The Energy of Real Estate: Strategies to Reset, Recharge and Rise

https://vimeo.com/1163103592

Watch this insightful online session with industry leader, Nick West, and discover how to protect your peace, master your energy and build your strength.

Real estate is a profession that requires a lot of energy. You have to be constantly ‘on’ with clients projecting a positive and professional image, juggle competing demands and priorities and are often exposed to the energy of others in ways that can be quite confronting. 

How do you protect your energy, use your environment to super-charge your performance and avoid being drained?  

Nick West, the chair of the Rise Initiative and director of the 16-office network of Nelson Alexander in Melbourne looks at the tools and techniques to help every agent and property manager sustain energy. In this webinar you’ll learn how to create a perpetuate virtuous energy cycle and learn ways to reset your energy so you can avoid burnout, show up positively without the need to fake it.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Manage your time and energy to build your resilience

• Identify the factors that can drain your energy in real estate and learn practical tips on proactively managing them for better results.

• Build a sustainable energy cycle that feeds itself

If you feel like your energy is out of kilter or that you’re wasting effort and energy on the wrong things, this session will help you reset. 

---

Kylie:

Hey guys, let's kick off, because I can say we've still got a few people jumping on, but we might just kick off. I'll do the… I'll do the official preliminaries to kick off.

It's Kylie Davis from the RISE Initiative, and I'm here with Nick West from Nelson Alexander, and Nick is also Chair of the RISE Initiative. And, we're going to do… and our wellness webinar today is on energy, and Nick's going to be sharing, his tips and… his tips on how he keeps his energy

I guess, not necessarily high, Nick, but kind of consistent and strong and grounded, really. And we're going to be doing this a little bit differently to what we've been doing in the past, where it's going to be a conversation with, you know, question and answers, rather than PowerPoint.

So, if you have any questions for Nick, please drop them into the chat so that we can… we can keep them going. Now, just before we kick off, the RISE Initiative acknowledges the traditional elders past, present, and emerging, and welcomes anyone, from… with Aboriginal or First Nations background on the call today. The wellness webinars are possible due to the generous support of MRI, APAC, software APAC, and so, we thank MRI for their support. And I am here today in Sydney, in Haymarket, on Gadigal land from the Eora people, so, a warm welcome to the country.

So Nick, you have been… how long have you been chair of the RISE Initiative now? A year and a half? Two years? Two years.

Nick:

Yeah, it's almost coming in two years, I'll be chairised, it's… it's been a great journey, and it's been a great experience, being chair of Rise, and so… and… Yeah, and for me, energy is really… I love it. It's a great topic to talk about, so I'm looking forward to today, and I think, from my perspective, I'm not going to tell anyone anything, I'm just going to share some of the tools that the RISE Initiative offers.

And also some of the things that have personally helped me maintain good energy levels, and… and talk about energy levels, and how that might be displayed differently for… for different people. But… I read somewhere the other day that, you know, your energy is your greatest KPI, your key performance indicator, and I'm a big believer of that, because it really is something that impacts you both personally and professionally, who you are, the decisions you make.

Good decisions are bad, you know, so it's a very… and it's very relatable, because it relates to your well-being, your mental health, your physical health, relationships, and all those things. So I think it's such a broad topic, but it's very relatable, for everyone, so I'm looking forward to talking about it.

Kylie:

So, before we… Before we kick off, let's just kind of, like, take a little bit of a baseline. So, how big is Nelson Alexander now? Because you've got a big job as one of the directors of Nelson's. How many are in your.

Nick: So we've got 16 offices, we've got about 400 staff. We provide housing for about 55,000 people. Wow, okay. And we see that as being a very important role. We do about 4,000 plus transactions, in sales, and, yeah, so, so that's sort of the size. We operate in, you know, from Kew out to, Keylore in Inner North. So we have, you know, there's good synergies, but that's the science of our business, but…

In terms of us helping people buy and sell and provide accommodation, providing housing for 55,000 people is something we're very conscious of as a responsibility, and that's a big focus of ours.

Kylie:

Yeah, and so how big is your… is your executive team? Because you're not a franchise group, you're, like, all internal, aren't you? Yep. So how long have you been with Nelson's 4, and how big is the team?

