A Top Agent Confesses: “I Did It All Wrong”

For show notes and audio recording click here. On today’s episode, you’re going to hear from another Top Producing Real Estate Agent who, after 13 years of having big numbers and growing a bigger team, realized that he was doing it all wrong. What do you mean by that? What changed in what his life looks like now as a Top Producing Real Estate Agent. Welcome to this episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent. I’m your host, Jennifer Myers, listen in, as I share exactly what I did to go from not being able to sell a house for years to becoming one of the top 1% of agents in the U.S., and even opening my own brokerage full of agents to help me serve all of the clients that were coming my way. I taught those agents the same strategies I used o become a top-producing agent. Through this Podcast and AgentGradSchool.com, I’m sharing the same modern marketing and business strategies with you. Most of which I learned from looking outside of the real estate industry. No fluff, no theory, no outdated sales techniques, or paying for leads. Just the exact steps to get you the real estate business you’ve always wanted. And the life outside of your business you’ve always wanted, so let’s make it happen and dive into today’s episode. I’m so excited to introduce our listeners to a very good friend of mine, a fellow Top Producing Real Estate Agent and just all-around great guy, Jason Martin. Jason, thank you for being here. Hey, it’s a treat. I appreciate you having me. I’m excited too, to have a chat with you. Wow. I’m also excited. Well, this podcast was inspired by a few things. One, you wrote a book. I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud of the book. We’re going to talk about that in few minutes, but I think it’s a book that can help real estate agents also. As we talked about after you sent me the galley copy of your book and we read it, and I reached out to you, and I was like, this is amazing. We started talking about your, I don’t know, journey to the top-producing real estate agent that you are. And one of the things that you told me when I was so shocked about you, you said, and I quote, “I Did It All Wrong in the beginning.” And so I want to say, what do you mean by that? What do you tell us about, I mean, cause from the outside, looking in, you look what you did everything, right? So tell me what you mean. Doesn’t everybody think that, right? So you’d look at people and their trajectory and their success, and you think they have it all figured out. But really, we don’t know Jen, and, and you know that there’s you and I have talked about this so many times like you don’t get to see what’s below the surface. And so all you see as a result most of the time. So yeah, I did so much wrong, and I kept getting back up to where I finally got to a spot that I think maybe I’m starting to figure some things out. Although I still think it’s an ongoing journey to figure it out. And what I mean by “I Did It All Wrong” is I focus heavily on life—self-awareness, personal growth that leads to professional development. And I think I just took too long to figure out the best way to be the best business person I can be was to just look in the mirror and be the best me I could be first. And that’s why I say I did it all wrong. I just took longer. I shouldn’t say too long. Cause everybody’s on your own journey. It just took longer than maybe I felt like it should have to just be the best of me. I could Be and see what happens from that. And that was the game-changer. And I wish that I had that mindset early on. I think that was something that was always there, but I didn’t really commit to it fully. And when I did, my world opened up, and I know that’s a lot coming at you fast, but you asked, so that’s, that’s where it is. Yeah. There’s a lot. I want to unpack a lot there first. No, first and foremost, I want everyone to know that like you are like, you’ve been doing real estate for 20 years. Right? 18 years ago, we started around the same time, right? Yeah. We started and we both, I mean, I started in 2003. I think you were right there with me. Yeah. Yeah. So, what I love about what your saying is you are, you know, from the outside, looking in, you would be the epitome of success. You have a successful team, you’re making over a million dollars a year in your real estate practice, you’ve been doing this 20 years, you’re at the top of your game, but yet you’re still approaching it like there are things to figure out. And I love that because there’s really no top-of-the-mountain kind of thing. You know, your steering will always be evolving and growing. Yup. So let’s, let’s pause there. Tell us about that mentality because I think that’s so helpful with continuing to evolve and be successful at that. So many agents I talk to every day think that there was this like moment where you make it. And I would say, you know, and I would argue that like you’ve crossed that bridge over a long time ago, but yet you’re in you. You don’t feel like your there, but you don’t see it as a negative thing. Can you talk a little bit about that mindset? I think about the stress that adds to your inner dialog when you’re constantly telling yourself, “Oh yeah, I’ve made it. I’m there”. Or like when I’m there, I’m