I played a lot of golf this past weekend but it was a little different than most rounds. You see, our Men’s Golf Association likes to change things up every week so there is always a new game for the members to participate in. Sometimes it’s a two-man game, sometimes it’s a three-man event. It could be individual points or sometimes it’s just every man for himself.
This weekend we played “Five Clubs and a Putter” and the rules are exactly as you would guess they are. Each player can choose 5 clubs and their putter to use for the entire round of golf. For context, in a normal round of golf, players would carry 14 clubs in their bag; 13 clubs, and a putter.
Having to choose which clubs to keep in the bag and which to leave in your trunk was a pinch of strategy and a dollop of total luck. You had to think of the clubs you hit the most (other than the putter) and the club less often. The problem is you don’t play golf in your head so it was easy to land in spots that left you wishing you would have brought a different club.
Need to hit a 6-iron but you only have a 4-iron or an 8-iron? Well, you’re going to have to decide to hit a really soft 4-iron or swing out of your shoes and hope you crush the 8-iron…but that could cause your ball to end up in another tough spot where you might not have the right club again.
So what does this have to do with real estate?
What if you had to reduce your “tools” available this week? Let’s say the one thing you get to keep for sure (like our putter) would be your mobile phone. That’s kind of equivalent because you’re going to use it on every hole. You always have your mobile phone within arm’s reach, don’t you?
Now what will you choose? Say you had to eliminate all but a few of the social channels. Which one do you feel you can’t operate without? Would you keep Facebook or Instagram? YouTube or Tik Tok?
What about tech tools? Are you dropping your CRM or DotLoop? Is the MLS a “must-have” for your business?
Which channel of communication would you make sure to keep active? Face-to-face or voice-to-voice? Texting or email? Mailbox or social media?
Sometimes you need to do less if you want to do more.
This past weekend, I couldn’t blame the clubs I didn’t have on the poor shots I hit. I needed to mentally and physically adjust to the course and use the clubs I did have available. I couldn’t use what I didn’t have.
Start thinking about those tools you use every day and couldn’t live without. What are the tools you cannot live without? Build your schedule around them and leverage them to help you achieve what is needed to reach your goals.
Spend your time and energy putting yourself in a position to use the right tools at the right time.
In other words, spend your time building relationships, solving problems, and having fun.
