How to Bet on Yourself: Calculated Risks, Clear Goals, and Real Balance
Mindset · From Student of the Game
How to Bet on Yourself: Calculated Risks, Clear Goals, and Real Balance
A week after his conversation with Kelly Werth, Brad Noll recorded a solo Huddle to unpack its theme: betting on yourself. He opens with a question for every listener. Do you have untapped potential? Brad believes the answer is yes for nearly everyone, and that the real competition is with your former self and the best version of who you could become.
He sees the theme running through recent episodes. Chris Myers answered the call to switch careers. Kelly, an experienced realtor, joined the Noll Team from another brokerage. And in any commission-based business, where income depends on a client having a great experience and closing a transaction, you have to bet on yourself.
Take a Calculated Risk
Brad is careful about the kind of risk he means. He is not talking about waking up from a dream and leaping into something you have no experience in. Kelly brought years of experience and a successful business with her, so her move was a calculated risk, and Brad sees real power in that.
He also points to the results Kelly described: better health and more time with family and friends. Then he asks listeners what hobby fills their tank. If the answer is none, he says, you may be drifting, grinding through the week while promising yourself that one day you will take the trip, pick up the hobby, or spend more time with the people you love.
One way to lower the risk is to choose your company well. "If you're around the right people, it's going to become a sure thing," Brad says.
“Actually, you know who I work for? I work for the person who on Sunday night was planning his week, was thinking very clearly about the objectives of this week.”
Brad Noll
Communication and Relationships That Compound
Kelly's top fundamental was communication, specifically effective communication and timely follow-up. Brad calls them key parts of both strong client relationships and successful transactions. If your clients, family, or friends cannot remember what you said, either the message was not clear or they were distracted. Great communicators, he says, are great at clarifying their message.
Brad then looks at the kind of business most people run. A few have recurring revenue, like insurance or financial advising. Many more, whether they sell promotional products, cars, or houses, rely on bigger one-time sales that can feel transactional. That is why the start of a new year can bring a pit in the stomach and the worry of repeating last year.
His answer is that relationships compound, just like money and investments. The more you invest in someone and deepen the connection, the more that relationship grows in value. He believes that is exactly what will grow Kelly's business in the years ahead.
Do Not Negotiate With Your Feelings
Brad reminds listeners that people usually overestimate what they can get done in a year and underestimate what they can get done in five or ten. Thinking that far ahead is hard when today's feelings get loud. The morning he recorded this episode, his allergies were bad and he was tempted to put it off.
Instead he leaned on a line a friend posted after an early morning run: do not negotiate with your feelings. Brad explains how it works. Negotiate while you are setting the goal. Ask whether it is a stretch and what you will have to sacrifice. "But when the goal is set, we do not negotiate with our feelings," he says.
People tell Brad that being self-employed must be nice because he has no boss. He disagrees. "I work for the person who on Sunday night was planning his week," he says. That version of him was thinking clearly about the objectives and tasks ahead. The version of him on any given day might rather go golfing than make calls, and Brad does not let that feeling make the decision.
Balance Is Something You Keep Doing
Kelly talked about work-life balance, and Brad says it is not only possible but essential for sustainable success and personal fulfillment. If you are not feeling fulfilled, there is a good chance you are burning the candle at both ends. Balance also makes room to give. Some of Brad's best days are spent simply serving others, and you cannot pay for the car behind you in the drive-thru if the account is empty.
Dropping his daughter off at carpool, Brad had a thought about time. Waving two cars through at a four-way stop when it is your turn is, in his words, "the ultimate time management flex." The person who is most present in a room, he says, is usually the most in control of their thoughts and feelings.
He uses salt to explain balance. Sodium on its own is dangerous, and so is chloride, but together they make one of the most valuable minerals in the world. Work and life are the same. It is never a perfect 50-50 split. Some days are 80 percent work and some are 80 percent family and life, and staying in relationship with the right people keeps it balanced over time. A few ways to put the episode to work:
- Set your goal while you are thinking clearly, then stop negotiating with your feelings.
- Plan your week on Sunday night and work for that version of yourself.
- Build communication and follow-up into your daily routine.
- Invest in relationships the way you would invest money, and let them compound.
- Protect time for your health, your family, and a hobby that fills your tank.
- Write a handwritten note to someone who matters to you.
Why Should Experienced People Keep Growing?
What impresses Brad most is that Kelly, one of the most seasoned veterans on the team, acts like a sponge and keeps asking to learn more. When veterans want to keep learning, Brad says, it shifts the culture. When someone avoids growth because it is uncomfortable, they are raising their hand to say they are comfortable where they are, and that affects the office, the church, or the school around them. "You got to be comfortable getting uncomfortable," he says.
He also returns to the advice Kelly's father gave her: never forget the value of a handwritten letter. For Brad, writing notes is a way to flex his gratitude muscle and let someone know he took time out of his day for them. He admits it comes in seasons. Some seasons he is great at it, and in others he has to get back on the bus.
He closes with Benjamin Franklin: "An investment in yourself always pays the greatest return." What affects his business most, Brad says, is how he shows up: whether he is willing to grow, willing to learn, and willing to deepen relationships with other people.
▶ Listen to the full episode
Betting on Yourself with Brad Noll, on Student of the Game.
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