Nick:

For Nelson's about 16, 17 years. Actually, 20 years, sorry, 20 years. 20 years at Nelson Alexander. There's… and our leadership team's gone through different iterations. Currently, we have 6 people on our leadership team, and then we have people who assist us with our leadership trajectory. And we meet, yeah, weekly to set the goals and aspirations of not only performance, but also around. Making sure that they feel part of something, and that there's a growth opportunity, both personally and professionally. And that's driven through training, but also, other aspects of our academy. We have an academy that has three pillars around personal development, learning, and wellbeing.

And so we try to provide something so that everyone can turn up to work feeling that this is their… something they feel attached to, they can feel that they can grow, and they can contribute. And that's really important to us.

Kylie:

Okay, so I just want to seize on something that you just said there. So, you have a weekly meeting on leadership; everyone in your executive leadership team, and that's specifically on leadership. So, I… I really like that, because we tend to often think in real estate that leadership's the thing that happens in the gaps around the doing the… doing your everyday job.

So, how important is that leadership weekly meeting on your energy?

Nick:

Really important, because… for a couple of things. One, it gives you some direction on where you're going. And a lot of our leadership meetings were sort of operational, now they're more strategic, and there's operational as well, but it's important because you know how you're contributing, you know what your role is, so know your role, play your role, and the beauty of our leadership team is we all know our roles, we play our roles, there's an incredible level of trust and we all come from the same… we debate things, always for the… for the benefit of, you know, the company and our clients.

But I find from an energy point of view, it's fantastic, because we're motivated and that the energy in the motivation is really clear. And we're very clear about our direction, and then we're very clear about how we try to communicate that to the rest of the people in our business. That's also been a key part of it.

Kylie:

So, what are the key things that you personally do to keep your energy levels high?

Nick:

Yeah, good question. And I think I might say, one thing before we get onto it is, and you and I talked about this. I think from an energy point of view, there are people that have loud energy, there are people who are naturally got great energy, and you say that they're the loudest voice in the room, you know, and yeah, and that's fantastic, and that, you know, they're people who often will speak up. But I just want to highlight, there are also people who have quiet inner energy, which is just as valuable.

I've learned that often the person, the quietest person in the room, can have something very valuable to say. And so I think, for me, what I've reflected on is that there are different types of energy for different people, and they tap into it at different times. But I want to make the point that

A lot of people have an inner quiet energy, which is absolutely just as valuable as someone who are more open to talking and driving conversation, and I think that's an important thing, that sometimes people feel, because they're not the loudest person in the room, that they don't have anything to offer, but the inner energy, and that could be just, they care for people by checking in to say, how you going? Do you want to go for a walk for a coffee?

How are you going… how was your weekend? I mean, that's great inner energy, and if you acknowledge that, and that's important, we've tried to be very aware of that. So that's… that's something that I just want to say, because I do think sometimes people think energy comes naturally to some people, and others that they just don't have it naturally. They do, but it's just internalised. It's just… it's a quiet energy, and I think that's a wonderful thing.

Kylie:

That's great.

Nick:

Just to acknowledge, but I think for me, in terms of… how do I manage energy? And I've reflected on this. There are sort of three areas that help me manage my energy. And some people will know this. One is, I have a peer partnership meeting with my mate James Keenan, who's the CEO of Nelson Alexander.

Kylie:

Who is a very big energetic man. Big energy. But I think…

Nick:

I think the importance of that is we check in with one another, and we don't talk about performance, we don't talk about the numbers, we don't talk about… it's actually just checking in. And I've got a form here that shows, you know.

So, the things that we check in on and rate them out of 10 are health, wealth, work-life balance, spirituality, personal development goals, fun and adventure, business, passion projects.

And so we… They're really good conversations that can drive energy levels up or down, and so when we feel that one of us might be a little depleted, in our energy in one of the areas, then there's a good sounding board and a good conversation that we can have. And I think that that's really important, that… so one of the things that has helped me is to have that relationship with James.

It started with Dr. Fred Gross many years ago, and we have changed the iterations of it, but it's just down to how we're feeling that absolutely goes to the core of our energy levels in all those areas. So there's 10 areas, we mark them out of 10, we give a score out of 100,

And we'll say, you know, what's going on, mate? Are you, you know, how are things going here? It's a 4 out of 10. Your energy levels seem to be low there. So, we'll have a great conversation. So, I'd recommend to anyone, if you've got that, and if anyone wants that assessment form, they can email you or I, and I'm happy to share it. It's so powerful.