there. And I’ve had that like, okay, when I do this many transactions, that’s it, I’ve done I’ve had that feeling. Yeah. I’ve had that. And then the feeling of once you do that, you can it’s, I don’t know. It’s not automatically like, Ooh, that was amazing. This was great. So when I shifted to, and it all happened about the same time for me, which was about seven years ago. I really started just kind of going deep on, on who I am as a person and where I want to be in life. But once I made the shift that this is a journey, it’s not a destination. I removed that, that I don’t know what to write. I don’t even know how to put it into a, a, a few words here, But that pressure that I was adding to myself. And, and then you don’t have to constantly be thinking about it and, or even comparing yourself to other people. You’re just trying to do the best that you can. And at the same time, enjoying the journey, and then you will arrive at a destination. And I think you don’t have to look back from there and say, well, what was that when you get there, you kind of go. That was really fun. I paid attention all along the way. And then, Oh yeah, that’s the finish line. But guess what? The finish line becomes a new starting line, and we have that mentality. And the other piece with that is I think you can get burned out if you take the approach. And I, I know because I’ve done it, you’ve done it. You get it. You’re like, Oh when I get there, this, when I get there, this is when I get there that like, that’s a burnout mentality and it’s a setup. It’s a total setup. So it’s just a tweak in the way, the way I view life. And you and I, we’ll talk about it more in a minute, but for me, everything, it’s all linked to life and business. They’ll go hand in hand, and it’s just, it’s just a mental shift that has opened me up. So when you say I Did It All Wrong in the beginning, what was the mindset that you had that looking back to it? You know you didn’t get it all wrong. I can remember my rookie year counting transactions on a board, and I’m competitive, your competitive as well. And just being like, check, check, check. I got that. I got that. And it was such a transactional experience. Once I learned that the business isn’t a transactional business for me. And I’ll say that it is very important, for me, that it’s not a transactional business. The business is just an opportunity for me to grow as a person. And it opens so many doors. Like, do you think about what the business has to provide for you or can provide for your people skills, a negotiating skills, and, and you can just go down the list of things that the opportunity that this business provides for you. And I was making it so transactional versus here’s the opportunity that this business has to provide for me and my life. Yeah. And that’s the difference, right? Because if it feels transactional, we go back to like, that’s kind of a grind. It’s kind of burnout verses I’m not thinking of it as just educational. I was part of this journey, which is fun because I don’t know where it’s gonna stop. I don’t want to stop. And I, because of able to look at it this way, I think the opportunities are, are plentiful. Yeah. Yeah. And there’s so much there. I mean, that’s one reason I love real estate, and having a real estate business so much because it does, it can be this opportunity for personal growth. If you allow it to be rather than focusing on, you know, how many leads did I get? How many that I, you know, how many transactions did I get? Really? I believe that are businesses are really just a reflection of what we think about ourselves. Yes, yes, yes. And, and that’s, and that’s it. That’s why I said, I can say, like, I Did It All Wrong. Like we’ve been in it for 18 years now. And I’m telling you that only seven years ago, did I adapt this mindset. I was like, Oh, this is what the opportunity is here. Hello, hello world. Like then the world goes, hello back. And then it opens up, and you look around you. You’re like, what the heck? Where were the first 13 years or 15 years? Where the heck was I? And that’s what I did it all wrong because if you had had enough awareness in the beginning, and again, everybody’s on their own journey and some will tell you I’m exactly what I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there. And I could get down with that too. But if I have that mindset from the very beginning of my career of this is just an opportunity for me to, to be a great person. And the things that will come from it are, are, are insane. And I mean, that, like, it’s insane to be thinking the way that, I’m thinking now and saying is the wrong word, but excited the way that I’m thinking now about the world and opportunity and people and things that matter. I think it’s hard, though, because I had the same evolution in my career also, but I think it’s hard in the beginning when you’re kind of feeling a little desperate or a little like I got to pay my bills, you know, it’s hard. So, what’s your advice for those people that are, you know, for, for the Jason back then are for the people listening, who, you know, don’t necessarily have the, I dunno what the right word is, the luxury of, of being able to look at it. I personally have felt that for me, at least I was able to get and gain that perspective once I