I Am the “No” Guy (and I'm good with that)

I spend my entire coaching day saying no.

No to shortcuts.
No to gimmicks.
No to anything that looks like progress but isn’t.

I hear a lot of ideas. Some are creative. Most are chaos.
And nearly all of them are an attempt to avoid doing the real work.

Everyone wants to go wide — try everything, touch everything, be everywhere.
Almost no one wants to go deep — commit, focus, master.

Why? Because wide feels safer.
Wide gives you something to talk about. It feels productive. You can make a slide about it.

But it’s all noise.

Depth is where the results live.
But depth feels risky — because once you go deep, there’s nowhere to hide.

Real Estate Is Not Rocket Science

Let’s just say it.
Real estate is not that complicated.

The basics haven’t changed in 50 years:

• Know people.
• Talk to them.
• Tell the truth.
• Do what you said you’d do.

That’s it.

The problem isn’t that agents don’t know what to do.
The problem is that most are allergic to repetition.

They’d rather reinvent their business every quarter than master the fundamentals once and for all.

So when someone says,

“I’ve got a new idea I think could change everything…”

I usually respond,

“No. It won’t. But go ahead.”

The Myth of More

We live in an industry obsessed with more.
More leads. More systems. More marketing. More tech.

But more is the reason most agents stay stuck.

They mistake movement for momentum.
They chase “new” because it feels like control.
They keep adding things because subtraction feels like loss.

The truth? You don’t need more.
You need less.
And you need to be better at it.

That’s the Principle of Reduction — take away everything that doesn’t move the needle, and suddenly what matters becomes obvious.

Reduction isn’t about doing less for the sake of ease.
It’s about removing what’s unnecessary so you can give your full attention to what’s essential.

That’s where mastery lives — not in addition, but in elimination.

A Confession

Let’s be clear — I don’t lose patience.
I just don’t tolerate nonsense.

If you tell me you “need a new brand” but haven’t called your past clients in six weeks, I already know what the problem is — and it’s not branding.

If you say you “need a better CRM” but can’t remember the last time you actually used the one you’ve got, I don’t need a spreadsheet to diagnose that either.

And if you tell me you “just need more leads” while ignoring the 200 people who already know, like, and trust you — you don’t have a lead problem. You have a focus problem.

My answer?
No.
No to the distraction.
No to the excuse.
No to the illusion that the next new thing will save you.

Because what actually works isn’t new — it’s mastery of the basics.

The Performance Six

Everything that actually matters fits into six categories. That’s it.
The rest is noise.

1. Practicing Mindfulness – Embrace what is.
2. Optimizing Time – Do what’s most important.
3. Cultivating Relationships – Build trust.
4. Implementing Process – Bring order to chaos.
5. Mastering Communication – Make people feel understood.
6. Acting Strategically – Do less, better.

That’s the playbook.

Every single top performer I’ve ever coached wins by mastering those six.
Not adding to them. Not tweaking them. Not “putting their spin” on them.

Just executing them.

Why I Say No

People think “no” is negative. It’s not.
“No” is focus.
“No” is discipline.
“No” is the Principle of Reduction in action.

It’s the ability to strip away everything that clutters your business, your time, and your brain — until only what truly matters remains.

When you start living by reduction, your business gets cleaner.
Your priorities get sharper.
And your results compound.

So yeah, I’m the “No Guy.”
Because I’ve learned that subtraction — not addition — is what multiplies your success.

Are You Operating at The Performance Six Level?

That’s the standard.
The filter.
The test for everything you do.

If it doesn’t align with one of The Six, the answer is simple: No.

Because when you master the few things that truly matter — you’ll never need to chase the things that don’t.