In this 291st episode — and the first under our new name, Take Flight Weekly — we’re kicking off a more strategic, more intentional season of business growth.

This isn’t about maintaining the status quo. It’s about evolving. Mastering your next level. And building your 2026 business starting now.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• Why Q3 is the perfect time to pivot toward 2026
• How to replace friction in your business with flow
• The mindset shift from generalist to strategist
• Why strategy beats motivation (and how to apply it daily)
• How to rebrand your time, your calendar, and your business
• The 5 tactical upgrades you can implement this week

🧠 5 Ways to Level Up Right Now:

Rebrand Your Calendar – Stop being “busy.” Start time-blocking like a CEO.
Pick Your Vital Few – Identify 3 business initiatives and 3 personal priorities to guide you into 2026.
Upgrade Your SOPs – If you’re repeating it, systemize it.
Audit Your CRM – Prune your Top 100 and re-engage with purpose.
Design Your 30,000-Foot Plan – Envision a business that’s leaner, simpler, and more scalable.
📌 Why This Matters
Elite advisors and entrepreneurs do not wait for January. They build the next version of their business in August. This episode will challenge you to reset your standards and approach Q4 like a true operator.
💼 For Advisors Committed to Strategy Over Hype
If you’ve been applying the mindset, branding, and execution lessons from Episodes 288–290, this is your next step. Simplify, focus, and lead with intention.

📣 About the Rebrand
“Monday Morning Pep Talk” is now Take Flight Weekly — because this podcast isn’t just here to pump you up. It’s here to coach you with strategy, simplicity, and consistency.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY COACHING CONTENT
New episodes every week with real estate strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help you grow, lead, and Take Flight.

• Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/

📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller

📚 RESOURCES
• My 2024 Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
• Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

✈️ Take Flight Weekly Episode #291: From Status Quo to Mastery | Build Your 2026 Business Now

In this 292nd episode of Take Flight Weekly, we’re digging into the real drivers of elite performance. Not theories. Not motivational fluff. We’re talking about the psychology, systems, habits, and feedback loops that keep top producers at the top — and why “waiting to feel motivated” is one of the fastest ways to stall your business.

Here’s the truth: money may get you started, but it rarely keeps you going. Once your financial base is secure, the real fuel comes from clarity, recognition, purpose, and the environment you operate in. Elite producers know this — and they intentionally build those triggers into their daily routine.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• Why Q4 preparation starts with how you manage motivation now
• The difference between chasing closings and pursuing mastery
• The 5 motivation triggers that show up in every top producer’s playbook
• How to build motivation as a system instead of a feeling
• Why boundaries, environment, and clarity drive consistent execution
• How to finish 2025 strong and start 2026 with momentum

🧠 The 5 Motivation Triggers for Elite Performance:
1. Recognition is a Catalyst – 69% of people say they’d work harder if their efforts were better recognized. Celebrate wins privately and publicly. Build a culture where acknowledgment is normal.
2. Clear Goals Outperform Vague Ambitions – Salespeople with specific goals are 33% more likely to be elite performers. Break quarterly targets into weekly and daily actions. Precision creates power.
3. Money Matters… Until It Doesn’t – Once the bills are paid, purpose, autonomy, and mastery take over. Focus shifts from income to impact — and fulfillment becomes the driver.
4. Progress = Momentum – Advisors who have regular coaching are twice as likely to outperform their peers. Track small wins daily. Accountability compounds results.
5. Vision Is the Anchor – Top 1% producers are 42% more likely to write down and review their goals regularly. Your 3-Year Vision is your compass in a noisy, distracted world.

📌 Why This Matters
Motivation is not fixed. You don’t “find” it — you build it. If you’re not reviewing your goals weekly, tracking your wins daily, and surrounding yourself with people who push you to improve, you’re leaving your future to chance. Activity alone won’t get you there. Motivation without direction is just a sugar high — it spikes, then crashes.

💼 For Advisors and Entrepreneurs Who Want to Lead with Intention
The top 1% don’t leave motivation to chance. They engineer it. They set clear goals, create the right environment, and build habits that feed their own momentum. If you haven’t committed to the systems, habits, and accountability that will carry you into 2026, now is the time.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY COACHING CONTENT
New episodes every week with real estate strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help you grow, lead, and Take Flight.
• Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/

📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller

📚 RESOURCES
• My 2024 Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
• Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

✈️ Take Flight Weekly Episode #292: Motivation Will Not Find You. You Need to Find It.

