Mike Browning

Tag: Momentum

  • The First Step Is Usually the Hardest

    The First Step Is Usually the Hardest

    Once you get started, it’s not hard to keep going.

    I remember being told growing up that it takes less gas for a car to idle for a few minutes than to shut it off and restart it. Something about wear on the starter too. I heard the same thing about lights. About computers. If the goal was saving energy, you were often better off leaving things running than flipping them on and off.

    Might not have been true. I’m not an electrician or a mechanic, and it was a long time ago. So even if it was true then maybe it isn’t now.

    Beside the point anyway.

    I read something recently noting that the hardest part of most tasks isn’t the task itself. It’s going from not moving to moving. Once you’re in motion, momentum does most of the work. The whole fight is getting off the couch.

    Once you see that, you can use it against yourself, in a good way. Can’t get motivated for the gym? Make a deal. You’ll get dressed, drive there, walk in. If you still don’t feel like it once you’re inside, you can turn around and go home.

    Do this enough times and you’ll find you almost never leave.

    Just getting started was the whole battle.

    I use this at the office too. There are some projects I have that I don’t look at every day, but are large and have lots of moving parts. When it’s time to pick them back up, they’re overwhelming enough that putting them off a little longer feels reasonable. Which would just make it worse.

    If I commit to ten minutes, just one small task like sending an email or reviewing what’s left to do, I almost never stop at ten minutes.

    If anything I end up with the opposite problem. I get moving and don’t stop. An hour turns into four, and something else I meant to get to that day doesn’t happen. I’ve started setting alarms just to make myself quit.

    The same thing happens with bigger decisions too.

    If you own non-residential real estate, it’s probably a real chunk of your financial picture. Worth knowing what it’s worth, and what’s happening around it that affects that. Not because you’re looking to sell. Usually the smart move is waiting, unless you’ve got somewhere better to put the money or a reason that forces your hand.

    But it’s better to have the information and not need it than to need it and not have it.

    Most people never get the information. Getting started feels like a bigger thing than it is.

    And there’s the barber problem. Ask a barber if you need a haircut and you already know the answer.

    Call about your land looking for information and you end up on the phone with a salesperson telling you all the things you need to do that happen to be very good for them. So people put it off.

    It doesn’t have to go that way.

    That’s the whole idea behind the MBR Land Reality Check. You request it, and that’s it. No one shows up trying to list your property. You get recent sales with real numbers, what’s moving in the market, and any development nearby worth knowing about.

    It takes about two minutes to request, and it shows up in your inbox a few days later.

    No pressure, because there isn’t a pitch waiting on the other end.

    You don’t have to be ready to sell.

    You just have to be willing to know where things stand.

    Get Yours Here

    PS – If you’re not ready for a Land Reality Check but enjoyed this post, you can sign up below and get future articles delivered to your inbox.

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  • But What Are You Going To Do For An Encore?

    But What Are You Going To Do For An Encore?

    Recent success is just past success. Don’t rest on it.

    A lot of people in business and in life declare victory too soon.

    I saw a commercial recently where a guy was in a job interview. They told him they couldn’t hire him right now, but they’d keep him in mind for later.

    He walked out saying, “Keep me in mind,” and immediately went out to celebrate.

    I don’t even remember what the commercial was for — which probably tells you everything about how ineffective most advertising is these days.

    But the point stuck.

    People get a job, or a listing, or a small win, and they act like that’s the finish line. They relax. They stop pushing. They assume the rest will just work itself out. That momentum will carry them.

    In real estate, that shows up when an agent gets a listing, drops it into the MLS as a “list and hope,” and mentally checks the box. The celebration happens up front. Then it’s mostly waiting.

    That’s not how I look at it — and not how I try to operate.

    For me, victory isn’t getting the listing. Victory is when someone is so satisfied with how I handled their situation that they wouldn’t consider working with anyone else. They come back when they need help again. They tell people they know to call me.

    You don’t get there by stopping early.

    I don’t stop at the listing. I’ve built marketing tools and processes specifically to keep things moving. Pricing is handled aggressively and honestly, which sometimes means it takes time. But the work doesn’t stop just because the sign is up.

    We’ve all heard the saying that success is a journey, not a destination. I’m not big on clichés, but sometimes they’re true.

    The goal isn’t something you reach once and then relax. You keep pushing. That’s the mindset I try to bring to everything.

    It’s the only way to get anywhere worth going.

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  • Luck Isn’t a Plan — Showing Up Is

    Luck Isn’t a Plan — Showing Up Is

    Strange how preparation looks like fortune to everyone else.

    Phil Hellmuth wrote in one of his books that you’re always in the right place at the right time.

    Which is a comforting thought… unless you’re sitting in your truck eating gas-station beef jerky and avoiding the phone calls you know you should be making.

    Then it just feels personal.

    And I’m guessing he didn’t write that line right after getting slow-rolled and going full Poker Brat on ESPN.

