Be the Solution with Maria Quattrone
Maria Quattrone, a leader in real estate with over 21 years of experience, is the driving force behind RE/MAX @ HOME - Maria Quattrone & Associates in Philadelphia. Her passion goes beyond selling homes; she’s dedicated to helping others succeed. Through her 'Rise in Real Estate' training program and the "Be the Solution" podcast, Maria shares her expertise, inspiring professionals and entrepreneurs to excel. With over 3,400 properties sold, Maria's success is evident, but her true mission is to empower others, build strong brands, and foster meaningful connections.
Be the Solution with Maria Quattrone
The Power of Commitment: A Bodybuilding Journey
Take a journey with us as Darwin Roman shares his inspiring transformation from a life filled with excuses to one of determination and success. Guided by a powerful quote emphasizing the importance of hard work, Darwin's story unfolds with honesty and introspection. He opens up about a decade of dreaming, only to confront the barrier of self-doubt and routine distractions. Discover how a chance meeting with a friend rekindled his ambition, propelling him into a dedicated fitness regimen that married discipline with passion.
Darwin recounts the intense journey of preparing for his first bodybuilding competition, where he learned not just the physical requirements but also the vital life lessons tied to commitment. With surprises at the competition, he faced inner challenges while celebrating significant milestones, reflecting on how these experiences helped reshape his mental toughness. Each moment echoed a central truth—the need to show up and challenge our limits in every aspect of life.
This episode is rich with insights on how discipline and choices can redefine not just our fitness goals but our entire mindset. Whether you are in the fitness industry or pursuing personal goals, Darwin's journey serves as a blueprint for transformation. Join us as we explore the ripple effect of his dedication and the profound impact it has on every facet of his life. Are you ready to redefine your own path and commit to your journey? Subscribe, share, and let us know how you manifest your commitment!
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Office number: 215- 607-3535
Quote for today for you, darwin, is work, works, do your work, your work, work, works, work, your work. And this morning I welcome my friend, darwin Roman. I'm excited to talk to Darwin this morning and I want to jump in right with you, darwin, on that comment that's a that's definitely a profound quote.
Speaker 2:I like the fact that it makes you really think about it when you're when you're saying it out loud, but I appreciate it being on on your podcast today. Maria, it's great to see you. It's been a while and I'm so happy to be able to connect with you today and, uh, share a little bit of my journey. So let's get started.
Speaker 1:So we're starting.
Speaker 2:What are your thoughts about the quote? How does it apply to what you've been doing? Well, so, going back to your quote, I think it's about the essential basics of what it takes to accomplish any goal. Is focusing on that practicality of work right? It's not supposed to be easy. It may not be fun all the time, it is work, but if you just apply yourself on a daily basis and just handle the tasks that have to be done, you can get where you want to be, and that's, I feel, that's where that quote comes in for me in the sense of work. So, to go into my journey and I know we talked about here my fitness journey of last year that's all started because of a goal that was something that was put off a long time ago, and I came across this gentleman in 2023, and he's a friend of mine within the circles of real estate and he was doing a bodybuilding competition.
Speaker 1:Who is that?
Speaker 2:His name is Andrew Adelman and he happens to be older than myself, and part of that inspired me because I said, well, he's, he's doing this, is accomplishing this fitness goals. And I said how's he going about that? What's his mindset about that? How do you even start? So I had a conversation with him. We had breakfast one day and I told him about you know, I've always dreamed, I guess you could say being on on a stage one day and competing in a bodybuilding show. And in that conversation he said well, how long have you been thinking about that? And I said, well, when? Right after high school, uh, my first long-term job was in the fitness industry. I worked, worked as a personal trainer. I sold gym memberships from basically 1999 to about 2009.
Speaker 2:Then, in 2009, I switched over to another career 10 years 10 years, a decade of my life, I was in that space and I was always around people that were competing as well, so it always intrigued me. But looking back now, I think during that time in my life, I was just making excuses, excuses as to well, my circumstances, I don't have the time, I don't have, maybe, the resource.
Speaker 1:I don't have the time. Isn't that the worst excuse ever? It is For anything.
