Friday's BOLD LAW from KW MAPS Coach George Gillas.... " Spontaneity is a conditioned reflex "

Spontaneity is a conditioned reflex.

How do you get to a point where your responses are automatic and the best response possible? It’s easy to have an automatic reaction – a response is a whole different concept.

Think of it this way – the difference between reaction and response is training. Police and firefighters run towards danger and civilians run away. Police and firefighters are civilians with training, aren’t they?

We don’t call them “first reactors” do we? We call them “first responders.”

There are four stages of learning and “autopilot” does not come in until at stage four.

Stage 1. Unconscious incompetence. Simply put, you don’t know what you don’t know.

Stage 2. Conscious incompetence. You now realize what you don’t know. This is where learning/training begins.

Stage 3. Conscious competence. As long as you are thinking about the action, you can do it. It may be bumpy and seemed canned or unnatural and, as long as you are focused, you get results.

Stage 4. Unconscious competence. You no longer have to think - your actions are automatic.

Everything you have ever learned and mastered has gone through these four stages. Think about learning how to drive a car – manual transmission anyone? Think about sports where you had to learn basics before you could compete at a higher level. Have you ever seen a spinal cord injury patient learning to walk again?

Everything you have mastered you once never new existed!

Let’s bring it home to real estate. There are five things a successful Realtor must master:

1. Lead generation

2. Lead follow up

3. Going on appointments

4. Negotiating contracts

5. Role play and skill practice

Prior to learning this – you never knew it (unconsciously incompetent). Then you got into training and realized just how much there is to know about the art of selling vs. what you learned in RE school (consciously incompetent). As you practiced your scripts for calling and follow up – you stumbled, felt uneasy, needed coaching to help you get over the hump and got some (maybe not so great) results (consciously competent).

Eventually, you look forward to the conversations. They are smooth, effortless, and you’re amazed that you can earn such a great living doing something that now seems so easy (unconsciously competent).

As you look over the five skills of a successful Realtor – can you now internalize the importance of skill #5? Don has mentioned the fallacy of ‘practice makes perfect’ because practice makes habits! It takes perfect practice to make perfect habits.

Commit to practicing your craft. Challenge yourself and your role play partners to make it “real.” Master the fundamentals to the point of unconscious competence – then you have earned the right to get creative. And watch your results skyrocket.

Contributed by KCN leader Don Aldrich