By: Matt Clements

There’s a place called Fiji, and it’s one of the Holy Grails for surfers. The island in the South Pacific hosts a world tour surfing event and is known for the best left-hand wave on the planet: Cloudbreak. You may not surf yet. Doesn’t matter. It’s still the kind of place dreams are made of, in the water or on the shore. What does that have to do with real estate? Don’t worry. I’ll get there.

Now rewind to the top of the year. January. A $1 million sale, and a $75,000 dirt lot that had sat for months. Both of those closings were months in the making. We’re just now entering the holiday season, and you might be thinking that now is the time to take a breather and slow down a bit. And it might be time for a break, but I can tell you from experience that what you do now will determine how the first quarter of your business goes.

My 2026 didn’t start in January. The sales that I referenced above that happened in January were because of some intentional work beforehand. When everyone else is assessing their goals for the new year and figuring out their business plan, I am already working with my clients to close deals, and that’s because I started in October the year before. That’s when I’m business planning.

I also know most agents check out from Thanksgiving through Christmas. You’re decorating. You’re spending time with family. You’re decorating. You’re probably not calling or engaging. You might even be thinking there’s no point to because your potential clients are all doing the same. But the holiday season is when I turn up the heat. I like to emulate Kobe Bryant and prepare by doubling down, and in my experience, it works.

If I double down on calls in November and December, I start the next season strong and for me, a strong start isn’t optional. Those same months also put me top of mind for the spring market.

So what do I actually do that translates into a strong late winter and spring?

Instead of a Christmas card, I show up. My grandpa, a real estate veteran, always said that the key to a building a successful business real estate business is to actually see, in person, the people who will become your customers. That can happen a lot of ways. My clients already see me on video, so I really focus on showing up in person. Pie delivery at Thanksgiving. An end-of-year client party. One person a day, in person, is the best way to be seen. The rest is the phone and handwritten notes.

Make it easy on yourself: call the people in your top 100 and focus there. Your top 100 are not the people you enjoy talking to. They are the people who refer you buyers and sellers, and the ones who use you the most. If you don’t have a database, that’s step one. Getting everyone in it is step two. Building a real top 100 is step three. Then it’s a gentle sprinkling system. Calls. Notes. Face time. You’re creating a rhythm.

All of that is preparation. What you do now pays off three to four months from now. That’s how you stay on fire all year long.

Back to Fiji. It wasn’t my only vacation in 2026. It was my fourth. Vacation is the fuel I use to come home and jump back in. There’s a caveat that a lot of us in the indusry forget, I think: you actually have to vacation or at the very least, take some time away. The break is as important as the work, because you can’t serve your clients on an empty tank.

I was in Fiji in August, after two trips to Hawaii earlier in the summer. I had an escrow in the $2 million range. I told my clients, my transaction coordinator, my assistant and my manager the same thing: do not contact me. Handle whatever needs handling. I am unreachable until I touch back down in California.

The other agent on that escrow had taken what they called a vacation earlier in the transaction. He wasn’t really off. He answered all of the calls and emails, even though we had a team that was completely prepared and capable of handling things. That’s not a vacation. A vacation is sunscreen, a good book, the five surfboards you brought (or whatever your flavor is) and no phone. You need it. Unplugging is what lets us do our best work.

You have to take breaks. The Power of Full Engagement by Dr. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz is in my top five books on the charge and the recharge of a business life. It sits right behind Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

The waves, the boat rides, the people, the places: priceless. And paid for by the work you did three to four months ago.

MATT CLEMENTS is an exceptionally well-connected, 4th generation real estate agent with 24 years of professional experience. He brings an incredible breadth of industry knowledge, a proven track record of success and a glowing reputation to his role at Coldwell Banker Global Luxury in his hometown of Laguna Niguel, Calif. To date, his sales volume exceeds $200 million in California residential home sales. Founder of the Orange County Young Professionals Network, author of the Young Professionals Network Playbook and CEO of The Clements Group, Matt has a stellar commitment and interest in both the local real estate realm and the industry on a national level.

Matt was President for the Orange County REALTORS®, the largest REALTOR® association in California, with over 17,000 members. He is also the youngest person to ever hold this elected office. Previously, in 2016, he served as Chairman of the California Association of REALTORS® Young Professionals Network (C.A.R. YPN), when the group won the YPN State Network of the Year.

Matt has also served several years in leadership on the committees of Legislative, Land Use, Business Technology, Professional Development, and the Young Professionals for C.A.R. His role still includes meeting with members of Congress and state legislators to discuss current and proposed real estate-related legislation— lawmakers often consider Matt’s insight when weighing their decisions.