    Scott Adams put it a different way:
    “Position yourself where luck is likely to run into you.”

    Which is really just the same idea with fewer affirmations and more sarcasm.

    If you sit in your living room waiting for opportunity to show up like the Amazon guy, good luck.

    Opportunity doesn’t knock — it just kind of wanders around hoping to bump into someone who’s not asleep.

    In real estate, “luck” looks suspiciously like:

    • Checking zoning agendas
    • Noticing when a water district suddenly gets busy
    • Paying attention to which road the county is widening
    • Getting your marketing out before everyone else decides it’s a good idea

    People will tell you, “Wow, that was great timing.”

    Yeah.

    Amazing coincidence that I was “coincidentally” paying attention, asking questions, and doing the boring work while everyone else was scrolling TikTok.

    Funny how that works.

    The truth is simple:

    Luck happens way more often when you’re actually looking for it.

    You don’t have to be perfect. Half the game is just being awake, consistent, and willing to act before something is 100% figured out.

    A lot of big wins start with, “I’m not totally sure what I’m doing, but let’s try.”

    And then — weeks or months later — someone says,

    “Man, must be nice… you’re lucky.”

    Sure. Lucky.

    Let’s go with that — it sounds nicer than “I out-worked you.”

    Get More Like This In Your Inbox Here!

    PS- You’re probably not looking to buy or sell real estate today. But you know the time to start preparing is well before you’re actually planning to do something.

    I offer a free, no obligation value analysis of any non-residential property. It includes nearby comparable sales (with actual prices), info about nearby development activity, utility info, market trends, etc.

    With that in hand you’re ahead of the game, and ready to move when our friend luck shows up. Which seems to happen more often when you’re proactive.

    Would it be a bad idea to make yourself luckier?

    Click below to get started:

    Got a lot you might want to sell?
    Get a FREE, no obligation report on what it could sell for today.
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  • Just Start (Even If You Don’t Want To)

    Just Start (Even If You Don’t Want To)

    Motivation shows up after the first step, not before.

    If you’re like me, you have to make a list of the day’s tasks or things get missed.

    Even the small stuff — returning a call, reaching out to a broker, updating a client — goes on the list.

    It works. Nothing slips through the cracks.

    But there’s a tradeoff: at the beginning of the day, that list can look like a mountain.

    Even when you know most of the items only take a few minutes, seeing all of them at once can make you want to freeze.

    And if there’s one task on there that’s bigger — something you don’t fully know how to do, or something with tech you haven’t figured out yet — it’s even worse. Suddenly, the whole list feels heavier than it really is.

    But the funny thing is: it’s almost never as bad as it looks.

    Most people think the difficulty is the task itself.

    It’s not.

    The hardest part is going from not moving to moving.

    Once you’re already in motion — whether it’s the workout, the cleanup, the writing, or the business task — it’s rarely as bad as the version of it that existed in your head five minutes earlier. But when you’re sitting still, everything feels bigger than it is.

    You start thinking things like:

    • I don’t have the energy.
    • I don’t know where to start.
    • I’ll do it later when I’m ready.
    • It’ll take forever.

    But here’s the truth:

    You don’t need readiness.
    You need momentum.

    And momentum doesn’t show up before you start — momentum shows up because you start.

    A good trick is to make the first step stupidly small — so easy your brain can’t argue with it.

    Want to go to the gym but don’t feel like it?
    Tell yourself: I’m just driving there and walking inside. If I want to leave right after, I can.

    Trying to clean up the house and it feels overwhelming?
    Tell yourself: Pick up five things. Just five.
    Once you grab those five, you’ll probably keep going.

    Staring at a work project you’ve been avoiding?
    Tell yourself: I’m just going to look at it. Not fix it. Not solve it. Just open it.

    It sounds ridiculous, but it works — not because the task changes, but because you shift from idle to forward motion.

    Your brain handles doing a lot better than it handles anticipating.

    Most of the dread lives in the waiting.
    Most of the stress lives in the buildup.

    But once you start?

    You think, Why was I avoiding this? This isn’t that bad.

    Starting small isn’t weakness.
    It’s strategy.

    Because once you’re in motion — even a tiny bit — finishing becomes easier than quitting.

    So next time you’re stuck, don’t wait for motivation.
    Just lower the bar until momentum has no choice but to show up.

    After that, the rest takes care of itself.

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    PS — You may have seen Sunday’s post introducing HisWordTogether.com.

    Reading the entire Bible is something a lot of people say they want to do — or feel like they should do — but it can feel intimidating because it’s a big undertaking.

    Just like in business, the key is the same: start small and let momentum do the heavy lifting.

    The site breaks the readings into small, daily pieces — usually 5–20 minutes a day — which makes it manageable for anyone. And if you sign up, you’ll get the weekly readings in your email, so you don’t have to remember to go find them.

    It’s free of charge. No commitment. No pressure.

    If reading through the Bible has been on your mind, this may be the easiest way to finally start.

    HisWordTogether.com