On this 293rd episode of Take Flight Weekly, I’m tackling one of the biggest challenges I face as a coach, leader, and mentor—convincing real estate professionals and entrepreneurs to commit to a 3-Year Vision.
Most professionals love to jump straight to action—checking boxes, chasing quick wins, and moving the ball forward. But elite producers, the top 1–3%, operate differently. They begin with clarity. They build a “north star” that guides every decision, pulling them toward a future they’ve already defined.
In this episode, I’ll show you:

- Why most resist vision work (and the 10 mental blocks that hold you back)
- How a 3-Year Vision creates exponential results in clarity, focus, and growth
- The 7-step framework to engineer your vision and make it real
- Why you should think version instead of just vision—and how to align today’s actions with your future self

Extraordinary performance begins in the mind long before it shows up in your numbers. Vision is the force multiplier that fuels every decision, compounds your actions, and transforms your business into something predictable and enjoyable.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• Why vision work is the foundation of planning season
• The real reason your brain resists long-term clarity
• How to reframe your 3-Year Vision into your 3-Year Version
• The daily and quarterly habits that keep your vision alive

Your future business and life aren’t created by accident. They’re engineered—starting with the picture you hold of yourself three years from now.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY COACHING CONTENT
New episodes every week with real estate strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help you grow, lead, and Take Flight.
• Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/
📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller
📚 RESOURCES
• My 2024 Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
• Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

✈️ Take Flight Weekly Episode #293: 3-Year Vision – The Bedrock of Your Growth


On this 294th episode of Take Flight Weekly, I share a lesson that came from the longest solo road trip of my life — 29 hours from Chicago to Boston and back while dropping off Lizzy Miller at Boston College. 

Somewhere on the highway, I realized something important: a long road trip has the same ingredients as pursuing your three-year vision.
Think about it. You don’t just jump in the car and hope for the best. You begin with the end in mind, you prepare your vehicle, you plot your route, and you measure your progress through checkpoints and mile markers. 

The same is true in business. Your three-year vision is your “Boston.” Without clarity, systems, and consistency, the trip becomes guesswork. With them, you know exactly where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

In this episode, I’ll show you:
✅ Why your three-year vision is like setting your GPS destination
✅ How to equip yourself with the right tools (CRM, daily rituals, coaching)
✅ Why breaking your vision into 12 quarterly checkpoints keeps you on track
✅ How weekly reviews and audits serve as your mile markers
✅ The importance of refueling with rest, reflection, and inspiration
✅ How to adjust when detours appear without losing sight of your destination
✅ Why celebrating milestones builds confidence and momentum

Here’s the truth: progress isn’t about one big leap. It’s about consistent, intentional stages. Just like hitting Buffalo or Albany on the way to Boston confirmed I was still on course, your weekly reviews and quarterly audits are the markers that keep you aligned with your ultimate destination. 

Detours and fatigue will test you, but if your systems are strong and your vision is clear, you’ll arrive exactly where you set out to be.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
• How to define and engineer your three-year vision with clarity
• Why systems and accountability act as your GPS for long-term success
• How to turn quarterly and weekly reviews into real momentum
• Why milestones matter for building confidence and sustaining energy
• How to approach vision work like a marathon, not a sprint

The pursuit of a three-year vision isn’t all that different from other major journeys in life — raising children, planning a wedding, training for a marathon, transforming your health, or learning a new skill. None of these happen overnight. They unfold stage by stage, season by season, with preparation, discipline, and checkpoints along the way.

Your future business and life won’t happen by accident. They’re engineered — mapped out like a road trip, fueled by consistent effort, and built mile by mile until you arrive at the destination you chose.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY COACHING CONTENT
New episodes every week with real estate strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help you grow, lead, and Take Flight.
• Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/

📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller
📚 RESOURCES
• My 2024 Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
• Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

Take Flight Weekly Episode #294: The Road Trip to Your Three-Year Vision

On this 295th episode of Take Flight Weekly, I tackle one of the biggest traps holding back real estate professionals and entrepreneurs—mistaking endless planning for progress.

Too often, business plans turn into procrastination tools. Advisors spend months tweaking spreadsheets, rewriting goals, and polishing strategies—but never actually execute. Elite brokers and top producers take a different path: they plan with purpose, then execute with discipline.

