do a Facebook Live the day before the open house. You pretty much do everything you need to do to have a successful open house. In my opinion, you have sowed the seeds to harvest some fruit come Sunday.

Now the day of the open house comes. It’s a Sunday, you stay out late on Saturday night. You’re a little sluggish as a result. Your friends have plans on Sunday that you’re going to miss out on. You are stuck doing an open house and now you really don’t want to be there. Deep down, you are hoping no one shows up so you can read a book, work on your website, check on your fantasy football team, or whatever you do to entertain yourself. Truthfully, you really don’t feel like talking to anyone. Plus if someone does come, what are you even going to say to them?  And not to mention, are you going to follow up with them and if you do follow up with them, what will you say on that call?

Sleeping in the Real Estate Harvest

Now some of this might be an exaggeration, but I bet deep down there’s some truth to what is actually going on in your head and what is actually happening with your follow up.

And if so, you are sleeping in the harvest just like I did in “my farming days.”

So many of you have worked hard to sow the seeds that will bring you new business, but what are you doing in the harvest?  More importantly, when that fruit is ready to be harvested, are you giving it your full attention, are you harvesting or working in excellence? Or are you sleeping (or resting) through the real estate harvest?

As agents, it’s easy to fall prey to the idea that we sit in a few open houses, knock on a few doors, call a few people from our sphere of influence, then just sit back and wait for something to happen. We get lazy, complacent, we make excuses, then wonder why we are not seeing more growth, more profit, etc…

I know there are areas in your life and business where you are not doing all that you can do, you are not working in excellence. How do I know this? Because there are areas in MY life where I am taking the same approach.

It’s not just a real estate thing, it’s a human thing. Often, we rest when we are harvesting fruit. Just because you showed up to the open house doesn’t mean you are done. In fact, you just started. It would be like planting seeds and never going back to harvest the fruit.

What Are You Harvesting?

Ask yourself, what do you want your “real estate harvest” to look like? What do you need it to look like to see your life vision realized? Whatever picture you have in your head, you have to sow seeds accordingly and harvest accordingly. Work in excellence when the harvest arrives!

I would love to hear your feedback. Please comment below!

Also, I just launched the Neil Mathweg Coaching Program Facebook page and would love to see you there! Once you are there, just send me a message saying “Hi”- and I’ll send you a freebie template. This is the exact template I use when I write an offer for a client. My whole team uses it, and now, for the first time, it’s available to all of you reading this for FREE! Plus, on the new page, I will be sharing more articles and videos just like this one.