Summary

June is the month to stop and look. A six-month audit is the most valuable two hours an ELP can spend right now. Step out of the business, look at it from the outside, and answer three questions.

What does winning look like?
What plays work every time you run them?
What is broken that I can fix in Q3 and Q4?


This episode is the answer to the second question, the 7 plays I would run over and over to stabilize a business and most often add real production over the next twelve months. The weekly planning session. The next 10. 1=3.. The pipeline at 150% to 200% of goal. The post-closing process. The three rocks of marketing. And boundaries. Each one maps to a pillar of Take Flight, because this is not a list of tips. It is the framework boiled down in one podcast episode to what actually moves a business.

Different advisors sit in different places. The purpose is the same. Build the business so it fits into your life. Filter out the noise. What I give you in this episode are the signals. You just have to run the plays.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Purpose of the Audit
04:54 Seven Plays for Business Success
15:56 Conclusion and Call to Action

Resources

Jim Miller's Website - https://askjimmiller.com
Instagram - @askjimmiller

Summary

Jim Miller shares a strategic approach to business reflection and planning for Q3 and Q4, emphasizing the importance of defining what success looks like, focusing on basics, and addressing cracks in your business. This episode provides actionable questions and tips to optimize your business performance.

In the episode, Jim walks through why Q3 is the heavy lifting quarter and Q4 belongs to your people.

If you do one thing this week, book the meeting with yourself before July.

Listen to Episode 329 here.

Chapters

00:00 Reflecting on the First Half of the Year
02:46 Setting Goals for Q3 and Q4
06:10 Defining Success and Basics
09:01 Identifying Areas for Improvement
11:53 Utilizing Tools for Better Engagement

Summary

Jim shares a change he made a year ago that reframed his whole year. He moved his vision cycle off January first and onto July first. The reason started personal, tied to his daughters and a three-year path, but it exposed a better way to run a vision cycle for most real estate markets.

January is a no fly zone, with no momentum coming out of the holidays. Starting the cycle where the season actually turns puts the heavy lifting in Q3 and Q4, where it belongs, and turns June into a true review month.

Jim connects this to last week's message on the basics. The advisors truly winning know what works, build SOPs around it, and run it consistently. The ones without momentum chase everything except the network. A vision cycle is how the basics get rebuilt and reinforced, one quarter at a time.

This episode is the bridge from reflection into action. June to review, July to set the cycle, Q3 and Q4 to do the work that makes trapped become free.

Inside this episode:

1. Why it's hard to build real momentum in January, and what to use instead.

2. How to pick a vision cycle start date that fits your season.

3. Using June as the review month, the 13th week in 12 Week Year terms.

4. The quarterly rebuild rhythm. Tear apart, put back together, let it run.

5. How the basics and the network sit underneath the whole cycle.

This is your coaching session.

Chapters

00:00 Reflections on June and Personal Milestones
10:14 The Importance of Vision and Planning
20:13 Operational Excellence and Business Growth
24:01 Philosophical Insights and Future Directions

Resources

Find me on Instagram at @askjimmiller

12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran - https://www.amazon.com/12-Week-Year-Focus-Execution-Discipline/dp/1118509234

Traction by Gino Wickman - https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Entrepreneurial-Operating/dp/1936661837

EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) - https://www.eosworldwide.com/

Summary

Recorded early on the last Sunday of May after a month of travel, a wild Chicago market, and the kids finishing school, this is a reflection episode. Jim steps back and shares what the month and YTD validated. One phrase anchors the whole hour.

"Seven figure earners master the basics that six figure earners are too advanced to do."

Inside this episode:

1. Why the business exists to serve the network, and why 85%-90% of top-producer business comes from it.
2. The shift from “know you, like you, trust you” to being the one call your network makes.
3. Boundaries as decisions made before the question is ever asked.
4. What winning looks like, and how knowing it filters the noise.
5. The three phases every advisor moves through, producer, operator, and the business that fits into a life.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Reflections on May
06:31 The Importance of Mastering the Basics
16:12 Building Strong Networks for Success
24:51 Phases of Business Development and Operational Excellence

Resources

Find me on Instagram -@askjimmiller and at askjimmiller.com

Summary

Five tries. Five abandoned attempts. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. Episode 326 of Take Flight Weekly is built for the roughly 90% of real estate brokers, agents, and advisors who have tried to build a CRM and never gotten one off the ground.