In this episode, you’ll discover:
-Why so many real estate professionals confuse planning with progress
-The warning signs that your business plan has become procrastination
-The difference between productive planning and perfection-seeking paralysis
-How elite brokers and advisors shift from planning to execution
-The 5-step system to make your 2026 business plan actionable

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• How to set deadlines that move you from planning into execution
• Why identifying your “vital few” priorities is critical for growth
• The weekly accountability rhythm that prevents drifting
• How to turn plans into habits, calendar blocks, and operating standards
• Why accountability separates high performers from everyone else

👉 Here’s the truth: a real estate business plan only matters if you execute it. Greatness doesn’t come from endless planning—it comes from decisive, imperfect, consistent action.
Your 2026 success won’t be defined by what’s written in your notes or spreadsheets. It’ll be defined by what you actually do.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY REAL ESTATE COACHING
New episodes every week with strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help real estate advisors build predictable, enjoyable businesses.
• Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/

📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller

📚 RESOURCES FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
• My 2024 Real Estate Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
• Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

✈️ Take Flight Weekly Episode #295: Planning vs. Procrastination – How Real Estate Advisors Turn Business Plans Into Action

What if the only thing separating you from the business and life you want isn’t money, the market, or your competition—but you? In Episode 296 of Take Flight Weekly, I dive into the uncomfortable truth that success often comes down to one thing: your willingness to execute consistently on the basics.

This is not theory. This is practical coaching designed to give you a mirror. I will walk you through a series of questions that, if you answer honestly and commit to acting on them, could change the trajectory of your business and your life. These are habits and strategies that cost almost nothing—yet they can transform everything.

• We are closing out Q3 2025, and now is the time to get honest with yourself:
• Are you further ahead today than you were at the end of Q2?
• Have you built sustainable daily, weekly, and quarterly planning habits?
• Are you connecting with 10 clients or prospects every single week?
• Have you created cloud-based systems and standard operating procedures to streamline your business?
• Are you converting clients from low-cost lead sources consistently?

If you could answer “yes” to those questions by the end of 2026, would you celebrate? The truth is, none of those results require massive spending. They require commitment, discipline, and focus. The difference between finishing another year frustrated or finally building a predictable, enjoyable business comes down to you.

I share my personal story of what I call my “real estate heart attack” in 2008, when stress and uncertainty forced me to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to work on my business. Those early mornings, spent learning, planning, and improving myself, built the foundation of everything I teach today. The lesson? You don’t have to spend money to get results. You just have to invest in yourself.

By early Q4 2025, your 2026 business plan should be written and in motion. That plan is not about doing more—it’s about becoming more. Consistency. Execution. The boring, unsexy work that compounds over time into extraordinary results.

This episode is your one-on-one coaching session. Listen carefully, take notes, and then take action. Because at the end of the day, the only thing standing between you and success is you.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY REAL ESTATE COACHING
New episodes every week with strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help real estate advisors and entrepreneurs build predictable, enjoyable businesses.
• Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/

📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller

📚 RESOURCES FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
• My 2024 Real Estate Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
• Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

Take Flight Weekly EP #296: The Only Thing Standing Between You and Success is You

On this 298th episode of Take Flight Weekly, I'm revealing the five high-performance strategies that have stood the test of time—the fundamentals I would build my entire business around if I had to start over from scratch in 2008.
If you study elite-level producers long enough, you'll notice their success looks deceptively simple. They don't chase every shiny object. They master a small set of principles and live them daily. Performance at the highest level isn't about doing more—it's about doing more of what matters, better.
Every year, Q4 gives me the time and space to think. This week, during one of those thinking sessions, I asked myself: "If I had to start all over, what five strategies would I build my business around?"
In this episode, I break down the five non-negotiable strategies every full-service, full-fee real estate advisor and entrepreneur must master:

Use Goals for Fuel. Use Vision for Why.
Your goals create structure, but your vision gives it soul. Goals are short-term metrics. Vision is the long-term emotional destination that guides every decision.
Declutter Your Life. Fly Light.
Simplify your systems, schedule, and surroundings so your energy stays focused on the vital few. Complexity kills execution. Clarity creates capacity.
The Weekly Meeting with Yourself.
Create your weekly business plan—the most powerful routine for driving consistent results. If you want to win quarters, you have to win weeks. Set aside 1-2 hours weekly to review calls, texts, emails, and DMs. This turns chaos into clarity.
Commit to Your CRM.
Your CRM is the structural side of the Law of Compensation. It organizes your five lists: Top 100, Top 100 Referral Partners, Warm List, Hot List, and Local Collaborators. Without it, you're operating on memory instead of data. Your CRM is your future income.
Use Social Media for Intelligence, Retention, and Conversion.
Social media is your digital credibility platform. It serves three purposes: Intelligence (track what clients are up to), Retention (clients confirm you're active and producing), and Conversion (prospects search you first—if you're not verifiable, they move on).