Yeah, we might, we might, include that when we send out the, the email summary of the, of the event, so everyone's got a copy of it, but just re… just explain what the 10 things are again.

So, it's around health, relationships, wealth, work, balance, spirituality, personal development goals, fun and adventure, business, and passion projects.

Kylie:

Okay. Can you do that?

Nick:

So they're the 10 areas, and we rate each of those areas out of 10, come up with a number, and to the point of anything slow every week, Thursday at 8 o'clock, every week. So I like the consistency of our leadership meeting, the peer partnership meeting, because we know that in real estate, you deal with the ebbs and flows. That impacts you personally, professionally, and so having someone to talk to in terms of specifically managing energy, is… it's a great platform. It is just… and we've gone… James and I have gone through various iterations of it. Initially, it was around performance, how many calls, how many… how many sales, and that's important, those KPIs.

But what we've learnt over the time that a more important one is to actually check in and just say, how are other aspects of your life going? Are you having fun? Have you got some fun and adventure? Have you got passion projects? And that drives energy. Some really good energy. So, our conversation is very different from the normal one. So that… and that helps me in time to change, and if we're feeling that we're not, our energy levels aren't where they need to be personally, professionally, then we can challenge one another, or offer support, or offer guidance, or even a sounding board. So that is one of the things that has helped my energy levels enormously, and I encourage anyone. You've got to commit to it, you've got to be intentional. It's not coffee.

Kylie:

Yeah, but what I really like about it, though, is that one of the things about energy is that when you don't have any energy, it's hard to actually find the energy to do the thing that's actually going to give you the energy back, right? But I love how you guys have actually just taken: that off the table by just having it in your diary every single week. I could, you know.

Nick:

Yeah, I think…

Kylie:

About it, it happens. Like, so therefore that consistency removes some of the need to have a lot of energy around building.

Nick:

Yeah, and we have these great, great, honest conversations where my energy on something might be very low, and so James offers some guidance or some suggestions that raises it from a 2 out of 10 to an 8 out of 10. And it's fantastic. It just is… if there's one thing you do, get a peer partner, someone who's committed to it, have a structure, doesn't have to be our structure, that's not around

How many listing sales, how many properties you leased, or whatever, you know, around just how you're going, and that is the number one thing that I would attribute to, having good energy levels, because as a result of that, I think we make better decisions.

We're… we're more conscious of the other people around us. We, and we have higher, you know, higher energy levels just mean that, you know, we're better people to be around, just generally. With the highs and lows of real estate. It's very easy to get a bit drawn into…the woe me, you know, this is no good, you know, and so it's often good to have someone just to… and James good at it, to slap you out of it pretty quickly, and say, listen, mate, you need to… we need to have a chat around this. So, so it's… it's a great environment, and it's pretty… it's pretty… it's casual, we're intentional.

Kylie:

Yep.

Nick:

We catch up on things, and it leads on to other things, and then we sort of talk about what we are going to commit to this week that will continue those energy levels. And so that's good. It's a great check-in.

Kylie:

What's the story behind how you… what I want to hear is, what's the story behind how you got to have… that you actually started to create that? Like…

Nick:

Yeah, so good question. So, we started with Dr. Fred Gross 25, 26 years ago, and Dr. Fred Gross sort of had the, you know, and designed a magnificent life, rather than life just, you know, delivering what it delivers, have some control around it. And so we came up with this notional idea that you would, you know, start to have a peer partner, someone that you could rely on, trust, and just check in on.

You know, and so they were really key things, you know, that was around… and you put it, health, wealth, and spirituality are really important things. So… so that… but it started around performance, around… initial days. It was around when we were running partners, and how were we performing, from a GCI point of view, and how many calls, and how many appointments? And then we realized that that wasn't sustainable. If you're going to operate at a high level, and you wanted to do it consistently, you really had to make sure you had fun around it, and that you,

And you put that in there. And that, you know, you… there are other measures around performance. And so that's how we then changed the form. And so the form is very much around more general things that are very impactful. So that's how we started, and we evolved it, and we've landed… and that's our… that's the form at Peer Partners, the check-in form.