Speaker 2:It is, and it was different factors, as I was within that decade and the decade with either I don't have the time, because I don't want to put in the time that eventually I had. I ended up getting involved with a person, eventually got married, and so then then it was more of like, well, there's a family involved, they'll have a time, because of X, y, z. But it's funny how you can always find excuse to be able to get around, or rather you say the fact you don't have the time. So, uh, fast forward. I'm telling him the story and he said what about now? And the reality is that he was kind of lining up, uh, my life in the sense of what prior, what are my obligations or what could be distractions or what could be my excuses. He said, well, you're married now. I said, well, no, are the kids now? Are the kids in your life now? I said no, so it's just you now at this point, right? I said, yeah, he goes. So then now, what's your issue now? And he said, listen, you don't have any excuses left anymore, darwin. And he said take it from me If you think that waiting another 10 years to be to my age and starting is the wrong way to go.
Speaker 2:He's like so it's 2023. He said, starting 2024,. You're going to do the competition, I'm going to introduce you to my trainer and you're going to take it from there. You're going to connect with him, you're going to start training with him. He's like, matter of fact, I'm going to do a competition next year as well.
Speaker 2:Now, by the way, for the people listening to the story, this person happens to be 15 years my senior. So when I'm looking at speaking to him and I respect his opinion and I respect his maturity and his wisdom I said he's right, what am I going to do? Wait another 15 years and then try? Because he said to me if I could have started at your age, I would have. And I said fine, let's do it. And that was it. I just decided the following year, I just made my decision, and I feel that there's something here that I could share that I got from a recent seminar that I was at for leadership, and it's actually a T-shirt I'm wearing here. It says freedom, and it's actually a t-shirt I'm wearing here that you're what is it?
Speaker 1:Freedom.
Speaker 2:It says freedom, but it's called the Edge.
Speaker 1:Oh, you were just at the Edge.
Speaker 2:Last year.
Speaker 1:Oh, last year.
Speaker 2:The Edge, a leadership summit for men. One of the things I got from that that tied into what I had just gone through is that you're either interested or committed, right. So it seems like for that decade of my life, I was interested in competing in a competent, in competing in bodybuilding, but I wasn't committed, I wasn't ready to commit. And when then I decided to commit, maria, it was one of the most long, drawn out, painful yet exciting, anxious yet liberating experiences of my life, because it pushed me into a direction, or pushed me out of my comfort zone, so much that I definitely discovered some things about myself. And, at the end of when I was done with the competition, I helped to break some limiting beliefs that I had that I didn't even know existed Even now.
Speaker 1:Well, let's talk about that, because that's really important. What did you notice, what were you made aware of by paying attention to yourself?
Speaker 2:I realized that I did have the level of discipline required to accomplish this goal, and I realized that I could do a lot more than I think I can, or that I think I can handle, and so those two lessons proved to be valuable in last year.
Speaker 1:What made you aware of that, though? How did it come?
Speaker 2:In order to compete in bodybuilding, there's a couple of factors you have to make sure you stick to every day. You have to number one, eat a certain way. And number two, you have to work out. Those are the two main factors. Eventually you have to start practicing your posing, but that comes a little later in the process. But you still have to live your life and, as you know, with regards to what I do for a living, I work with a financial planning firm for the past 15 years. I'm a publisher of a real estate magazine. I'm the president and CEO of the Latino Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey. So, needless to say, I have an active social business life, which means a lot of networking events, a lot of food life, which means a lot of networking events, a lot of food, a lot of drinking, a lot of going out, and I still have A lot of excuses, A lot of excuses and meaning putting me in situations where I had to exercise my discipline even more, to the point where you almost become the outsider.
Speaker 2:Because imagine this I'm going to a networking event, Maria, and you know what this is about in real estate. I'm going to a networking event, Maria, and you know what this is about in real estate. Go to a networking event. It's open bar, it's food buffet spread, it looks great, and I'm walking in with Tupperware of my own food because this is all I can eat. It's rice, it's chicken, it's vegetables. Nothing fun or sexy about it, right? Nothing fun or sexy about it, Right. But I'm committed at this point and I realize that I'm not subject or a slave to my circumstances. That's a big lesson.
Speaker 1:That's what it's about. It's about choice, period Choice, hard choice Choices Well, they don't have to be hard, but it's just a fact. Like we make them hard, it's just a choice. We decide will we do what's required or not? So, like I'll give you an example, you know a lot of people in the real estate industry.
