For the past 30 years of my marriage my wife has been asking me to take her to Italy. It has always the #1 item on her personal bucket list.

Of course, I have resisted as best I could and would joke about take her to the “Little Italy” in our city. In our business we are either way too busy to think about going away or even worse, we are so slow that we are wondering how to pay our bills not a vacation.
Well this all finally came to end recently and I broke down and said ok.

There were 3 BIG LESSONS from this trip I would like to share with you and I believe they will all help you close more loans, make more money and finally enjoy your life.

LESSON # 1- You MUST have a supportive spouse or partner.

I am truly blessed to have a partner that supports me through all of the ups and downs of this business. We all know how tough this business can be at times. But if you have to go home and then deal with other “issues” it truly is almost impossible to succeed.

So if you have a supportive spouse or partner make sure that you go home after reading this and let them know how much you appreciate them. In my case it cost me a trip to Italy hopefully you can get away with just a nice dinner!

LESSON # 2 YOU MUST TAKE A BREAK OCCASSIONALLY.

The harsh truth is that no one likes speaking or working with a burnout and frustrated originator. Yes, it’s great to work hard but you must also work smart. You must take time to refresh and relax. It’s actually funny to see that sentence in writing since I often give this advice but find myself working 12-14 hour days.

While in Italy I was able to wind down and actually relax. This allowed me to spend quality, uninterrupted time with my wife that was truly spectacular. I came back refreshed with new ideas and new energy to get those ideas implemented.

LESSON # 3- YOU MUST HAVE A GREAT TEAM AND SYSTEMS PLACE

In our business we are only as good as the team we have in place. Our processors, closers, underwriters and support staff have the ability to make us look like a genius or a complete idiot.
Trust me when I tell you I have had both.
So go ahead right now while you are reading this and look at your own team. Do you have enough members on your team to get the job done?
Are all of your team members working together or against each other?
Are they all committed to your success and getting the buyer to closing smoothly?

Before we leave this topic you must also have great systems in place. This is one of the things I share with my Top Originator Mastermind members. ( learn more at http://TopOriginatorMastermind.com/tos or If you would like to take a 5 day test drive of Top Originator Mastermind for just 1.00 go to
http://toporiginatormastermind.com/onedollar) right now

You must have great systems in place to bring in new business , get referrals from that business, and get your loans closed quickly and smoothly. Look at your current business right now and see if you have systems that are working for these critical areas.

I have to be fair and tell you that I was a bit nervous when before I left. But I do have a great team and great systems in place in each of these 3 areas. After a 10 day trip I came back to 3 closed loans 23 new pre qualifications and 5 new loan apps.

It’s a good thing too because while in Italy I had sporadic cell service and only had internet while in public cafes.
Take these lessons to heart right now. They will help you close more – make more and finally be able to enjoy life.

Dedicated To Increasing Your Production
Brian Sacks