Which we can do every week, without fail, unless one of us is away, or, you know, it's, it's, it's non-negotiable every week, filled out, talked about, and so I think the… the important thing here is there's the frequency and consistency of it. It's not just once a month, or once… you've got to do it regularly. Because of the highs and lows, things can change pretty quickly. So, yeah, so that's…

That's one of the very important things. The other… I thought of three things. The second thing was around what I call meditation and movement, for me. So, we've done a course with Steve Griffiths, Griffiths Consulting, and I meditate, every morning.

The meditation's important because it helps you drive good energy, it helps problem solving, creativity, and so that… by design, your energy levels lift immediately. Particularly when you're dealing with challenging things, and you want some clarity around decisions, and those things. So that, and for me, movement, which is exercise, and I call it movement, have been key. Very, very key to maintaining good energy, particularly when it can be depleted, and you just need to not go into that sort of spiral, and I find that the meditation on a daily basis, early in the morning, is… has been absolutely critical.

And we've offered it to all our staff. It's so powerful that we've offered it to all our staff on numerous occasions, and I think it's very impactful in terms of just managing the stresses and pressures of this industry, which are really unique.

Kylie:

You wake up quite early to do that, though, don't you?

Nick:

Yeah, you don't have to get up early. I am an early riser, but I'm not professing that you have to get up early, necessarily, to do it, but that is what I do, and I like it. When I meditate, I don't look at anything. I haven't read anything, I haven't looked at anything, nothing distracts me, and I go straight into the meditation, so that I've got a clear mind, and things come to me, you know, and it's amazing, that 20 minutes is like deep sleep. It's just, in terms of very,

It's very soothing, and it's… there's so many benefits to it. I mean, but some people find that being in the garden, or other things, their meditation. That's, for me, what really works for me, and has been very, very powerful. I know it's worked for other people, but that's helped me maintain my energy levels, and just don't get too overwhelmed, because I think in our industry, we get very overwhelmed by things, particularly when there's layer on layer, and you've got a lot to consider.

The meditation, for me, really helps. Separate that, and just deal with things calmly.

In a way that's very, very powerful. So that's… that's… and I know people use different apps, they do, you know, whatever, you know, and all of those are good, but for me, it's meditation. And you said I get up early, I do, but that then comes to, I suppose, the third thing is me having a bit of structure and routine.

So I allocate… I'm very routine. I'm not necessarily disciplined, but I'm very routine. But that routine, I allocate every week, an hour, at least, to creative thinking. I have a time where I have what I call creative thinking, where I journal. I have a journal, I journal, I read and I listen to stuff, and then I share some of my learnings with other people. And that, in effect, gives me great energy, the sharing, the learning and the sharing.

So, you know, it's fantastic. So I have this… I'm very, you know, I have this great structure and routine, and that's not just around doing performance things, it's around finding time for myself where I can just sit there, and I'm a big journaler.

And then sharing some of the learnings with people. And then reading things, and, you know, learning from others. And then… and a big thing for me is trying to share those learnings with other people. That is great. Not expecting anything, but that is a great energy builder. So there's sort of the three things. For me, that works for me, and has been very helpful in maintaining good energy levels, and when my energy levels are a bit depleted, you know, that they lift to a level that you know, it means that I'm better all round.

Kylie:

What do you think are the key…and from when working with your team and all of that, what do you think are the key things that impact real estate agents and property managers’ energies?

Nick:

Well, well, I mean, client demands, expectations. I mean, when you're dealing with families, housing, money, accommodation, you know, and you see the best and worst in people, unfortunately. You just do. So the expectation, and we… real estate deals with some unique challenges. I think Brian White said it really well when… with Chris Hanley when Rye started, that now in the industry we deal with unique challenges, and so we take on… We're often the mediator between someone wanting something, and someone wanting a different outcome, and we have to bring it together, and that's our skill set. And it's wonderful dealing with people, but what depletes people's energy is, I think, the workload and the pressures, and I think that that's dialed up since COVID, unfortunately. That the way people talk to each other, and the way it has changed, and so I think that human connection is just… is so strong, and it's needed, particularly when you're dealing with money, housing, and human emotions, and family, and people… you just see it now, there's a lot of people, renters, looking for accommodation.