was able to pay my bills. That’s so fair that that’s such a fair comment. However, I would challenge it and say some of the things that I’m talking about are going to get you somewhere faster. Even if they don’t, I think you can get off to just a fast or as fast or faster start by addressing the things that I’m talking about. When you look in the mirror ’cause if you think about at some of the things I’m like, all right. If somebody was in my ear about, look, you need to shut your phone off by nine o’clock and, and go to bed as early as you can. So you can wake up with energy. Maybe you shouldn’t eat dinner so late so that you can wake up with energy. Like some of these things that you can just tweak in your personal life will allow you to be super focused and super effective in the work world. So while I understand, like the relief comes from, if you have a necessity to get things done, but I’m telling you, if you look at yourself first and take care of yourself first, your ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it, is that much more impactful to those who you are reaching out to. Like if I called you today and I’m full of energy, and you can pick up the vibe. Well, that’s likely because I’m pretty fresh from the day before. Or I was thoughtful about how to be energetic for this conversation. If I’m just out there grinding, grinding, grinding, I’m up until midnight or one o’clock in the morning, I’m doing everything. It takes. My energy level is way down, and I’m not as productive. I think I can do more with less. I think I can stress less. I believe that now I think everybody also is an individual. So some people have the ability just to, just to burn the midnight oil and go around the clock. I don’t, but I’m self-aware enough to know if I’m going to have a great week or a great day or a great quarter, a great year, a great month. I’m self-aware enough to be able to slow myself down so that I can speed up. Yes. I love that. So tell me, tell us a little bit about what happened. You said this is kind of an epiphany, or the shift happened seven years ago. What, is there something that caused the shift or what was going on for you that made you kind of change your mindset? I think mindset’s the hardest thing to change, but the most impactful thing to change to get the results you want. Yup. But what happens? It usually there’s some like moment that you’re, you know, And that I’ll share with you. So, I started journaling about seven years ago so I can look back the seven years ago and, and what I to myself is that I’ve been going through, I call it the vortex, right? You’ve got all these habits, you’ve built up your entire life, and you’re just doing the same thing. And I call it the vortex because it sucks you in, and it can pull you down to the bottom, and it was just keeping you there until you get out. So once I started looking at some of the habits that I have trained myself for my entire life, by the way, I was like, wait a second. If I’m going to come out of this vortex, some of these habits need to change because if I don’t change some of these habits, I’m staying here, and I don’t want to stay in this spot. So it was just a conversation with myself, looking back at my past and saying, listen, there’s more to me than the past, I’m excited about the future, but that’s going to take some work. And that is going to take some thought. And so I started journaling about life seven years ago and ah, I’m a family man. I’m a proud dad and, and a husband, all of that. Stuff’s in the book. And I know we’ll talk about that in the second too, but once I started writing about it, and I could reflect on my own thoughts, you get to see your own patterns. Because I don’t know if you’re like me. Some people have great memories, but my memories, not perfect, I’ll say. And looking back on my journal, it becomes my compass of like, that’s how I was thinking then. Oh, cool. Let me make this adjustment. Let me make that adjustment. Oh, I’ve been there before. I was there in 2009 or 2012. Cool. This is how I get out of that. Perfect. So it really was just the reflection moment of starting to journal, but I often think, and it’s just through my own experience. That’s where all this comes from is just my own experience. I wish I was thoughtful about my own journey before, spending time thinking about where you’ve been. How do you get there? How do you feel about things? Where do you want to go? And once I started documenting the stuff, that was that there was a game-changer, man, and you can’t do it on days when you’re feeling good and the world is good. You gotta document on the old days that are tough. And you will learn a lot from yourself. I learned a ton from myself and I know that sounds crazy. This guy’s just talking by himself. I am, because I learn a lot from myself, but only because I’m able to reflect on my faults. Well, I love what you’re saying. Because what I’m hearing you say is a couple things. One is if you want your future to be different than your past, you got to be present and conscious about the habits. You have the thoughts that you have and things that are going to have to change. If you want to have a different result and really getting like honest with yourself about what those big and little things are, if you want to have a different result. And there will be sacrifices that will have to be made for sure. But in my humble opinion, the rewards can be amazing. They can absolutely be amazing. I think everybody will keep leaning into it. I think everybody’s on their own unique journey. So I don’t want to make any promises, but have you seen the Geico Commercial, Jen, where Pinocchio’s there and he’s like, I think everybody has unlimited potential, and his nose starts to grow. Right? If you haven’t seen it, look it up. