Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity team. Kobe Bryant shot air balls in a playoff game and then went to the gym that same night. Both became legends for the same reason: they treated every failure as information, not a verdict. That is a growth mindset, and it is the single biggest difference between agents who grow every year and agents who stall out. This post expands on my recent video where I break down fixed versus growth mindset and give you five ways to make the switch.
Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset: Know Which One You Are Running
A fixed mindset says your skills are set. You are either good at prospecting or you are not. You either have the personality for sales or you do not. When you think this way, every hard day feels like proof that you are not cut out for this business.
A growth mindset says your skills are built. You are not bad at listing presentations, you just have not done enough of them yet. That one word, yet, changes everything. It turns a dead end into a starting line.
Here is how to spot which one you are running. After a lost deal, a fixed mindset agent says “I am terrible at closing.” A growth mindset agent says “What did I miss, and what do I do differently next time?” Same event. Two completely different responses. One keeps you stuck. The other makes you better by Friday.
Most agents flip between both depending on the day. That is normal. The goal is not to be perfect, it is to catch yourself in the fixed lane and steer back.
What Michael Jordan Teaches Every Agent About Growth
Jordan is the go-to example of a growth mindset for a reason. He did not become the greatest because he was born with it. He became the greatest because he practiced the parts of his game he was worst at, took the last shot even after missing it, and used every loss as fuel. Kobe ran the same playbook.
Now put that in real estate terms. The market shifts. Rates move. Your favorite lead source dries up. A fixed mindset agent freezes and blames the market. A growth mindset agent asks a better question: what is working right now, and how fast can I learn it?
You do not need Jordan’s talent. You need his response to failure. In this business, the agent who adapts fastest wins, and adapting is a skill you can train.
Strategy 1: Add the Word Yet to Every I Cannot
This is the fastest mindset shift there is, and it costs you nothing. Every time you catch yourself saying “I cannot do video,” or “I am not good on the phone,” add one word to the end: yet.
“I am not good on the phone yet.” Now your brain has a job. Instead of protecting your ego, it starts looking for the next rep, the next script, the next small win. Write your three biggest “I cannot” statements on a sticky note, add yet to each one, and stick it on your monitor. It sounds small. It rewires how you talk to yourself all day.
Strategy 2: Chase Feedback Instead of Hiding From It
Fixed mindset agents avoid feedback because it feels like a personal attack. Growth mindset agents go hunting for it because it is the shortcut to getting better.
Start here. After every listing appointment you do not win, call the seller and ask one question: “What made you choose the other agent?” It will sting the first few times. It will also hand you the exact thing you need to fix. Do the same with your buyers, your database, and your team lead.
The agents I coach who grow the fastest are the ones who ask for the hard truth on purpose. If you want a simple place to start, my Friday FIRE newsletter drops one tactical idea a week you can put to work right away.
Strategy 3: Trade Comparison for Curiosity
Scrolling social media and comparing your numbers to the top producer in your market is a fixed mindset trap. It makes you feel behind and it teaches you nothing.
Flip it. Instead of feeling small when you see someone crushing it, get curious. What are they actually doing? What is their lead source? How do they run their day? Comparison drains you. Curiosity turns other people’s success into your own free education.
The market is not a fixed pie where their win is your loss. There are more than enough deals to go around. When you stop competing and start studying, you grow faster and you enjoy the work again.
Strategy 4: Put Reps Before Readiness
You will never feel ready. Not for your first video, not for your first open house, not for raising your prices. A fixed mindset waits to feel confident before taking action. A growth mindset knows the confidence comes from the action, not before it.
So take the rep first. Make the calls before you feel like it. Post the video before it is perfect. Run the listing presentation before you have it memorized. Confidence is built on the other side of reps, and reps are the one input you fully control.
Pick one activity you have been putting off because you do not feel ready. Do it this week, badly if you have to. Then do it again. That is how growth actually happens, one imperfect rep at a time. This is exactly the kind of work we build into a plan inside UP Coaching’s programs.
Strategy 5: Protect Your Inputs
Your mindset is downstream of what you feed it. If you spend your day around agents who complain about the market, that becomes your mindset too. If you feed on doom-scroll headlines and negative self-talk, you will run a fixed mindset by default.
Guard the door. Choose who you spend time with. Choose what you read and listen to on the drive between appointments. Get around motivated people who are building, not complaining. A strong environment with accountability and mentorship will do more for your mindset than any pep talk.
This is not soft stuff. Your inputs decide your outputs. Protect them like your business depends on it, because it does.
The Bottom Line
You are not born with a fixed or a growth mindset. You choose it, one response at a time, every single day. The market will keep shifting. Deals will keep falling through. That is the job. What separates the agents who grow from the agents who stall is simple: how you respond to the hard stuff.
Add the word yet. Chase feedback. Get curious instead of comparing. Put reps before readiness. Protect your inputs. Do those five things on repeat and you will not just build a better business, you will enjoy building it. If you want to know more about the coach behind this, here is a bit about me and UP Coaching.
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