Alex Cavelli

By Alex Cavelli

“Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness.”
—Scott Ginsberg

Last week I introduced willpower scientist Colin Robertson’s “Do Not Fail” approach —step one in the plan to scientifically developing the keystone habit of lead generation.

After Robertson helped me decide on my personal do-not-fail goal for the number of contacts I was to make each day, he then introduced the key to this approach: consistent action.

The Seinfeld Method

After a live performance, legendary comic Jerry Seinfeld was approached by a young and aspiring comedian. The young comic asked what was the No. 1 thing that contributed to Seinfield’s stratospheric success. Seinfeld’s answer was simple: “In order to succeed at comedy, you need to tell better jokes. In order to tell better jokes, you need to write jokes every day. So what you need to do is get a giant calendar of the whole year. Every day that you write a new joke, mark a big red X on that day. Then, just don’t break the chain.”

Let’s pretend Seinfeld was talking to you and me as real estate sales professionals. He might say, “In order to succeed in real estate, you need to talk to more people about real estate. And in order to talk to more people, you need to prospect every day. So what you need to do is get a giant calendar of the whole year. Every day that you prospect, mark a big red X on that day. Then just don’t break the chain.”

The Science

Most of us experience a constant tug-of-war between motivation and procrastination.  The world’s top performers, from CEOs to professional athletes, all have one thing in common: consistency. The best performers in every walk of life, like Seinfeld explained, do their work with remarkable consistency and consider everything else a distraction.

The Seinfeld Strategy works because it’s process-oriented and not results-oriented. It’s not about waiting for the “perfect moment” of inspiration; it’s about making progress every single day. And every time we make progress, we achieve a small win and gain confidence that we can “continue the chain.” The longer the chain gets, the harder it will be for you to break it. And that’s a good thing.

Application

Here’s how to make it real: Take the remainder of your 2014 schedule and decide which days you will accomplish your do-not-fail daily contact goal. Let go of everything else in your business and devote your willpower to the Seinfeld Method. When you hit your daily goal, mark it somewhere you can see. Use a calendar (like this) or e-mail me and I will send you a complimentary real estate Seinfeld Method spreadsheet.

If you break the chain (and you probably will), start over.  It may be comforting to know that even the best free-throw shooters in the NBA score only 80 percent of the time from the line. Imagine prospecting 80 percent of the days you said you would. For most of us that’s still 4 days out of the workweek!

The law of accumulation and the law of cause and effect are your best friends. These consistent efforts over time will yield consistent results over time. I challenge you to think of a more effective way.

Next time we’ll talk about the science of “definiteness of purpose” as it relates to lead generation. In the meantime, if you’re curious about my progress and would like to discuss a lead generation plan that works for you, please contact me.

Alex Cavelli is a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Greater Cleveland Northeast. Connect with Alex via linkedin.com/in/cavelli or Alexcavelli@kw.com.