The episode opens with a moment from earlier this month at a leadership event for top advisors. At the event, Jim got tapped on the shoulder by a advisor with the same question he hears from his clients constantly: I've tried five times, how do you do it? The answer is a full teaching session, and Jim names the real obstacle in the first few minutes. The CRM is just the technology. The mindset is what gets in the way. From there, he walks through a complete 13-week rebuild plan that runs on a simple spreadsheet, requires no perfect platform, and produces a clean Top 100 contact list by the end of September. The system is two names a day, ten names a week. No Saturday-afternoon import marathons. No more starting over.

Inside the episode, Jim breaks down the 15 columns every CRM spreadsheet needs, from contact rank through neighborhood or building, source of origination, last touch, next touch, and three customizable tag fields. He covers where to mine the names from, including MLS sold data, your phone, your email marketing list, school rosters, and vendor partners. He stays CRM-agnostic on the platform question, because the right tool is always the one you'll actually use. By the end, listeners have a system, a 13-week runway, and the one decision that determines whether any of it gets built.

This is Pillar 3 of the Take Flight coaching framework, CRM and Relationship Management, and Jim makes the case that this pillar sits at the foundation of every successful real estate business he has built or coached. The episode closes on the only question that matters for anyone who has been stuck: are you committed, or are you interested? The answer shows up in what you do this week, not what you say. This is a longer teaching episode worth bookmarking and re-listening. There will be no Episode 327 over Memorial Day weekend; the next episode drops May 31, 2026.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to CRM Challenges
02:54 The Importance of Mindset in CRM Implementation
06:00 Starting Your CRM: The Spreadsheet Approach
09:07 Building Your Contact List: Key Columns to Include
11:57 Organizing Your Contacts: Strategies for Success
14:53 Commitment to CRM: The Path Forward

Resources

Jim Miller on Instagram - @askjimmiller
Email Jim Miller - mailto:jim@askjimmiller.com

Summary

In this episode, Jim kicks off a new pillar of the Take Flight framework: CRM and Relationship Management. He explains why, in an AI‑accelerated world, your network is more valuable than ever.

Jim shares the story of how a 2011 conversation with CEO Chris Feurer sparked the very first Take Flight class and how doubling down on building a real database transformed his business.

You’ll learn:

• Why the future workforce splits into two groups — tech operators and high‑touch professionals
• Why real estate advisors must master relationships to stay competitive
• The true capacity of a human advisor: your Top 100
• The math that drives predictable growth:
• “Your income equals the number of people you serve times the value you deliver.”

Jim challenges you to make this the summer you finally build, nurture, and protect your network — before the stakes get even higher.

Takeaways

• Building and maintaining a database is crucial for long-term success.
• The ideal network size for effective relationship management is around 100 people.
• Consistent engagement with your network yields 85-90% of your business.
  Using AI and technology enhances efficiency but personal relationships remain vital.
• Focusing on a smaller, high-quality network improves performance and results.
  
  
  Chapters
  
  00:00 Introduction to Take Flight and CRM
  07:08 The Importance of Technology in CRM
  13:01 Building and Nurturing Your Network
  21:09 Commitment to Relationship Management
  
  Resources
  
  The Go-Giver by Bob Burg - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7U7U4Q
  Claude Cowork AI Platform - https://claude.ai/
  Jim Miller's Website - https://jimmiller.com/
  Follow Jim Miller on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller/
  
  
  

Summary:

Jim Miller recaps the second pillar of the Take Flight framework, emphasizing the importance of habits, routines, and systems in business success. He shares insights from past episodes, focusing on designing, executing, and maintaining consistency in real estate entrepreneurship.

Design before execution sets the destination. Consistency as cadence, habit stacking, the Weekly Planning Session, and daily rhythm build the engine.

Choose Wisely points the engine at the right clients, because a great engine pointed at the wrong work breaks the operator. Seasonality and the Farmer Framework decide which projects deserve which months.

