Activity Stacking isn’t the Same as a Plan

Learning how to drive a car is not the same thing as creating a plan to get from where you are to where you want to be. 

Also, activities are not the same as having a plan. You can practice parallel parking, or merging into traffic, but that is ALSO different than having a plan to get from where you are to where you want to be.

In real estate we go to lots of training and do lots of activities, like open houses, calling our sphere, hosting events, etc.

These are great things. But they’re not a plan. Even if you say “I’m going to host 4 events this year and call all my people each quarter about my event; and I’m going to do a weekly open house, and…”

“Activity stacking” is not a plan.

I’m not saying you won’t find business that way, and as a result, reach your goals. Agents across in this industry do it every year.

So why do we need a plan if activity stacking can get us to our goals?

It might be analogous to the difference between pointing your car in the direction of your goal (destination) and just driving vs actually creating a plan with a map, and KNOWING how you will get there.

As a young agent I had enough energy to not care about the plan. I just did “stuff”, activities of an agent. And I got to 6 figures. But…

I maxed out. I was chasing my tail. My life was chaotic and I couldn’t tell you how I got my business. I might have said, “Oh, my business is referral” or “I’m a sphere of influence guy” but I couldn’t point to cause and effect in my business. And that left me feeling uneasy every year. I was always anxious about where the next client was coming from. And that led me to not feeling confident about the goals I set or in my ability to reach them.

I don’t like living anxious or not feeling confident. I want to know where AND HOW my business is going to grow. “How will I get there?” is the question.

A plan tells us how.

And you should feel confident in YOUR how.

Sometimes what can happen in real estate is we get our license, find a mentor (maybe) and then try to do all the things they tell us to do (activity stacking) but never see or understand the plan. “So I just do open houses every weekend and call my sphere? I just put my people on an automated market update email campaign??”

Many of us will try those activities, but something about it doesn’t feel right.

The first thing that doesn’t feel right is it doesn’t feel like us. Or more specifically, we haven’t found how to do it in a way that feels authentic to us. We end up doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that, never truly finding our groove. Some activities I will never do. It’s not me. I’m not a cold caller. I’m not a FSBO guy. But even things I might do, like farming and open houses, I want to know how to do them in a way I’m EXCITED to do them and HOW they will get me to my goal.

The second thing that doesn’t feel right is harder to identify, but is the point of this post. Without a plan we scratch our heads and wonder “will this get me there?” Again, it’s like driving West and hoping you get to your goal. You hope this road or that turn was the right road and turn, but you don’t KNOW. You hope this activity and that activity will get you to your goal, but you don’t know.

Without a plan YOU don’t KNOW.

Real Estate isn’t cheap. You have dues and fees, and expenses every month. It never stops. Plus you have bills at home, financial goals you’re trying to reach. Maybe savings that are dwindling. You don’t have the luxury to not know how you’re going to get to your financial goals. And the energy many agents find themselves in, trying to get to those goals, is an anxious, confused energy.

That doesn’t feel good. Especially when money is tight.

This is not a complicated business, just like driving a car is not complicated. But without a plan, it’s hard to get to where you’re going.

In my 6 Figure Agent program, we start with the plan. Not the activities. The plan. A map of how to get from here to high 6 figures.

And then month by month, year by year, we drive systematically and confidently to that destination. We don’t wonder if it will work because we know the roads to take to get there. We don’t guess or hope the next activity will work, we work the next activity consistent with our plan.

And the best part about a plan is that it allows you to build on the previous year. The systems you installed in your business this year, become foundational to your growth next year. Rather than maxing out your life because you keep repeating the same chaotic “activity stacking” pattern year after year, your capacity increases because you have a plan that directs your activities and gives you the systems you need to close more business and make more money in less time.

If you have felt confused, anxious, out of balance… it’s not you. It’s not you. You just need a plan that feels good to you. A plan you understand and can see how you get from here to there. Then you can determine which activities to stack in service of that plan and feel good knowing you’re headed exactly to your destination.

*If you’d like to be a 6 Figure Agent in the next 12 months, I’m currently taking applications to join my 6 Figure Agent program. Results are guaranteed. (And how do I guarantee them? Because we have a plan and know how to get you there). Click the button below and schedule a confidential Discovery Call with me.