There's a lot of people looking to buy and sell, and there are a lot of things weighing into it. Relationships, finances, the need to be in a geographical area, downsizing, upsizing, and just finding accommodation. I think the expectation that is in this role, and that's one you've just got to take on, and there's a lot of great enjoyment out of that, helping people, but there's a lot of pressure, and that can really deplete people's energy when they meet come across people or circumstances they have no… and I look at it, there's things you can control, there's things you can influence, and there's things you cannot control and you cannot influence. If you can sort of look at it that way, that also helps you manage your energy. If you feel, I just can't control that.

But how you communicate with people is really important, but, you know, that expectation in our role is becoming, I think, that dial of expectation and pressure and, you know, can play on your energy, and so it's more important than ever, I think, that you can maintain good energy and have the tools and resources to acknowledge when your energy levels are getting depleted, and then how I get it back up.

Kylie:

Yeah, and I guess… One of the things in real estate is that we can… it's really easy, I guess, to have, like, an energy shock, right? Or, you know, have a blow to your energy, like, you're, you know, cruising along, and things are going great, and then something happens, and it can really throw you for a 6. You've talked about the consistency that you have to try and keep your energy, you know, consistently strong, but when you've had a shock or a blow, what's your go-to response then? How do you manage those?

Nick:

Yeah, and I think, look, that the… and look, that's one of the things that…

Kylie:

Thank you.

Nick:

You know, Rise has… is just looking at what tools are available to you. And I find different people require different things. Sometimes, it might be a property manager who's had a very tough and difficult conversation with a rental provider. Then, they've got to dust themselves off and go in and list the property. And so they've got to shift their very, extreme situation that's impactful and depleted their energy levels, and they've got to walk into another situation that they've got to really be, you know, on top of the game. So… so I think you've then got to realize, so what I love about… so for me, there are a lot of things, and the deep breathing, you know, and taking deep breaths, and things like that, and that's one of the things… and if people have taken advantage of looking at the RealCare app.

It's just such an incredible tool that goes to exactly what you have talked about, Kylie.

What do you do, what tools… Everyone's a bit different, everyone reacts a bit differently, but the RealCare app, and we'll probably put the QR code up or send an email out, is such an important tool to use because it goes to the core of energy levels. You've got four components of it,

You know, one is… oh, there you go, you've got it there on the screen. So, if you can scan that, and have a look at… and what I've found is, even when you think it's not for you, it's a great tool to be… to help a teammate or a colleague who might be having some challenges around energy. And, I mean, the three aspects of the RealCare app

You've got rapid relief, and so to your point, if you've got something that's shocked you and put you in a position, you know, and you have to recover. Well, they've got rapid relief from numerous exercises. One of them is deep breathing, you know, and getting oxygen alarms into your brain, and just deep breathing, so that is an amazing way to recover rapidly and walk into a situation where you have to perform at your best, outside of another situation which was challenging.

You know, and the other aspect of the RealCare app is self-care, you know, and that's where meditation and other things come into it, and that's more long-term, and that's something you can build into your routine. So there's great.

Kylie:

Wow, so…

Nick:

Things like… what's an immediate thing that I can use, and what's something more long-term that'll help me maintain good energy levels over a good duration. And then there's the performance aspect of the RealCare app. That talks about budgeting. Finances are one of the things that creates great pressure. If maybe you're not performing due to market conditions at the level you want.

And so that's… that's a really good way, an aspect of the app, that can just help you with your budgeting and your financial performance. And then the fourth aspect is, look, if you're really feeling at your lowest end.

You've got an aspect of RealCare that has 24-7, completely free and confidential counsellors. To just… and often it's a conversation, that if you want it to be private, and you really feel you're at… you're low ed. And we hope you don't get to that, that that's available to you. So I think there are different iterations of low energy, and different things that impact your energy, and so that's why you've got to have some tools, and you've got to have things, you know, and that's why I say, for me, the Partnership is a great tool.

The meditation's a great tool, the journaling and sharing of that's a great tool, and the aspects of the app. That we have those rapid relief self-care performance. And the SOS, you know, if you feel that you need to talk to someone at any time, completely free, is so critical, to rebounding and feeling that, you know, I've got something there available to me.

Kylie:

Yeah, I think one of the things, too, is to recognise that, you know, sometimes when we have, like, a shock to our energy because something's gone wrong, or, you know, something big has happened and then you've got to, you know, show up and do the next thing on your to-do list, because, you know, there are other people relying on you. There's stuff you can do right then to triage, like, how you feel then.