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. So it’s hysterical, right? But I actually really believe that most people, or some people have preexisting conditions where there are some limits to that, but I genuinely believe most people haven’t even scratched the surface, have their own potential. And I believe that at my core, I’ve believed that for people and I believe it for myself and it’s pretty cool. And I wish I want to put that message out there to the world. I know people hear like, yeah, your potential is unlimited. No, it really is. It really, really is. I think that’s the other thing I got out of what you were saying is, you know, so often we look at outside of ourselves to try to fix something or try to change something. When what you really did was look internally and almost trust yourself enough, but be honest with yourself, not to say these things aren’t getting anywhere I need to go. So these need to go. And these things are going to get me where to go, where I want to go. And I’ve got to start doing that. In other words, it doesn’t happen automatically. You have to consciously sit with yourself and say, here’s the reality of my life? Do I like it or not? And what needs to change to get the results that I want for my life and knowing that it’s possible. So often, I think we feel defeated because we get caught in that vortex. I like the way that you’ve said that, that vortex. So what are the things just, so if people can kind of have something concrete, would you be willing to share it with a couple of those things that you felt really once you realize the shifts you had to make? What bigger little things did you have to change in your life to see a new, really a new life kind of evolve for yourself? Yeah. Well, I’ll start with, I’ll start with alcohol. So I don’t want this to go in and a deep conversation about alcohol, but I started drinking beer and cocktails by the time I was 16, and that was a constant theme in my life. And, I looked back at that and went, wow, that’s been around for a long time. And I’d like to change that a little bit. And right now, I might have two or three glasses of wine a quarter. So I eliminated most alcohol completely from my life. But when I look back at it, I was like, Hmm, probably two or three times a week I have a few cocktails. And that was enough to make me a little bit cloudy the next day or, or my thinking wasn’t clear. So, alcohol is certainly one of those things. I kind of just cleared that out and it was like, let’s let me just see what it’s like without this, because I have been popping beers with buddies since I was 16. And then when you look around, and the next thing you know, your, your 30 or 35, and you’re still popping beers with buddies, and you’re like, just out of curiosity, what is this look like without it? And that curiosity component of it. I think it’s a big, big deal. I was just curious, Jen, what the world could look like if I started to do things differently. And that was just one example. So it’s not a matter of should people drink or not drink. I’m not here to say that. I’m just saying one of the things I’ve done is go from probably two or three nights a week to maybe three times a year for a couple of glasses of wine. And one of the things I started doing was going to bed earlier. I started reading a ton; I’m reading two or three books a month right now. And I can’t get enough of it. We’re listening to the podcast. I can’t get enough of it written a book, just, just so many things. But as we start to look back and say, okay, how did it happen? The other thing that I want to convey to people is none of this. Even if you say today, I’m going to start to do this. None of this really takes hold extremely quickly or has it for me. Yeah. And, and that’s where I think people get lost. They get lost. It doesn’t happen quick enough. So talk more about that. How did you know you were doing the right thing? If you didn’t get the results quickly? Because I think in real estate, so often we were like brainwashed to believe that everything should be fast, fast, fast leads, clients, transactions. But I like, and I keep telling my students, you know, slow it down, expect the results will come if you do the work. But how do you believe that the changes you’re making or the right ones if you don’t see the results right away? So you’ll feel it. And it’s a feeling. If you do it consistently enough, as you know, you’re going to get results. You may not like the results, but one of the key ingredients is to at least understand the results. So consistency, don’t overlook it. You need it in your life. And then you can relate to your business or you can put business for us. It doesn’t matter to me for this conversation. But if you add that in, then you can look at results and say, okay, that