Summer camp for me was a visit to my Aunt June’s dairy farm in Mississippi. We’d rise early for breakfast and then bring in the cows. I would slop feed into the troughs with my cousin Greg while my uncle James Royce managed the milking. Chores were nonstop until noon. And we didn’t always approach them with cheer. June would sometimes scold us when we loafed, “Start it like you’re gonna finish it.”

Last week more than 10,000 KW associates from 57 countries gathered in Anaheim for our 2023 annual convention (aka Family Reunion). Since my 2022 MegaCamp recap was met with cheers not jeers, here are some top quotes, aha’s, and takeaways from our big event. 

In a 1975 paper, British economist Charles Goodhart wrote, “Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes.” This provided the genesis for Goodhart’s Law, which is commonly stated: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Anytime we use a number as a proxy for an outcome, we risk creating a host of unintended consequences. This appears to be especially true when it involves incentives. 

Tomorrow, we kick off our 2023 Keller Williams Family Reunion in Anaheim, CA.  It’s our annual convention. Over the course of five days, we’ll showcase multiple keynote speakers, a dozen mainstage presentations, and over 180 breakout sessions led by our top agents and faculty. It can be the ultimate opportunity to level up as a real estate professional — provided you take the right approach. 

It’s almost Valentine’s Day. If you haven’t gotten that special someone a box of Sweethearts®, you still have time. If you have an ex who just won’t bug off, you also have options. The San Antonio Zoo’s annual  Cry Me a Cockroach Fundraiser  is here to help. You can have a cockroach named after them and fed to a pack of hungry meerkats. For a bit extra, zookeepers will capture a video that you can email your old flame. The program has proved both clever and lucrative. For the past four years, the San Antonio Zoo has raised tens of thousands of dollars and generated a mountain of free publicity. Why? Because it’s funny and everyone needs a good laugh. Humor can pay off.

After WWII, a talented Italian Air Force mechanic named Ferruccio launched a tractor company. His company took off in the post-war boom. A gearhead at heart, he took some of his profits and started collecting cars. His favorite was a Ferrari 250 GT. But Ferruccio knew the car wasn’t perfect. Some of the parts were substandard, especially the clutch. 

Standing just 5-foot-4 and weighing a scant 140 pounds, “Wee Willie” Keeler was one of the smallest major league players in history. Yet, he played 19 seasons and entered the Hall of Fame with a remarkable .345 lifetime batting average. Keeler made a career of slotting batted balls through gaps. He could drop bunts in no-man’s-land. And he perfected the “Baltimore Chop,” where a batter chops the ball into the ground so hard they can leg out an infield single before the ball comes down. What did all of these legendary moves have in common? Keeler got the ball to open spaces. His trademark strategy of “hit ’em where they ain’t” is also how top real estate agents win market share in a shifted market.

One of the most valuable gifts you can offer is access to your professional network. If you don’t think of this as one of the core services, you’re missing an opportunity. But, how you do it matters. Connecting someone to your network can be done with a forgettable introductory email or with a memorable demonstration of professionalism.  

Every day our clients face an onslaught of disconnected market information and advice. The national news trumpets the latest rate hike or unemployment stats. Talk show guests debate recession and affordability. These bits of information are sliced into eye-grabbing videos and provocative headlines on social media. It adds up to an overwhelming amount of information that doesn’t make anyone informed. Meanwhile, your seller’s coworker shares how badly prices have fallen in the past few months in her hood. And their favorite podcaster prescribes renting over buying.

I hope you’re kicking off your year by building the  #1 habit I recommend.  I want to continue that theme this week. Here’s a fact: the team that wins the championship and the team that slumps into last place shared the same goal. They both wanted to win every game. They both set out to win it all. But one succeeded and one failed. What do champions do that others don’t? They focus on building habits and systems that naturally lead to their goal.