But the triage isn't… it will still be… it will still have impacted you, so after you get through whatever you had to get through, it's probably a good idea to then give yourself a bit of recovery time by doing something gentle for yourself or nice for yourself to actually restore it. But it's that consistency and that discipline that you've got around the regular activity that is almost building up your bank account of resilience, so that your energy's sort of constantly high, and that when you do have these shocks, you can bounce back better.

I guess one of the things I see in real estate is, like, energy that's just up and down all the time, based on whatever the last conversation was, and I think that's the thing that as an industry, we kind of need to level out a bit by… with some of that discipline. Yeah, and I think you raise a good point. I think.

Nick:

Stress levels and depleted energy is often because someone has had a bad experience in the past. It's that cause and effect.

Kylie:

Yeah.

Nick:

So… and so, you immediately go to the last time this happened to you that didn't work out that well, and often you will… forward think that, that that's going to happen to you again. And so, I think that cause and effect, if you like, and that's where the meditation's great, because if you can have the tools to deal with it in a way that increases your… is structured, and you've got something to go to, the next time it happens, you'll have a better response, typically, to it, because the last time it happened, you knew how to overcome it.

And so that's why it's really important to have tools available to you, because I do think part of the stress levels and the low energy iis because of that cause and effect. It happened to them in the past, they think it'll happen to them again, in the same way. So that's why, if you can react and respond and recover in a way that's methodical and structured and you've got something about it and use it, the next time it happens, you'll feel much calmer around it, typically, not always, and you've got to respect how your body feels, and sometimes it's deeper than all that.

I don't want to say that that's always the case, but I do think the other benefit is that next time it happens, you'll have a better approach to it, because the last time you managed it, better. And that'll get better and better and better. And that goes to the meetings I had with James, the peer partnership meetings, where ongoingly talking about stuff, so it just means I react and respond to it in a more positive way, because I'm having a conversation, and I dealt with it better the last time. And if you… because I think that's how humans react, we just… it's that call… as I said, cause and effect. If you can cause the effect, rather than just respond to how you did it last time, that's very powerful.

Kylie:

 Yeah, it's like the difference between a response and a reaction. Like, you know, thinking through a response.

Nick:

Yeah.

Kylie:

I guess one of the other things in real estate, too, is that, like, we're all humans, and we've all got, you know, families and life's going on in the background as well. And some of the most empowering ways that I've heard from people who've used the app is actually where they've actually used the counselling service to talk to someone about something that's going on, not necessarily for them, but in their family, or with someone that they really love and care about, and they've wanted that third-party guidance on how they would handle that, because that loved one's… whatever they're going through is impacting on their energy.

Yeah, have you… Definitely. Have you had any experiences in that space?

Nick:

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I definitely, I think just, you know, in our company, and just generally, outside just in friendship groups, I find invariably if something's going on outside of work, you know, and work, and the personal life, professional life, it just overlaps. If something's going on that's a little out of the kilter.

And, you know, that impacts your work life. Equally, if work is out of kilter and it impacts your personal life. So, I've definitely seen people use the CERN and talk to people. It's confidence where people have opened up to me about how that has helped them have a conversation and just have some avenues. And I don't tell them… I direct them towards that… to that service.

I never say that I'm the person to… they can always come to me, but that, you know, there's a… there's a service completely free, and the Employee Assist program through RISE and other… there's other Employee Assist programs that other companies may have, and we do, where they can just start a conversation. Often, it's something that's happening outside of work.

That's impacting them personally, that then flows onto their performance at work, which, so it starts to build up layer on layer. And so, the sooner you can capture that, and that's why the weekly peer partnership is a great way, because I find… let's just talk about salespeople. If a salesperson, and I'll talk about salespeople, is performing really well, they tend to be left alone, and they can often, you know, fall into a, you know, valley of.

Kylie:

They're doing fine, they don't need any help.

Nick:

All of a sudden, you go, hang on, where's Nick West gone? Three months he's had his work, you know, and so, you know, the weekly check-in, and there are great extensions of that, having great one-on-ones and conversations about how you're going, you know, in all aspects of your life, but… but I think that that's really critical, because it helps deal with anything that might build to a point where that could have been, nurtured or could have been, discussed with someone, a counsellor or otherwise, early days.