Speaker 1:You're in with NAREP and for anybody who doesn't know that, that's the Hispanic Real Estate Chamber of Commerce, and many real estate professionals didn't do too well last year or the year before. And that's a choice, because if you decided to be in this industry or any other industry, whatever the industry requires is what the commitment needs to be. It doesn't matter what you did before. What got you there in a market that has been tumultuous is probably not going to get you there again. So the market has required more from real estate professionals in order to eat, and if you don't want to do more, pick up the phone and work, or however you get business. I find the easiest and quickest and fastest way to turn over business is to call on the phone. Call email text.
Speaker 2:Call email text. There you go.
Speaker 1:Call email text Plus. You know I do some extra little things like videos, videos to my database, priming it, you know. So when they call, they're like oh, it's Maria, what does she want? She's calling to see what's the one to sell something. Now usually they're like oh hey, maria, they know what's me calling. Now, that's people that have been calling, but the same thing. You made it. You make a choice. I didn't make the choice. Am I interested or committed? There you are, exactly so. You're bringing the food, which you know it's not the greatest thing. If you like food. Some people eat to live, some people live to eat. There's a difference. Are you a live to eater or eat to live? What category do you fall in?
Speaker 2:Well, if I only had to choose one or the other other, it's for.
Speaker 1:This category was for eat to live right but generally speaking, are you that or the other?
Speaker 2:I'm neither. I would say I'm in the middle, like I don't limit myself. I feel like, look, here's the interesting part. There were times where my trainer said hey, you know what, it's been a little bit. I want you to this weekend, go have a hamburger, go have fries, go have a beer. So at that point I said why Aren't I supposed to be eating strict? All the time? People used to freak out at seeing what I ate. Because there's no way, darwin, you're eating this and somehow you're getting in shape. Do you know? I was eating white rice every day. White rice, not quinoa, not brown rice, not, not brown rice, not that white rice?
Speaker 1:There's something about white rice. I'm not sure what it is. What is it? Do you know?
Speaker 2:It's just a simple starch.
Speaker 1:It's easy to digest.
Speaker 2:It's really it. But there were times where, yeah, I go off and purposely have cheat meals and so people have the impression that I was starving myself. I was torturing myself with eating. It wasn't what case. It was consistency. There was a plan behind it, right? I mean, I was 90% to 90% disciplined in my eating, but there was a 10% when you're off, where I went from eating to live to allow myself to leave for a little bit. So I think there is a balance. You don't have to be an extreme nutritionist every day of your life.
Speaker 1:If anything, you drive yourself nuts and you know what, usually you don't stick to it that long. Yeah, that's like one of the things about 75 hard People do it for 75 days and then they stop. So did you change anything? Your body might've changed in 75 days, but did your habits change? Because it's our habits, good or bad, that make or break us.
Speaker 1:Sure Whether whatever they are. You know it goes back to habits choice management, choice management. What do we say no to versus what do we say yes to? So on to the journey. So when did you start the journey?
Speaker 2:So my first day that I started training last year was January 29th 2024 on a.
Speaker 1:Monday All right, so what did the daily meal schedule look like?
Speaker 2:So it was five meals a day Breakfast, which is usually eggs and toast and some kind of combination of that, and then four more meals following that, usually based but definitely based on protein, carb and vegetables, but the balance of it. By the way, this is the other part that I tend to throw people off, where they would say my friends would say, hey, send me your diet right. This is like halfway through the process, because they're seeing me change, maybe like 14 weeks in 16 weeks, seven of your diet, and I said, which one? Well, whatever the diet is or that you're doing, you you say Well, I said well, I have also a diet coach and I said it's been four months.
Speaker 2:In the past four months my diet has changed four times. So the question is which diet do you want? They were like what do you mean four times? I said listen, man, just because you see me eating a certain way doesn't mean that I'm eating the same way all the time. The ratios will change based on what they're looking at me. The coaches look at me every 30 days.
Speaker 2:Yeah of course, and the diet adjusts, so the people also were thinking that it was either a one-size-fits-all approach or just one magic diet that I was following.
Speaker 1:No, not the case. If anybody knows anything about building muscle mass and lean, getting lean, it's constantly evolving, based on your body's response to the work that you're doing, and that's life. And that's life, you know. People say they want a magic bullet. There's no magic bullet in any of it.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And you know what you can't ever change. You can't change. I made X Y Z. If I tell somebody else to do X Y Z if they didn't have the past experience that I have at the point where I am in my life, x Y Z may not work for them.
