A Champion is ready and willing to make the sacrifice that is necessary. The challenge for most people climbing the ladder of success to becoming a Champion is knowing when and how much sacrifice is necessary. The key is making the right sacrifice needed for the situation. Too often, Agents expect to give up too much. I was speaking with an Agent the other day who wanted to be one of the top Agents in his marketplace.

Based on his comments, I knew he thought the only path to real estate sales success was being a workaholic. As we spoke further, he began to understand there were other, better avenues of success other than a 70 hour work week; that he could achieve a large, successful sales practice by putting forth the effort of sacrifice plus a little bit more.

I don't believe people need to work 70 hour work weeks to achieve success. It only demonstrates how inefficient one is with the use of their time in activities. It also speaks to a lack of skills that create revenue. Conversely, I do not believe people achieve wealth and success by working a typical 40 hour work week as most workers do. I know that to achieve success and wealth and quality of life, you have to sacrifice by putting in a little more effort than the next guy.

Once you have increased your skill level to the Champion's level, you can go well below a 40 hour work week and still earn a large income. It's the climb up the success mountain that too many people either don't give enough or give too much to. In terms of work hours, if you are in a growth stage of your business, I believe around 50 hours a week is required.

Too many of us stop short of what is needed and required. Because we have allocated fewer resources than required, the results are guaranteed to fall short of expectations. Others sacrifice more than is needed, which is a waste of resources. You can kill a fly with a bomb, but it's really more sacrifice, resources, and power than is necessary. The question is, are you currently making the right amount of sacrifice to be a Champion Agent?

Published: September 9, 2011

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Dirk Zeller is a sought out speaker, celebrated author and CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. The Real Estate community has embraced and praised his six best-selling books; Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, The Champion Real Estate Team, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, Successful Time Management for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print. To learn more regarding this article, please visit www.realestatechampions.com.