And it would have prevented it getting to the levels that it's got to, in terms of, you know, energy levels and poor decision making and not feeling great about yourself.

Kylie:

It's tempting, though, too, sometimes, isn't it, to use fake energy, I'm gonna call it. Which, you know, sugar, or the grog, or, things to try and keep yourself… keep yourself up. Yep, yep, yep. As an industry, we over-rely on that.

Nick:

You've got… you've got high-performing, high cortisol, high, you know, and people who, you know, and often they're the ones… if they don't have something that calms the mind, that manages the energy and replenishes it, so I call it energy management.

And so you've… so it's all well and good to have great energy, but you've then got to be able to manage it, protect it, and build it again. You've got to have that resource that allows you to, you know, protect the asset, not cool, you know, look, you know, that's not what someone else, you know. And see, that's equally as important as projecting good energy, is how do I go into any, you know, recovery zone?

And so, that's, again, the things that I've talked about. For me, they help me with that, because I'm not always at my high end levels.

Kylie:

And do you… and, like, sort of pushing on when you actually have nothing in the tank is one of the fastest ways to burn out, I guess. But do you have… do you guys work in sprints, or how do you… how does Nelson Alexandra, like, across the team, manage, kind of, collective energy?

In terms of workload.

Nick:

Yeah, yeah, look, you know, so there… I suppose there are two aspects to that for me. One is performance, and so we try and work in 30-day blocks, or have realistic 90-day… and then identify key areas where you might take a break and work to that. So I think…

Kylie:

Good.

Nick:

Short sprints is a good thing, because 12-month budgets, 12-month can be overwhelming, and so setting short sprints is a really good way of not letting things get out of control.

For us, that's important. You know, in terms of people having long-term goals, then bringing it back and say, okay, let's just work… let's work on short-term objectives, you know, little markers along the way, because everyone wants to feel that they're progressing. Yeah.

And now we're sure you can find people progress, some people don't. So, you know, the short, you know, short sprints are important, and then having things in your business where there's a constant check-in, like, we have office huddles, you know, where you check in with everyone in your team on a monthly basis, not about performance, about the stuff you're doing in your community, about the good stuff about people's… stuff going on in people's lives.

Marriages, kids, what our foundation's doing, what we're doing in the community, and all those things, and doing that on a regular basis also is really important in terms of energy levels right across your office and across your network. The bigger you get, the harder that gets, so it's really important you pay attention to that, because then that impacts everyone. Front of house, back of house, sales, PM, admin, they all feel that they can… so there's those moments you need to find where you can come together and not just report on performance, but report on stuff that's really energising, about what's happening in business and what's happening in people's lives, and that's really key. That's been key for us.

Kylie:

Yeah, awesome. Well, we've talked about, so far, about, you don't have to be… what did you say? You don't… you have… you have to just have, sort of, some… don't have to be disciplined, you just have to be organized, or is that what…

Nick:

Oh, well, yeah, I mean, I call it structure and routine. Structure and routine, but you… yeah, so I, you know, that's… and that's why I look organized, because I have structure and routine, but… and… so that… look, that's important in terms of putting in stuff that's important, and it might be, it might be exercise, might be whatever, because what we encourage people is to do whilst real estate's demanding, is have stuff outside of work that is really valued, and allocate time to doing the stuff you really enjoy, and that's why, you know, in our sheet that James and I do, there's passion projects, fun and adventure. They are two areas that we actively talk about. So that's stuff outside of work, and if you go… if you've got things to look forward to outside of work, that impacts your energy levels, because it impacts things to look for. It's amazing.

Nick:

You can have… how you get a lot of stuff done when you know you've got a holiday in a couple of days' time. You're just so efficient, because you've got, you know, just look forward to looking forward to those things, you know, whatever those things are, for people. It might be going home, walking your dog, you know, and there's something you look forward to, you should allocate time to doing that, and then doing it consistently, and so you have a routine and structure around that.

Kylie:

Yeah, I love that. Look, if anyone's got any questions, I'm mindful of the time, but if anyone's got any questions that they want to ask Nick, or, any other, any other tips, happy to pop them in the chat, and we're happy to, pop them in. Nick, what is on… what's on your radar that you're personally looking forward to that's going to be building your energy.

Nick:

They've got a lot of holiday footballers, they always try to find energy.

Kylie:

I miss that.