Speaker 2:Sure, exactly.
Speaker 1:So, depending on where your friend is right, that might not work for them. What's their weight of their body? How much do they weigh right now? How much protein do they need to intake, based on their body weight, male or female Start there too.
Speaker 2:That's a big difference too, A hundred percent.
Speaker 1:So your training. What's your five meals a day, Every day? And then what is your training looking like? When did you start lifting? What does that look like?
Speaker 2:So the schedule I meet with a trainer. My trainer is located in Ironbound Fitness in Newark, not far from where I live, and uh, it's every day. I meet with him monday through friday, usually at the same time. So last year was 9 am every day in newark for one hour he and I training, and it was the episode. It was a mixture of either, uh, free weights or machines and then, once I finished my hour with him, I do 30 minutes of post-cardio.
Speaker 1:So your workout schedule was an hour and a half, five days a week, or seven days a week.
Speaker 2:Week with the trainer, and then on Saturday and Sunday I go into the gym just to do 45 minutes of cardio.
Speaker 1:That's it, no lifting no days off.
Speaker 2:Right, if you hit it as a day off not being in the gym, correct, I didn't have a day off. I was always in the gym at some capacity, right, but um, the days off that I did have were Saturday and Sunday, because I wasn't lifting anything, so my muscles were getting rest, but I was still doing cardio. So I would say it's called an active rest day.
Speaker 1:And so when was the competition?
Speaker 2:The competition ended up being September 21st of 2024.
Speaker 1:So you trained for basically eight months 34 weeks to be exact, 34 weeks. So it took 34 weeks for me to go from what percentage? Body fat or weight or whatever?
Speaker 2:Well, I was weighing. When I first day one, I was weighing 175. The day I stepped on stage, september 21st, I was 155. My body fat was roughly 25% on day one and it dropped down to 5% the day of the competition 5%, so that's really low. Very low, by the way, just for that day. Just for that day.
Speaker 1:And then what did you do back up to 10%?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, that took about two weeks. Amazingly enough, your body is so conditioned that after that, sure, I was still kind of following my diet, but I was like, hey, the show's over, I can kind of just enjoy myself and whatever. Go out and have a pizza, have a beer, which I did the following day.
Speaker 1:That night I had a burger and beer and fries, and because that was, that's the reward whatever you want the reward to be, with 30 34 weeks of intense training and following a specific nutrition program, and what were the feelings that you had when you were up there on stage?
Speaker 2:It was surreal because I was thinking to myself wow, I'm actually here. It's almost like you almost think you're never going to come. And then here it is. I'm assuming it's somewhat, on a very scale, comparable to a childbirth. It's like, all right, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're holding a child in your body for once, right as a woman. And then they come OK, it's time to give birth and you're like, oh, this is like really happening. It's like shock, like oh, and then meanwhile you knew it's going to happen. It's coming, like it's basically going to come And's coming, especially if the baby's going to come. It was kind of like that. It was an excitement and anxiety at the same time. Oh, my God, the day's here. But it was fun. I was looking for that guy on stage and thankfully, I tend to be a little bit extroverted, so I wasn't afraid to be on stage, but it was out of my comfort zone. I've been on stage and spoken to people, but this is different. This is me barely wearing any clothes right, basically naked.
Speaker 2:Basically naked, vulnerable and just showing my body, and then having these strangers look at me with a clipboard just kind of writing things down. I don't know what they're writing, but I'm just looking out into the distance of the crowd, into the lights I can barely see anyway, and just practicing my posing as if I had to put my mind, as if I was in front of the mirror at the gym. There's nobody there, it's just me in the mirror. That's really it. It's the best I can do. I can hear the crowd. I can hear people. I had friends and family there. They're clapping, they're yelling, they're yelling out my name. I'm trying to stay concentrated. So it was definitely a challenge there, but it was fun. It was exhilarating. That's why I'll be doing the one this year.
Speaker 1:Oh you are. I was just going to ask. That was my next question, Are you?
Speaker 2:going to doing it again and you know some people have said well, you did so well. And you know what? I'm going to tell you something about interesting. That happened the day of the competition, september 21st. So because I think another question is well, how did you place, how did I do Right?