didn’t work. Let me try this. That did work. Let me do more of this. So that’s how you realize it. You realize it through consistency and evaluation of your own results. So if it’s something in my personal life. Maybe I’m not watching television five nights a week. Maybe I’m watching two nights a week because I want to see what my energy level is the next day. Or I want to see how well I sleep when I don’t watch television. And I read before I go to bed, like just from curiosity because you know how we talked about like, your potential is unlimited. Well, it is, but you have to be curious and you have to be an explorer and then you have to evaluate your results and then say, okay, I like that. I was consistent enough to see if it worked. And I want more of that, which by the way it is, my guess is, and what’s going to happen with most of this stuff. Or you’re also aware enough to say that didn’t work. So let me try something different. And that’s where people get thrown off just because it didn’t work. It doesn’t mean it’s not going to work. You do it. You might need to just work around it a little bit. And, and that is part of the journey. Yeah. And I would say that’s part of the journey personally, but I also think, and we talked about this a little bit in the beginning. Like our business is a reflection of who we are and how we grow. Everything you’ve just said is exactly what you also need to apply. Not only to your own life when it comes to energy levels in this case of what we’re talking about, but also to your business, like approach growing our business with curiosity, like you were saying, approach it. Like, you know, if you do something consistently, you know, you learned something regardless of the results and then keep moving forward. Yeah, exactly. And you get it, and I can hear it in your voice and, and believe me, that’s why I say, start with you first. And we haven’t talked like a lot of transactions here or leads. I don’t approach it that way. I did for a long period of time. I now look at me. Start with me first. And then you can apply everything directly to the business, and believe me, it works. And believe me, it’s all of the same day. It really isn’t. And I think people have it reversed. I’ll get on my soapbox for a second, and I’m going to roll. I genuinely think agents in the business are getting advice that is in the wrong order. I think they go to transactions volume. And I love the fact that you didn’t ask me those questions, by the way. And thank you. And I would answer them. But thank you for not asking. You were asking about what’s working for me. If we go in life first, believe me folks, the business will be there. It just will. But you gotta be a believer that life first is the key to success. Does that mean some people won’t have success, or you have to do this? Look, everybody’s different. I’m just saying if you try this, if you explore it and just see what happens to your business, I bet you are going to be completely surprised. And I think, I think brokerage is a, I’m not going to say brokerages. That’s not fair. I just think our industry as a whole looks at it wrong again. I want them to look at the individual agent as the person to understand who they are and, and, and where they’re going. And what’s that gap. And that gap is not figuring out leads. No, that gap is not figuring out how to do open houses. It’s the person. And it sounds like I’ve got it all figured out. I don’t have it figured out, but I can tell you that seven years ago, that was a turning point of like, damn, it’s just me. Like, it’s just me wherever I want to be. It’s just me. So, figure me out and then watch what happens. And I think, I hope, that people hear that and look in the mirror, you know, figuratively, And really take full responsibility for the results in their life. You know, I think that’s one thing that I admire about you, Jason. I think you take full responsibility. Like the minute that you were like, you know, seven years ago, you were, I know where you were seven years ago and we were very successful. And if you could have just kept going down the same road because the money was coming in, the transactions were coming in. But I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, maybe you have to change how you define success for yourself. And so I think, you know, when, when people are focused on transactions and leads, and the money, sure. You could be quote-unquote successful as you and I both have. And many agents have when you focus on those things. But then, when you actually attain those things, the hard part is that often if that has been your focus, that success can feel a little empty. I don’t know if you have had that experience? Sure. Yeah. I no longer have that experience because I look at it like this. It’s pretty simple for me. I want to be the best father. I’ve got three kids, and I want to be the best husband I can be. So if, at the end of the day, those boxes are checked for me, that’s success for me. And it needs to be that simple for me. Like, and how can I do that? How, how, how do I achieve that by being the best version of myself I possibly can. Those around me will reap the benefits. That’s it for me that that’s a purpose for life. So when I’m done, if those boxes are checked, I’m cool. Yeah. I think