What Drives Action? Why Your Beliefs Come Before Your Habits

I am preparing for our upcoming Leadership Retreat for CB&A, Realtors. I look forward to it every year. Two days of deep thinking, planning, and a little fun with our Directors and Mentors. So many great parts of CB&A have come from these two days. It is a great opportunity to examine what works (and doesn't), plan for what's ahead, and dream.

For the past six years, I have started the retreat with the same presentation. It is a review of our learning system. It is literally the way we believe that people learn. It is driven by the idea of habit creation. It is a simple framework. Simple, but effective as hell when done correctly.

Adding Belief to the Equation

This year, however, will be different. I will be adding an element to the conversation based on a lot of work with my Coach. That element: belief.

What we believe, whether real or not, is a powerful driver of behavior. Not to be cliché, but the old Henry Ford quote, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right," is true. To be able to get to the root of beliefs, though, you must either know the experience that created the belief or create the experience yourself.

Therein lies the challenge. How do we create experiences that either change or establish beliefs that drive habit formation?

Creating Experiences That Change Beliefs

For a new licensee, this typically looks like small wins celebrated to create momentum. It can look like really getting them to take action over doing what I like to call getting ready to get ready. For experienced agents, this can be a bigger challenge. Removing deep-seated beliefs from years of experience can be a real hurdle to overcome. It takes commitment, courage, and the willingness to fail in order to improve. Each one of those can be a challenge in and of itself.

So, we create experiences. When we create experiences that work, we change beliefs. When we change beliefs, we inspire action. When we inspire action, we can create repeatable skills that then turn into habits. When we create habits, built from actions grounded in belief, we create success.

In short:

1. Experience changes belief.
2. Belief inspires action.
3. Action, repeated, becomes a skill.
4. Skill turns into habit.
5. Habit creates success.

If only it was as simple as that. That's the challenge of leadership. That is the burden of responsibility that every good leader bears for the people they get to serve.

What Beliefs Are Holding You Back?

So, I guess the question for the reader is what beliefs are holding you back? What experience do you need to create or have created for you that would change your actions? What habit do you need to create to be more (insert what you want to be more of here)?

Reverse Engineer It

I think that the key here is to do a little reverse engineering. Start with the habit and work your way backwards to the belief. Then, identify what needs to happen to change your belief. Then either do it or get someone to help you. Don't be afraid to ask for help. The result will change your life.

---

Want to keep going? Listen to Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Coach with Verl Workman and Top 5 Tips for Hiring a Real Estate Coach.