Nick:

Look, I mean, I haven't got any holidays booked, that always… look, I've got things, you know, long week… I've got marked out on a calendar when I'm gonna take days off here and then, that's really good, but I think…

Yeah, we've got a lot happening in the, in the, RISE initiative, and so I'm very motivated around that. We've got our company launch.

Next week, where it's, you know, and the theme is good energy, you know, where we're gonna just talk about what the year provides, you know, ahead of us, and that's… I love that. That's always exciting. You know, but outside of that, you know, I think there's so much to look forward to this year, but the stuff we're doing with RISE, in terms of being involved and expanding the RISE messaging, is, it's been… that's been highly motivating. And so we've got some good things coming up this year. So that, for me, is something I'm really looking forward to.

Kylie:

Awesome. So…

Nick:

As well as… as well as water skiing, and… and showing my young son, who's 21, that I'm still a better water skier than him. He keeps… so that's… so that's… that's something that keeps me on my tires.

Kylie:

Where do you skate?

Nick:

Oh, up on the Murray River. I'm from Cobraham, so I'm up that way, and so my son keeps telling me as you get older, you know, I'm better than you at running, I'm better than you at this, that, and so that's… my goal, is to make sure I'm better than him at water skiing, which I am still. And how, how often do you run?

Kylie:

Was he running?

Nick:

I'll run 4 or 5 times a week.

I sort of… well, my structure… my routine is I meditate, then I… then I move, I exit, I run after that. Right. And it's… that gives me, like, clarity, calmness, and clarity. That, for me, that's what works for me. I love that.

Kylie:

That was awesome.

Nick:

And, and good for energy levels.

Kylie:

Yeah, yeah. Well, look, I can… I can personally testify to someone who has to try and keep up with you, for RISE, that you do have huge energy, so,

Thank you for sharing everything that you've, that you've shared with us today. I think that idea around… I love… I actually love their whole idea that I have no discipline, so I just have to have a routine. I think that's fantastic, because I think I can certainly learn from that. And if there's any other quick questions, just before we… otherwise, we'll wrap up.

Nick:

I might share with you, one of the other things, Kylie, in this, sort of, one of the things that helped me, is to get some… work out what were my three areas of influence, and what energy was I placing in those three areas. And if I can share with you, one was personal.

You know, in terms of… health, travel, and… and wellness, you know, and just in the… what am I doing? What energy and emphasis am I placing around there? That one was professional. What am I doing at work? Am I motivated? Am I doing my role? Who am I helping? You know, and the third thing was around contribution. You know, where can I help?

And I think that was the third aspect around how I can contribute, you know, and that's where I got involved with RISE, and I love that… that… that sort of notion about… and then having some awareness around the three areas, and I think that drives great energy. If you've… if you can just look at those areas of influence, and have some idea of, am I having impact?

Have I got some energy around it? I think the very fact that you've thought about it, and have some focus on it, that actually raises your energy levels. It gives you great motivation, around those three, and that's been really helpful for me, around personal, professional contribution.

What are you doing? And what does it look like? And where they cross over and intersect is sort of your happy place, you know, and that's really good, because that really… that goes to the core of, you know, having good energy. If you're really satisfied to a degree, that you're having some impact in those areas, and that's been helpful for me.

Kylie:

Awesome, awesome.

Well, look, thank you so much, Nick. It's been, it's been a fantastic conversation.

And look, we are back in… on track with the wellness webinars now. Our first Wednesday of the month is at around 1 o'clock Sydney time is… and Melbourne time is when we've got them booked in. I think our next one is actually the fabulous John Cunningham, next month.

And then we've got… we've got a great program coming up, thanks to MRI software. And look, if you'd like to be involved in the RISE Initiative, please check us out, risenitiative.org.au online.

If you haven't downloaded the app, share it with your team, share it with your kids, like, you know, it can be used. I can personally attest to the exercise where you lie on the floor, do the breathing exercise, and maybe stick your legs up the wall especially when you're in the middle of a RISE conference. And, and, and…

We'll be sharing more initiatives that we've got coming up this year, including hopefully a podcast that we're working on. So, team, thanks for joining us today. Great to see so many of you on the call, and have an awesome, energetic rest of the week.

Nick:

Yeah, thanks, Kylie. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for allowing me to share. Good on you. All the best.

Kylie:

Thank you, thanks.