one thing for every age and to take away is really define what success means to you. So notice that despite the fact that I know Jason, you’re being very humble, despite the fact I know what your numbers are and I know like your team, and I know like that, wasn’t your definition of success. Your definition of success was very clear to you. And then, Oh, by the way, you also have this very successful real estate company that you continue to grow and tweak and adjust to not only fulfill your own definition of success, but you also really care about the definition and help your agents to define what success means to them. Because what I see a lot of team leaders do is they have their definition of success, but then it’s kind of at the peril of everybody else around them. And see what I love about what your definition of success is, is not only your definition, but those around you, you help them also see how they can do the same thing. Can you talk to, if people are saying, well, I don’t know how to, how do I define success? Like how do I know? What are the definitions of success that I want and is actually possible for me? Maybe talk a little bit about how to define success or how you figure it out. That was a big piece. I will try and simplify. Although I think it’s a, it’s a mind exercise over many, many years, but what is it? And this is what we talk about with the agents on the team a lot. What do you try to get out of life? Like, so let’s start there. What do you wanna get out of life? And I wouldn’t go past that because that’s a pretty big question, period. If you can figure that out, like you know how to have the clarity about being the best me and the best father in the best husband. The clarity wasn’t always there and like that, but it is now. So you got to ask yourself those questions, where am I going? What do I, what am I doing? And, and success for everyone is completely different, but I want people to be happy. So when I talk to agents, we get into a little bit of that. Like what makes you happy? What are you trying to get out of life? Questions like that. When you start to ask yourself, what gives you energy? What keeps you motivated? And I’m happy to share again, like almost 20 years in the business. I’m having more fun now than ever because we’re asking these questions of each other on the team. And like I’m asking it by myself, and I’m asking some of my agents… and I guess what it is? Do you guys love it? The result’s when you start to ask yourself, these questions are ridiculous. He has businesses that are going to a hundred, 300 for a hundred percent over what they had before they joined our organization. And it’s freaking cool. I get really excited about it because it works well. And what’s also great about it is then, you know, I always tell agents like, you know, you don’t want to just sell, you know, 50 houses a year. That’s not what your definition of success is. The definition of success is what you think will happen when you do that. But it wasn’t a layer underneath the transaction, go a layer underneath the money and go, what do you think that money and transactions, what do you think that will create for you? And nine times out of 10, that’s where you find what you really want in life. And then if we find that, that then becomes your North star, you know, how you’re able to make, make decisions based on what you really want. What’s your niche. So, one thing that I love about that concept for you is once you realized that was your North star, that you wanted to be the best father, the best husband, and really, you know, be it an example of that, is that when you decided to write the book, is that how the book came to be? Yeah, well, we may not have time for the full conversation of how the book came to be, but I sat down with you. I forget how many years ago it was. And I’m, I’m a curious cat for those that know me. Ah, and if you don’t know me, I’m just curious in general. So when you would introduce your book, I was like, how did you do that? And, you said to me, well, I’d had to lock myself in a room and write for hours. And I was just curious to know, intentions of writing the book, and then I left our meeting going, Oh, that sounds absolutely terrible. And, and literally absolutely terrible. So when I throw that word out of your curiosity too, you guys throughout this interview, because I want you to be curious because you never know where it’s gonna lead. And then the next meeting I had, I was with the best-selling author and, and my daughter reads a ton of books and I was like, let’s go meet a best-selling author and just see how they think. Let’s be curious if we want to teach you to ask questions. So when we became curious then, and then these couple of meetings that I had over years and years of time, it started to come together, and then the curiosity went to why don’t I just try something new and see if I can do something I’ve never done before and then, not look back in my journal. I’m like, I kind of got where I want to go here and let’s give this a go. So that’s how the book came to it. Believe me, I had no intentions of writing a book and then curiosity got me and somehow the law of attraction pulled me right in. Well, see, I love that because it was, you led with your curiosity and he didn’t set out to