Speaker 1:The way it worked. Interestingly enough, I wasn't going to ask that question, but you can share it. The reason why I wasn't because in my mind it wasn't the reason why you were doing it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, you're right. You're right, I agree with you. But there's value in the part of the show what happened after?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to hear it.
Speaker 2:So I get to the competition, they put me backstage, and the way it works is there are different categories in bodybuilding. There's bodybuilding, there's classic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's like 20 different things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the big ones are bodybuilding, classic and then physique. So I went into the physique category and physique is broken down into different categories as well, and I chose three categories to compete in. Number one was the open novice, because it was my first time, so I was definitely. It was called a true novice category, my first ever competition, which makes sense. So that was one category. And then the other category is based on age over 35 and over 40. So those are my three categories.
Speaker 2:Right, get on stage. I get backstage as a director. Back there he's been sliding people up, all these guys and everything, and he's like are you here, you here, you here, there's a turn to me. That was 65 years old, doing a competition. Right, such a cool guy Listen to a story. I was like, wow, I was like I'm going to be doing that at 65. Great, I can do that at 65. So that'd be great if I could do that at 65. It's like that'd be great. So he's in front of me, it's me and another guy and he goes the director, the stage directors, the three of you on stage, because you're all going to be representing your categories. Okay, again, first time, I don't know exactly what's going on, but I'm just following direction. Go up there, we do our poses, whatever we get off.
Speaker 2:I talked to my coach when I got off the stage and said, hey, he said we're the only ones representing our category. And my coach goes yeah, he goes, well, you're the only one in your category that showed up today. I go well, okay, what does that mean? Then he goes well, you're the only one that showed up, so you get first place, you win. I was like, okay. So then, when the medals came out and the section came out, in fact I got first place for 40 and over, second place for 35 and over and I placed fifth for true novice, right, and at the end of it I struggled a little bit because I said to myself all right, I showed up.
Speaker 2:I did 34 weeks of training. I drove to Poughkeepsie, new York, which is a good two-hour drive away from me. Family and friends came out, spent the night out there, spent the night that night too. We rented an Airbnb, all this stuff. I'm like I went through all this effort and I get here and nobody showed up, so I win by default. Then a negative voice comes up and says did you really win? Nobody competed against you. All you did was show up. Did you really win? Kind of crazy to think like that, right, and I was like no, I don't blame you.
Speaker 1:I kind of would have been like oh, I won by default because I'm the only one in the category. I don't know if I would have felt like that was a real win.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so exactly, and I was thinking the same thing. Did I really win Because I didn't compete against anybody?
Speaker 1:You competed against yourself.
Speaker 2:Thank you. So, however, that's the mindset. That's the mindset. That's the mindset. It's a bad.
Speaker 2:Conversations with my friends, my coach and with my girlfriend, and they were all saying similar threats. What you just said you competed against yourself, bottom line. You showed up, you went because you did it. You, you followed through and executed on what you said you were going to do this year. You did it. That's the way my girlfriend said she goes. What it tells me is there's not, obviously there's not. There's, no, not, there's no 40-year-old men that are willing to do this. You're the only guy that showed up. I was like okay, she's like. That alone sets you apart within your age and that's why you won. My coach said listen, people think this is easy or they can do it. He goes. I've had and my coach said this, I've had clients quit halfway through this process. He goes, and you didn't. You stuck to it. He goes.
Speaker 2:Even when you kept asking, people kept asking me for the mind job that was going on with me. Every couple of weeks, people can ask him hey, when's your competition, your competition, hey, when's your? Co-answer? Because the reality is that the person who was in control of when I was going to compete was my coach. Well, my coach felt like I looked like I was ready enough. Then I was, then he was, and it took 16 weeks for him to say, okay, guess what, darwin, we're going to be able to pick a competition.
Speaker 2:Now, this is like almost more of the weekend, this is like May, and I'm like great, I'm thinking June, july. I'm like all right, coach, when do you think he goes? All right, I want you to pick a competition in September. I'm like it's freaking May. I'm like I've been doing this all year so far. Oh, september. And I'm like but, I want but. And then again, but I want to enjoy my summer and I want to do I want to. Yeah, there was a process I had to go through and I stuck to it and I'm glad I did. It was really, I think, 34 weeks of just that disciplined kind of life and I'm going to be doing it again and for some reason I don't know, maybe I'm a masochist I'm going it again to prove to myself that I wasn't just a one hit one, that I could do it again, that I have the capacity to be able to put myself through that voluntarily, knowing now even more what it takes to get to that competition.
