A surefire way to crash

Race car drivers are taught to drive out the windshield. Not the mirror. Not the car next to them. The car goes where your eyes go. Stare at the wall you're afraid of hitting, and you hit the wall.

I see agents do the opposite all the time. They see another agent on a hot streak, having a great month, and assume that's every month. Then they feel behind in a race they never entered.

Here's what happens next.

The thought comes first: She's crushing it and I'm not. That thought creates a feeling, usually somewhere between pressure and dread. And that feeling starts driving the action.

Some agents go quiet and avoid the calls. Others push harder, which looks like the better response. Effort is good.

But effort fueled by someone else's number is borrowed fuel. Eventually, it runs out. You can work twice as hard and still be driving straight into the wall.

Thought. Feeling. Action. Result.

And the whole chain started with a thought about a number that wasn't yours.

That's how you crash. Not from lack of talent, but from looking at the wrong thing.

For an agent, the mirror is the leaderboard. The top producer list. The post about a record month. The person in your office who seems to close everything.

None of it is useless. A driver checks the mirror. It tells you what's behind you and what the field looks like. But it's information, not direction.

So before you look at anyone else's number this week, decide your own. One number you control. Written down. Somewhere you'll see it. Then check the mirror if you want. You'll read it differently.

Check the mirror for information. Drive out the windshield.

Where are your eyes pointed this week? Hit reply and tell me.