If you are being completely honest, I am guessing you don’t. In fact, I know in the mortgage industry, most loan officers don’t absolutely LOVE what they do. But guess what? I do. But I didn’t always. I also know why most don’t, and how to fix it.
Most of us fill our days with “stuff”. “Stuff” refers to all the activities throughout our days and weeks that we don’t enjoy and suck away our energy. Imagine a successful mortgage loan officer, who got into the business to build relationships, grow their income, and enjoy the freedom of both time and money. Years later, the majority of their working hours are spent on low-payoff activities and the myriad of activities they don’t enjoy. Multiply this problem over five, ten, and even 20 years and you see absolute burnout.
So what is the solution?
Get extremely clear on the “energy” activities. What things do you actually enjoy doing? What activities make you the most money AND have the biggest impact on those in need of your services?
When you get really clear on these, you will find there are only a few things. The magic happens when you realize that the few things you enjoy doing are also the things that:
- You are best at
- Make you the most money
- Create the biggest impact on others
The next realization you should have is, you have the control to fill your days with only those activities! You have the ability to delegate all the other “stuff”. So why don’t you?
Sometimes it comes down to your company’s expectations. Often you admit to yourself you are a “control freak” and have not yet learned how to LET GO! Other times I find that people truly want to do more of what they love and less of what they hate…but they just don’t know how or where to start.
Action Plan:
- Write down all the activities you do NOT enjoy doing that you do on any given day in a week. (Hint: this should be easy and I bet you’ll need more paper.)
- Next, write down all the activities you LOVE doing on any given day at work.
Looking at your two lists, which one is shorter? Right…the activities you love. I will go out on a limb here and guess that they include things like “meeting with clients”, “building relationships”, “giving advice”, and even “leading my team”. You might have also written down “marketing”, and “creating new ideas to grow your business”.
Guess what…those things are what you SHOULD be doing 80% or more every week. So before you start coming up with all of the excuses as to why you can’t, or why that just doesn’t work for you…look around. You will find someone already doing it. As a result, they either do more business or make more money than you, or they love what they do for a living more than you. Chances are, it’s both.
It’s time for you to narrow down what you do each day so that you can LOVE what you do every day. It takes time. It takes help. It takes courage.
But what is more important than loving WHAT you do…and loving HOW you do it?