Speaker 2:Right, because ignorance is bliss sometimes it is bliss, it's a rookie thing and it's excitement, right, rookie thing and it's excitement, right. It's like, for example, maria, a first-time realtor, getting into the business and all of a sudden they're doing the open houses, they're doing the tours, they're driving the buyers and they sell their first couple of homes. They're excited. Then all of a sudden they trip a little bit and they hit a dry season or something, or even a dry month and think, oh no, this ain't for me. Now I realized in the following year they could do it again, right, but they're going to keep that same passion and excitement as of that ignorance is bliss.
Speaker 1:And a lot of times, if you knew what you knew. You may not do it again, but here you are to prove that you weren't a one hit wonder. Right and that's what this podcast, you know, is about Be the solution I believe we are all we are our own solution and if we're not where we are in our life, then it's our own fucking fault correct?
Speaker 1:thank you for saying that you know, I watch people and I I see so many people come to my door and they tell me they want it and I want to believe them. I used to believe them. Most don't have what it won't do what is required to be successful. I'd say 98% are mediocre at best. Not, maybe, not even maybe. That's only 30%. The 50% do nothing, sadly. But that's the industry, you know, and I think it's important, when you take things on like this, that you're doing, that you share it, you share the journey. It gives people hope and when you have hope, there's something about that. So it's always like can we give them enough hope to show up again the next day? And you don't got to worry about 34 weeks from now, you just have to worry about today. And that's what I tell. People Only worry about today, doing the reps for today, making the calls for today, because it's only that's tiny, hand-just, swinging doors, Just daily activities, whether that's eating, bodybuilding, learning how to play a sport, you know, being in sales.
Speaker 1:That's right Just today. What can we do today? How has this impacted the rest of your life, Darwin?
Speaker 2:Letting go of excuses on a daily test, right? I actually have a picture of myself behind my laptop. You can't see, it's on the wall. Um, after I did my competition, a friend of mine he's a photographer and he said hey, listen, let's take some pictures. Man, you know, you're in the peak condition right now and now it's time to take some photos, because you're not gonna look like this another week or two. I'm like I mean, you're right, I'm not gonna look at just like this, but I'll still look good, he. He goes no, you look good, he said, but not like. You know this window, we got to take advantage of it. All right, let's take some photos. The picture of me holding a pushup, black and white. I'll send it to you later. It's black and white and and it's I'm facing the camera and it says nobody ever drowned in sweat, that's right.
Speaker 2:And sweat, that's the cap right and I look and it's almost like this alter ego, even though I know it's a picture of myself. I look at that picture and I remind myself that that individual at that time and space last year was very dedicated, very focused, went through a lot of shit to get to where he wanted to be. I said so why am I letting that guy down? Because that's my past and I think, if we all look at it in this perspective of time and space, there's a person in your past, there's a person today in your present. There's a person in your future that's also counting on you to do the right thing today. So I look at that perspective. That guy was last year. I'm looking at this person today. But there's also a person that's a Darwin Roman, a 65-year-old Darwin Roman currently in the future, waiting for me to do the right thing every day.
Speaker 2:So I look at that. I'm like, all right, well, I got to make sure I make those calls. I deal with this email, I talk to this client, I do this presentation so that I can move forward towards that goal and, whether I like to feel it or not, whether I just got rejected or not, maybe I got my freaking ass kicked today, so what Tomorrow I could do it again. Keep pushing. And the other part about it In working out the part of the movement Is equally as important, and that was something that my trainer kept saying Work the negative, work the negative, work the negative. Sometimes he goes. The negative is your friend in this situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the resistance, the resistance coming down, right Coming down, depending on what it is.
Speaker 2:Depending on what it is, and if you're lifting, like this, it would be the coming down of it. You're going like this You're fighting gravity either way.
Speaker 1:That's where the definition comes from.
