To: New York Agents
From: Rick Kelly, founder / Alta Real Estate
It's the first week of 2026 and you still have a chance to set the tempo and the trajectory for your entire year.
Beliefs -> Mindset -> Actions -> Outcome
Beliefs
Beliefs are the underlying foundation that directs your thought, and gives you permission to dream big or small. What do you think is possible for you? Could you earn $4 million this year? How about $250,000? Maybe something in between like breaking a million? Whatever you believe is possible will determine your day to day thoughts, establish a floor for your activities and be the encouraging or nagging voice in your head telling you "it's working" or "I've got to do more / try more". There is absolutely no way you can make $100,000, a million or 4 million unless you believe its possible for you. Want to really change your quality of life? Choose to take control of your beliefs first. They are the foundation for everything that will come to pass this year and entirely based on will and imagination, not facts - those will appear later once the scene is set in your head.
Mindset
Actions
Whatever your business goals are for this year, there is no better tool to accomplish them than tracking. Track how many hours a day you actually work and track the activities within the hours that you work to be able to accurately judge whether they are effective or not. Whatever the joys are in winging it, it will lead to inconsistent results that some days feel like you are lucky and other days very unlucky. At Alta Real Estate we have a list of daily success habits with a point system that agents can fill out daily to track their activities. Getting out of your head and getting a minimum of 61 points is the goal each day.
We have a list of about 20 money making activities that if executed daily will result in more conversations, more clients, more deals and more closings. If your day is packed with these items you will have more business than you know what to do with. Here is a partial list.
Money making Activities:
- ★ Phone Calls (1 point) Spend a minimum of 1.5 - 2hrs making calls to past clients, cold calling, follow up calls, circle prospecting, etc. looking for new business, new opportunities to serve. This is new business only - not servicing existing clients or deals. Every dollar I’ve ever made over the past 20 years in real estate started with a conversation. Texting is also ok but not ideal for newer prospects whom you don't have a bond with.
- View Properties (2 points) Visit a minimum of 3-4 listings weekly to understand the market and remind yourself what you are actually selling. You will find yourself coming away with opinions and observations that you can share with your future clients and will make you a better, more informed agent and give you an edge over other agents. You can either attend public open houses or preview with agents on request.
- Emails (1 point)
- Hand written notes (2 points)
- Listing Appointments (10 points)
- Buyers Consultations (10 points)
- Show a buyer 2+ properties (10 points)
- Listing Agreements (10 points)
- Offers made (10 points)
- Closings (15 points)
- Open Houses (10 points)
- Role Plays (10 points)
Outcome
Your income is a lagging indicator, not a leading indicator and judging yourself favorably or unfavorably based on your income is missing the point. New York City is the best real estate market in the world to practice because there are 25,000 closings per year over the five boroughs annually. Opportunity is not a problem. Your income can be adjusted to whatever you desire as long as you’re willing to adjust your activities. You are in control of your income, and the recognition of that will not only add more purpose to your actions throughout the day, but give you a sense of peace and control which at the end of the day might be even more valuable than the money you make.