The Ideal Week becomes the bridge from quarterly Rocks to weekly execution. The dress rehearsal each night protects the whole structure with analog discipline.

Nine moves. Standalone, they are a curriculum. Integrated, they are an operating system. ELP's do not run more habits than the 97%. They run a tighter system.

Here is the truth to carry this week. A great habit, in the wrong system, breaks the system. If you have been adding habits and still feel like the week is leaking, you do not have a habit problem. You have a structure problem. The fix is an audit, not another book. One page. Nine rows, one per episode in the arc. Three columns: installed, partial, missing. Score yourself honestly. What you find missing is what is putting unnecessary stress on your week. Install the system once and the output compounds for years.

Key Takeaways from this review of Habits, Routines, Rituals and Rhythms.

• Design before execution. Pillar 1 sets the destination before Pillar builds the path. (EP315)
• Consistency as cadence, not intensity. Stop restarting takeoff. Build habits, routines, rituals and rhythms . (EP316)
• Habit stacking. After [X], I will [Y]. Identity drives the stack. (EP317)
• The Weekly Planning Session. 60 to 90 minutes. The anchor habit that runs every other habit. (EP318)
• Win the day, win the week. Morning ritual, arena work, evening wind-down. The compound effect is daily. (EP319)
• Choose Wisely. Client selection is the highest-leverage decision an advisor makes. (EP320)
• Calendar architecture. Seasonality, the Ideal Week, and the dress rehearsal. Right project, right season, rehearsed each night. (EP321 / EP322 / EP323)

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Take Flight Framework
02:29 Recap of Pillar Number Two
03:01 Key Principles of Execution
10:14 Choosing Wisely: Client Selection
12:09 The Importance of Planning
14:18 Looking Ahead: CRM and Relationship Management

Follow Jim:

Instagram @askjimmiller

Website: AskJimMiller.com

Summary

This week's episode starts with a confession: some of the highest performing advisors and entrepreneurs I coach use a physical planner as their most important high-performance tool, and they have been quietly wondering if they should apologize for it. The story underneath is personal: I tried going all digital after years of building my business with a daily planner, and I lost the clarity that made this analog approach work in the first place. My thoughts around this approach changed when I reframed this analog approach as my "dress rehearsal" for the day and the week. Until I built the dress rehearsal, a practice of transferring the day's plan from screen to paper that I have done every day since 2011. The principle is plain: the planner is not a backup plan, it is the dress rehearsal, and the neuroscience says your brain knows the difference.

What you will walk away with from this episode:

• Why the highest performing advisors and entrepreneurs I coach use a physical planner as their most important tool, and why you should stop apologizing if you are one of them

• The story of going all digital and what broke: I had access to every piece of information and clarity about none of it, until I went back to the planner and built the dress rehearsal

• The neuroscience: a 2023 study found handwriting activates far more brain networks than typing, particularly in the parietal regions tied to memory and processing, while typing puts the brain on autopilot

• The goal data: people who write their goals by hand are 33% more successful at achieving them than people who only think about them, because writing forces a different level of encoding

• Why the $5.2 billion planner market is growing, not shrinking: professionals are returning to analog after discovering that all-digital does not produce the clarity they need

• The dress rehearsal defined: the daily practice of reviewing the day's digital calendar and writing the plan by hand with three priorities, the time blocks that matter, and nothing else. This practice can be in the morning or at the end of your day.

• One challenge: do the dress rehearsal today and every day for seven days then notice what changes about how you start your mornings.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: The High-Performance Tool
01:00 Why a Physical Planner is Essential
01:56 The Power of Writing vs. Typing
02:56 Personal Experience with Digital and Analog
03:52 Research on Brain Activation During Handwriting
04:51 The Concept of the Dress Rehearsal
05:48 Neuroscience Findings on Handwriting
07:13 Goals and Handwriting Success Rates
08:09 The Growing Market for Analog Planners
09:11 The Trend Toward Hybrid Planning
10:09 Your Planner as a Dress Rehearsal
10:53 Embracing the Analog Approach
11:52 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Jim Miller's Email: jim@askjimmiller.com to sign up for newsletter.