Speaker 2:You're fighting gravity either way, but it's either you're pushing away from gravity or gravity is pulling you back. That's where, regardless, either of them are just as valuable and sometimes losing the deal, losing a client, having a client cancel, whatever it is you do in people watching your business, sometimes it's just as valuable.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes not all business is good business.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And there's a thing of opportunity cost. You know you get a big client and the big client requires something different. Sometimes big clients they're not, can't work with them because they may be their way and their way isn't the way we do it, and then it Fs up what we do so it causes too much disruption to our cadence of speed, time and distance, which is all business is speed, time and distance. You know I I've been thinking a lot lately. I just got back. We were on a cruise last week, first cruise ever, and I got a.
Speaker 1:I got a norovirus on the cruise oh no so I was sick for 30 hours puking anyway, so I was laying in bed. I love I just had some, I got some being sick, but just like staring out in the ocean. You know, I say the magic happens when nothing's happening, because when you're in production, like meeting with clients, doing appointments, you're on, you're thinking about them, them, their situation, strategizing for them, me, I'm a listing broker, so strategizing for them, figuring out the solution to get. A lot of times I'm working with clients that have been on the market one, two times and didn't sell. So I'm like the fixer and you don't get to really think about strategy. You know playing chess, it's like more checkers, because I go, chess is like the business part and I was thinking about okay, where we are, what if I did these things and stopped doing these things and put together like a little plan?
Speaker 1:And then I had this epiphany a couple days ago. There's this contest one of our vendors is doing 30-day listing challenge, vendors is doing 30 day listing challenge. So the most listing appointments I ever done in one month, I believe, is 43. So I'm like, oh, what should I make it? And my husband's at a hundred. I said I was thinking that too. I said, but it scares the bejesus out of me. Even right now saying it, my stomach is getting like do you know what it requires to do 100 listing appointments in a month? Do you know even brokers? Do you know 100 in a year?
Speaker 2:I know. No, no, no, no, no. You're talking about three days in a month. It's like what.
Speaker 1:So, and that's every day working right. March is a 21 business day month and that's every day working right. March is a 21 business day month. If I add in two Saturdays, I get 23 days. 23 days to do that because I'm not going to be working the other days. I mean I could, but I don't plan to you figure out how you can do it in that time. But it goes back to choice management, right? So you had to put that time because you had to drive to the gym, be there for an hour and a half and drive back. That's two and a half hours, I'm guessing.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah, right. Two and a half hours and then on the weekend, call it an two and a half hours.
Speaker 1:I'm guessing Right, two and a half hours. Then, on the weekend, call it an hour and a half, because you've got to drive back and forth. We've got two and a half hours. Five days a week. 12.5 hours plus an hour and a half is three hours. We've got 15 and a half hours. Let's call it 16. 16 hours a week. Plus you got to prep the food. I'll get that. Another four hours a week for prep. Five hours, five hours, 20 hours. You carve out. So it's all just about carving it out.
Speaker 2:And you know what. So that's how many hours I was doing 20. And then, by the way, the last, I would say yeah, about the last eight weeks up to competition. I was also going to the gym Monday through Friday the usual morning session, right, and at night go back and do another 30-minute cardio session. Monday through Friday the usual warning session, right, and at night go back and do another 30-minute cardio session. Monday through Friday.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that's because you're shredding, you know.
Speaker 2:And then, on top of that, he wanted me to, monday through Friday, commit to 30 minutes of posing in front of a mirror.
Speaker 1:So yeah, if you think about breaking that down, we just broke down for people. Like someone said, how are you going to do that? Then I said how are you going to do that? Okay, well, here's the hours I'm going to do it. So I wrote down, I wrote down this. I wrote down a little trusty little. I use Slack, so I Slack myself notes, otherwise, who knows what's going to happen?
Speaker 1:So I wrote 18 hours on the phone should produce 18 appointments. 18 appointments, even if it's times four equals 60. Now I need four from Helen each week. Helen's. She calls for me three hours a day, so I need her to give me one appointment a day. Now that's 16. Now I'm at 76. Now I need 24 for marketing. We send out marketing letters and stuff, so that's six per week. If that one doesn't give me the 16, I need to get 16 more. I can't rely on that. Four more hours on the phone a week, so 21 hours on the phone. I've already time blocked it. So I need 25 hours a week to prep. Hours on the phone. I've already time blocked it. So I need 25 hours a week to prep and have the appointment. This is assuming I don't leave the office. So now I'm up to 41 hours without doing anything else.
