Unlocking Success by Mastering Your Energy as a Real Estate Entrepreneur
Running a business is exhilarating, but it can also be draining. Many real estate entrepreneurs find themselves caught in a cycle of burnout and struggle to maintain energy levels over time. If you’re passionate about growing your real estate business, avoiding burnout, and becoming more fulfilled in your daily work, it's essential to manage where and how you invest your time and energy.
In this guide, we’ll explore strategies to help you align your work with activities that give you energy, how to identify energy drains, and ways to delegate tasks that hold you back from reaching your true potential. With insights from Trevor Mauch, a real estate investor who built an eight-figure business and owns Carrot, we'll uncover the secrets to building a sustainable, fulfilling career while generating motivated seller leads and scaling your real estate empire.
The Energy Audit: Your Key to Long-Term Success
One of the most powerful tools Trevor introduced is the Energy Audit. This exercise enables you to differentiate between tasks that energize you and those that drain you. By regularly auditing your daily activities, you can focus on the things that make you feel empowered and outsource or delegate those that exhaust your energy.
How Does an Energy Audit Work?
- Create Two Lists: Draw a line down the center of a sheet of paper. On the left side, list activities that give you energy. On the right, list tasks that drain your energy.
- Include Personal and Work-Related Activities: Consider both your professional tasks and personal routines. For example, working out or spending time with family might give you energy, while administrative tasks or attending certain meetings might drain you.
- Evaluate Time Spent: Next to each energy-draining activity, write down how much time you spend on it each week. Do the same for energy-giving activities.
- Set Goals: Aim to reduce the time spent on energy-draining tasks and increase the time on energy-giving ones. Trevor’s goal was to shift from 20% energy-giving tasks to over 70%.
Delegation: The Art of Buying Back Your Time
One of the biggest shifts you can make as an entrepreneur is to stop trying to do everything yourself. The mistake many entrepreneurs make is holding onto tasks they can do, but don’t enjoy doing. By delegating these tasks, you free yourself to focus on areas where you excel, increasing both your productivity and happiness.
Trevor shared his personal experience of hiring an assistant, who excelled at tasks he once considered "crap work." What he found was that his assistant actually enjoyed those tasks, which freed him up to focus on the strategic and creative aspects of his business.
Steps to Delegate Effectively:
- Identify Your Energy Drainers: Use your energy audit to pinpoint tasks that drain you the most.
- Create Processes: For each draining task, create a step-by-step process so someone else can take it over without losing quality.
- Find the Right Person: Hire someone who finds joy in doing the tasks you dislike. Remember, what drains you may energize someone else.
The Power of Focused Energy: How to Avoid the "2-3 Year Turn and Burn"
Many real estate entrepreneurs experience a two-to-three-year cycle of enthusiasm followed by burnout. This happens because they pour all their energy into launching new ventures but struggle to maintain the same momentum once the excitement of the startup phase fades. The key to avoiding this cycle is learning how to innovate within your existing business rather than constantly starting something new.
By focusing on high-energy activities within your business, you can sustain long-term growth without feeling the need to jump from project to project. This focus keeps you engaged and excited about your work, allowing you to scale without the common burnout pattern.
Innovating Within Your Existing Business
Entrepreneurs are natural starters. However, many get stuck when it’s time to maintain or grow the business beyond the initial launch phase. Instead of starting new ventures every few years to chase the excitement, learn to innovate inside your existing business.
Trevor shared that his breakthrough came when he stopped focusing solely on making more money and started optimizing his work around energy. By doing more of the work that gave him energy—like podcasts and strategy sessions—he found himself enjoying his business more while also seeing significant financial growth.
Strategies for Innovation:
- Refocus on Strategy: If you enjoy planning and strategy, spend more time on those tasks. Delegate the execution to someone else.
- Use Your Energy as a Guide: Whenever you feel your energy dip, assess whether it’s time to innovate the processes or systems in your business to make them more enjoyable.
Build a Team That Aligns with Your Vision
Growing your real estate business doesn’t have to mean taking on more work yourself. Building a capable team is essential, but the key is hiring the right people. Your goal should be to find individuals who thrive in areas that drain your energy, enabling you to focus on what you do best.
Trevor emphasized the importance of hiring not just to scale revenue, but to buy back your time. By delegating tasks that others excel at, you’re able to focus on the high-value, energy-giving tasks that truly move the needle in your business.
Build Your Business Around Energy and Motivation
Success in real estate investing isn’t just about making money—it’s about building a business that fuels your passion and energy. By regularly conducting an energy audit, delegating draining tasks, and focusing on innovation within your business, you can create a sustainable career that brings both fulfillment and financial growth.
If you’re ready to take your real estate business to the next level, don’t wait. Start your energy audit today, delegate tasks that hold you back, and focus on what truly excites you. Building a business around your unique energy is the key to long-term success and fulfillment.
Ready to build a thriving real estate business that doesn’t burn you out? Start focusing on what gives you energy and leave the rest to a dedicated team. Download our Energy Audit Worksheet and take the first step towards building a business that energizes and excites you, while generating motivated seller leads that will drive your growth. Get the worksheet today and take control of your real estate success!