Stop Getting Stuck: Brad Noll's Three Ideas for Turning Knowledge Into Action
Mindset · From Student of the Game
Stop Getting Stuck: Brad Noll's Three Ideas for Turning Knowledge Into Action
Early in his real estate career, Brad Noll went to a lot of conferences. One day an uncle asked him a simple question. He had been to plenty of conferences himself, he said, but was there one thing Brad had actually implemented since the last one?
That question sits at the center of this episode of Student of the Game. Brad sees a gap in business and in life between knowing and doing, between thinking and action, between planning and executing. Information is everywhere. You can listen to hundreds of podcasts, read good books, and attend conferences. "But really, none of it matters if you don't take action," Brad says.
Brad is a believer in preparation. One of his favorite lines is that preparation creates separation. But he also knows you have never done anything without taking action, and that people drift when they stop acting. He shares three ideas to help close the gap.
Activity Wins
Brad's first point is that the businesses and people who win are the ones who execute quickly. Perfect is the enemy of progress. He asks listeners whether they wait until everything is just right, like setting the whole table before anyone can eat. Brad says he tends to lean the other way: launch fast, learn, and adjust. "You have to understand that you don't have to feel ready," he says.
He shared an example with one of the team's interns. Your phone probably updates about once a month. The company did not wait until the phone was perfect to sell it. It released the phone and kept improving it. Brad's team is doing the same with some big news it is preparing to share. "It's going to roll out before we complete it," he says.
Brad also believes 80 percent is the best percentage there is. If you hit 100 percent of your goals, you should ask whether they were too low. If you hit 20 or 50 percent, maybe they were too high. Getting 80 percent of the way to a challenging goal means it stretched you, and you are better today than you were yesterday.
“If you can get a goal done in one day, that's called a to-do, not a goal.”
Brad Noll
Feedback Only Comes After You Start
To Brad, iteration is really about feedback. When his team lists a home, they cannot just guess and hope it sells. They need feedback from buyers: the price is too high, it needs paint, or they love the backyard. The team holds monthly team meetings and monthly one-on-one meetings so agents get feedback too. "You can't get feedback if you don't start something," Brad says.
So he asks what is sitting inside you that you have not started yet. A book. A podcast. A business. Or maybe a phone call to a family member or friend where the relationship is strained. It does not have to be perfect, and you do not need the right words. Sometimes listening is the action that is needed.
Brad adds that when he is feeling down, the best thing he can do is take action by doing something for someone else.
Clarity Creates Energy
Brad's second point is that action flows from clarity. If you do not know exactly what you are building toward, you spin your wheels. One of his favorite frameworks is thinking, decisions, results. Everything starts at the thinking level, and nobody can help you until your goal is clear.
He suggests working it in reverse. Decide what result you want in your relationships, job, or business. Then ask what decisions you need to make to get it. Then look at how you are thinking, and whether you are feeding your mind new information that helps you think from a better place.
Clarity also means knowing the difference between a goal and a task. "If you can get a goal done in one day, that's called a to-do, not a goal," Brad says. A coach once pushed him on this with a marathon. Running a marathon is just an outcome. A clear goal says when, where, what time you are aiming for, even which shoes you will wear, along with the training and nutrition plan broken into daily decisions. That is why Brad's team likes working in 12-week stretches with clear measurables. And being productive, he says, is addicting in the best way.
Brad shares a goal of his own: he has always wanted to do a real estate podcast with his team, and they are starting one. He did not know how to podcast at first, so he hired a coach. Now he does it.
Relationships Still Win
Brad's third point might not surprise regular listeners. Businesses exist to solve problems, but people only take action with people they trust. Building that trust takes action too, so it becomes a cycle.
He shares a quote he attributes to Pablo Picasso: the meaning of life is to find your gift, and the purpose of life is to give it away. Brad turns it slightly. Give your gifts away freely, but also know who in your life can help you win when you need it.
Run through his thinking, decisions, results framework, relationships become practical. If you believe relationships win, the decision might be joining a club, a networking group, a church volunteer day, or even a fantasy football league. Brad's own team builds relationships through its business mixer, homebuyer events, and surprises for clients after closing. Sales, he says, are a byproduct of being a great human and listening more than you talk.
How Do You Stop Getting Stuck and Start Taking Action?
Brad's challenge for the week is simple. Do not just listen to another podcast or pick up another book. Choose one idea you already heard and act on it. Then answer a few questions:
- What is one thing you have been waiting on that you could start today?
- What is one goal you could clarify or measure?
- Who is one person you need to connect with, call, or meet with?
- Who can help you get where you want to go, and who can you help in return?
That last question comes with a lesson from one of his daughters' basketball coaches. Players and parents succeed, the coach said, when they are just as excited about the other girls' goals as their own. Brad calls that the hack to building a great team and a great culture.
Being a student of the game, Brad says, is not about consuming content. It is about stepping onto the field and being the one in the arena, because that is where life is lived.
▶ Listen to the full episode
Stop Getting Stuck: Take Action, on Student of the Game.
Work with the Noll Team
Ready to make your move?
Since 2003, Noll Team Real Estate has been helping people in the Fort Wayne area find the freedom to live the lifestyle they want. Tell us where you are headed and we will build the plan around your life.