be like, I’m going to write a best-selling book or anything like that. You just became curious, and slowly but surely, things opened up for you. And so talk about your journey too. Can we talk about your book now? Yeah. I’d love to. This Is Your Captain Speaking. Yup. This Is Your Captain Speaking is currently on Amazon. Yeah. So we’ll have a link to it in the show notes for this episode. So anybody listening can go to AgentGradSchool.com and go to the podcast, and we’ll have links to how you can purchase it. So who, so tell us about the book. Like how maybe your journey about writing it. Sure. You know what it is not, it’s not easy. You can’t be just curious; you also have to be really disciplined. And remember when we were talking about that consistency component. So, when I decided to write the book, I was like, well, this is going to require consistency. Consistency is a skill set that I know I can use a little more of in my life. So it was like a worst-case scenario. I bet I learned to be more consistent, and I did. And it’s been really, really fun. We talked about failures earlier. I wrote the first book. The first edition of the book was going to be a business self-help book. And ah, I was pumped. I handed it to the editor for the first review. I’m like, I got this, I got to share my message with the world. And thankfully, the content editor and I have never written a book before. So the content editor said, I got to tell you, Jason, you completely missed the mark. And talk about a punch. Oh, it hurts. It hurts so bad. It took me three weeks to recover. I was like, oh God, I miss them all. Like I poured my heart and soul into this book and it’s going to help people. And she said, I missed the mark, but I think that there’s something there. And she said, I can tell where you get really, really excited. And that’s where you talk about your family and share your lessons with your family and how you think about things. And she said, when you opened that up in the book, that’s where it’s really good. And then the light bulb after I picked myself up off the mat, which believe me for three weeks, I was like, what am I going to even finish this thing? Then the light bulb did go off. And I was like, you know what, let me just tell it through the lens of all of my family and my life. And, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t have to convey the message because I do the end of each chapter. We talked about the life lesson, but we might talk about Scooby the dog who happens to be the most patient member of the Martin family. So Like there’s fun little things in there that are applicable to everyday things that we do. So when I go through life, all of my life lessons, I apply to business, you are going to see my life first approach in a book and, and you’ll be able to link it to your, to your business world as well. If you, if you let it do so. Yeah, it was such a pleasure reading and I loved reading it for two reasons. One, I’m so proud of you. You’re my friend, you created this wonderful life. And I felt like you let us in those who know you, you let us into what is really important to you in a way that like sometimes, you know, as you know, business friends, we don’t always sit and talk about your dog or, you know, your vacations and stuff like that. But then I read it a second time and I pretend that I wasn’t your friend or, and I didn’t know your work. Cause I wanted to have a different perspective, you know, and it is, Oh man, this is exciting and it’s nerve-wracking. So let’s go. And I think there’s so much goodness that comes from that book. And so many lessons that can come from that book, not only from you know, how to create a beautiful family that really enjoys each other, but also, you know, knowing how successful you are and knowing how you were able to create these like life moments that your life really is not about your business, despite the fact that you are so successful, but what really matters to you is your, your family and the life that you create there and how one kind of helps the other. But not at the, not at the lens of the other, really. It felt like for me to be perfectly honest, I think you were a little too humble in the book. I wish there was one extra chapter about your success because I want people to get that. Like you can do both. You can do both and you can do them both extremely well. And you’re such a beautiful example of that. And I’m just so honored to have you here on this podcast. I hope everyone reading this or hearing this will get a copy of This Is Your Captain Speaking from Amazon. But I, it was just, it was just a, a beautiful book about how to do both sides of your life beautifully. So I really, really appreciate it that you wrote it. It sounds like twice maybe. Yeah. Yeah. It was a year seeing the second edition. So Yeah, but what do you want, like other than your family, what do you want people to get out of reading a book? So the webpage for the book is TodayYouChoose.com. TodayYouChoose.com. You can go there and you can get it directly from Amazon. But we also have the Amazon link there, check out the webpage. So you can get to know me a little bit. And I introduce you to my family on the webpage. I want you to get that out of it. I said that the webpage is what it is because I spent