Speaker 1:So I wrote start day 7 30.30. Gives me 60 hours plus Saturday. Whatever I got to do, wake up 5.45. And I wrote some other stuff in regards to what else I'm going to need to do at that time, because I'm going to need to go to the gym before, because I'm going to need that extra mindset, and I'm going to need to have my food prepped on Sundays because I'm not going to be able to be cooking meals every night at 8 o'clock.
Speaker 1:So cook, freeze, package stuff up and I make, I'd say, 90% of it, because we eat out maybe two times a week. Only two meals a week, I mean. And this way I'm not wasting time or energy or thoughts about food and I like to. I like I don't eat because you have to eat. I love like eating good food, like healthy food, but we're like foodies, you know, we like good stuff but we're not sitting there eating like McDonald's or burgers or anything like that, unless I make, we make them homemade, but like I'm bringing this up because it's exactly the same thing that you did not exactly, but it's the premise of it is right, yeah, the premise of it is it's like 100 appointments in a month doing a fitness competition.
Speaker 1:It's a change in what's here right, exactly, not comparing the two, I'm saying that it's a change in what's here right exactly not comparing the two. I'm saying that it's a change in your choices. It's a change in your the limiting belief. Who said you can like 43 appointments in a month? Who said you couldn't do whatever it is, you want nobody. You couldn't do whatever it is, you want Nobody.
Speaker 2:It's made up Exactly.
Speaker 1:Isn't that the point of it all? We make up stuff in our head. You made up a story that you really didn't win. Yep, I would. I'm stupid like that too. I would have made up the same stupid story because we have that little thing going. You suck, You're an ass. You don't know what you're doing and meanwhile thing going you suck you're an ass.
Speaker 2:You don't know what you're doing and meanwhile, it's.
Speaker 1:It's like you know, the devil. The brain is our worst enemy.
Speaker 2:Who's your favorite podcaster you're listening to right now I like listening to bradley and also andy frisella. I followed andy frisella before when he was the mfceo project, like back then awesome.
Speaker 1:I know of them. I don't listen to them. I have listened to them. I don't listen to them religiously. You know who I was listening to. A lot was Ed Milet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, milet, ed was doing the best. I'll bounce around, I'll watch your. Youtube video.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of like back and forth. I like Myron Golden. I don't know if you know him. Oh, he's really cool. Look him up, myron Golden. Dean Graziosi, tony Robbins.
Speaker 2:Dean Graziosi yeah.
Speaker 1:But Russell Brunson.
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't love him. Just not have him now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's pretty cool. And then I just finished reading a book on commercial real estate. I got some really interesting tidbits from that. That was part of right on the cruise. That was some of the info that I came up with. You know, about this list of 500 clients and it was little stories, you know. I didn't say you know, when tiny hinges swing big doors, it's little changes that make all the difference.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a little change. So a question for you what's your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2:With regards to food, anything, anything. Well, I will say okay, how about this? Guilty pleasure really is, I love movies, I love movies, and so I like going actually to a movie and having as much popcorn as possible and then drinking soda and just that's it, just zoning out and just being fully immersed into the experience of what I'm watching.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I haven't been in a movie since before COVID.
Speaker 2:It's not that.
Speaker 1:I don't like it. I got a little freaked out going there. And then the kids yeah, but we watch them. We watch them on Netflix, sure, yeah, it's enough working and thinking, exactly, take a little movie break, okay. So I kind of know what you might say about the next question, but I'm going to ask anyway what are you most excited about your future?
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah. So my upcoming competition I'm doing it again this year. I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the direction that my businesses are going right now and also the process of who I'll be by the end of this year. It's just constantly compounding effect of getting better and better, and that's what I'm excited about. I just had a birthday about two days ago, about three days ago now.
Speaker 1:Happy birthday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I've been now embracing a year as just another chance, another chapter to write, and thankfully I'm one that has a pen and I get to choose how the story ends.
Speaker 1:You get to choose the story. It's all up to us, our own story. I'm dreaming of my story in Italy. That's a good story we love it there and I'm going to figure out how to get there for more than 20 days.
Speaker 2:There you go Nice.
Speaker 1:Well, it was great to see you. Thank you so much for spending time with us this morning on Be the Solution Podcast, an amazing and inspiring story. Darwin, and, like I said in the beginning, work, works, work, that work.
Speaker 2:That's right. Work that work. Thanks for having me on the show. Really appreciate it, Honored.
Speaker 1:My pleasure.