some time thinking about it. And that’s the message I want to convey to everybody. Is it today you choose. And it just starts with one day, and whatever it is, Jen, it’s your choice today. And yesterday was yesterday, and tomorrow will be tomorrow, but today you have a choice, and I’m not sure what that is for your listeners. But if somebody takes that away from reading, reading the book, going to the webpage, it’s a choice, and it starts one day. And the cool thing is you win one day. Maybe you went two days in a row or a week or a month or a quarter, and you got to streak going. And when you get used to that streak of wins and your personal life, by the way, it will lead to success in your professional life. When you get used to that streak, you want more of it. So what do you choose today? Who matters to you? What matters to you and where are you going in life? But you’ve got to be thoughtful about it. And so if one person reading it goes, you know what? I’m just going to think about where I’m going in on this journey. I don’t need much other than a few people to maybe take some things away. To start asking themselves some questions. And if everybody receives it the way you received a Jen, I’m going to end up crying on a bunch of podcasts because you described it. So made my day. The way you describe it. So thanks. Yeah. And I hope that you’ll also become a bestselling author after your time to go. And yeah. Well, I thank you for, thank you for writing the book. Thank you for coming on this podcast. I think you can help a lot of our listeners really know how to prioritize what’s important in their life and be successful, not only in business but also in their life. And to be perfectly honest, I feel like I could talk to you and have you share your wisdom for hours, but anything else that you want to add as we close, or anything else that you want to say? I have so much respect for you. And I’m so grateful to be your friend. And I’m glad that we stay in touch. I’m so excited that the community that your building is amazing. So we didn’t talk about it enough about you, but I just want to tell all the listeners like Jen is legit guys. Like it’s pretty cool. And I’m just grateful to be your friend. And it’s so exciting to watch your journey. And we could do a whole other podcast where I interview you. As a matter of fact, I just decided we’re gonna do that. If you’re open for it and I’m gonna flip the script, and you’re going to be my guest, and we’ll do that because I got a lot of questions to ask you, but thank you. We will do it. And thank you for allowing me to be a guest. And I’m humbled by the opportunity. Awesome. Well, get This Is Your Captain Speaking. It is a delightful, really easy read. Summer’s coming up. This is a great book just to grab. And it’s not a dense book that you have to take notes on or anything. It was just a very enjoyable and pretty quick read. I read it in like a day and a half. I love it. Great, Jason, you are invited any time you want to talk about anything. So hopefully, this is just the first of many times that people will hear from you. Awesome. Thanks so much for having me. Want to score a free copy of Jason’s book, This Is Your Captain Speaking? Well, here’s how. All you have to do is leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts for this podcast. If you leave a review, send me an email at Jennifer at Agent Grad School dot com. Send me your mailing address. And I would be more than happy to send you out a copy of his book so you can take a read. And also, it’s my way of supporting Jason and helping him sell more books as well. So all you have to do is leave a review. And the reason I’m asking you to leave a review is because if we are able to continue to send out this podcast for free help, you build your own real estate business for free, without commercials without sponsorships. The only way that we can do that is if we get this podcast in the hands of more real estate agents. And one of the ways that we can do that is if you leave your review. So whether you’ve been a long listener or this is your very first podcast, I’d love your support by your review. So do that by April 30th, 2021, shoot me an email Jennifer at Agent Grad School dot com. I’ll buy the book, send it right to you. And you know, everyone’s happy you get a free book. I get your review. This gets hopefully over to a more real estate agents, and Jason gets more book sales. So I thought it was a great way to do all those things at the same time. So thanks for taking the time and leaving a review. Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Remember, change happens when you take action. So apply what you learned today to your own real estate business. If this episode has helped you subscribe, leave a review and share it with all your real estate agent friends. As always, if you want even more great resources to create the real estate business you’ve always wanted and have the life you want outside of your business to head over to Agent Grad School dot com and sign up for the free weekly trainings, you’ll get free classes and discounts and other goodies that only go out to real estate agents on that email list. See you next week, right here on Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent, The Agent Grad School Podcast.