BONUS: Create Space to Think.
Your best ideas arrive when you pause long enough to listen. Reflection is not idle time—it's strategy. Thoughts create feelings. Feelings create action. Action creates results.
These six strategies are the operating system for a scalable business and a sustainable life. When you declutter, plan intentionally, build structure around relationships, and show up online with purpose, you create momentum that compounds.
Consistency and simplicity wins. Complexity and chaos fails every single time.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY REAL ESTATE COACHING
Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/
📲 CONNECT WITH ME
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller
📚 RESOURCES
My 2024 Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
Business Planning Docs → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

Take Flight Weekly Episode #298: 5 High Performance Strategies You Cannot Ignore


On this 299th episode of Take Flight Weekly, I want to recognize all of you who are toggling between your life and your business and navigating an industry that never slows down. Will it ever be easy? No. But here's what I know for certain: you've earned the right to want things and achieve things.

You've put in the work, you've weathered the storms, and now it's time to claim what's yours: clarity, fulfillment, and a business that is predictable, sustainable, and enjoyable.
Over the past year, I've watched many of you wrestle with uncertainty—new compensation models, big industry changes, rising costs, new pressures, heightened expectations. But beneath the stress is something else: proof. Proof that you belong here. Proof that you've earned the right to design a business that rewards your expertise, not your exhaustion.
In this episode, I walk you through the hard truths of what you've overcome:

Working for months in a 100% commission environment with no financial reward until closing
Tending to your family and friends while negotiating deals with stressed clients
Rebuilding your systems, protecting your compensation, and staying composed when everyone else is overly emotional
Caring for clients at all hours while trying to nurture your own mental and physical health
Resisting the constant pull to compare yourself to others

You've developed a craft that looks effortless because you've mastered what few ever will. Your value isn't in the transaction—it's in your consistency, your resilience, and your ability to lead with calm during chaos.
We have entered a new chapter in this business. The hobbyist era is ending, and that's good news for true professionals. The transactional model is fading. The relationship model is the future. Your clients don't just want service; they want stewardship. They want you.
That's why the rest of this year and into 2026 is about right-sizing: simplifying what no longer serves you and doubling down on what does. It's about moving from wide and shallow to narrow and deep. You've earned the right to stop proving yourself and start refining yourself.
Here's your challenge this week:

Decide what you want next—financially, personally, and relationally. Ambition is not arrogance.
Commit to one decision that honors your growth; something that makes your business work for you instead of against you.
Acknowledge how far you've come. Write down five moments this year that prove you've earned the right to want things and achieve things. Own them.

You don't need permission to want more. You've already earned that right through every late night, every interrupted dinner, and every risk you've taken. Stop apologizing for your ambition. The life and business you want won't happen by luck—it will happen because you finally decide you're worthy of it.
Re-listen to this. Make the decision. Claim it.
You! Have Earned! The Right! To Want Things! And Achieve Things! 🏆

🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY REAL ESTATE COACHING
New episodes every week with strategies, systems, and mindset coaching to help real estate advisors and entrepreneurs build predictable, enjoyable businesses.

Weekly Coaching Email → https://askjimmiller.com/contact/

📲 CONNECT WITH ME

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller

📚 RESOURCES FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS

My 2024 Real Estate Reading List → https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
Business Planning Docs + About Me → https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/


Take Flight Weekly Episode #299: You Have Earned the Right to Want Things and Achieve Things ⭐

On this 300th episode of Take Flight Weekly, I want to teach you one of the simplest, most effective habits for running your business like a professional: the weekly planning session. If you've ever wondered how elite-level entrepreneurs and advisors stay focused, consistent, and calm in the middle of chaos, it's not luck—it comes down to elite-level planning and staying in a rhythm of consistency. Their weeks are built by design.

The weekly planning session is your reset button, your opportunity to move from week to week proactively. It sets up each week to ensure that what you're doing each day aligns with your quarterly goals, annual goals, and your 3 Year Vision. Done right, it's the single most important 60 to 90 minutes of your week.

When you run a high-performance business, you can't wing it. No one is that good. A weekly planning session ensures you're grounded, focused, and prepared—moving seamlessly from week to week. Without it, you drift into reactive mode, chasing what's urgent instead of what's important. With it, you gain control of your calendar, energy, and your outcomes.

Best Practices for a Weekly Planning Session:

→ Create a recurring calendar invite. Choose the same time every week. Allow 60–90 minutes. Protect this block like a client meeting.
→ Review all correspondence from the previous week. Ask yourself: Did I miss an opportunity?
→ Review your previous week's calendar. Identify what worked, what didn't, and what needs follow-up.
→ Review your upcoming week. What events or meetings need preparation?
→ Review your CRM. Identify your "Next 10"—the retention and conversion process.
→ Identify one project that aligns with your quarterly goal.
→ Review your 3 Year Vision. See it. Feel it. Experience it in advance.

When you treat your weekly planning session as a non-negotiable, you'll find yourself more grounded, better prepared, with way fewer missed opportunities. You'll walk into Monday playing on offense without the anxiety of not being prepared.

Calculate the monetary value of the missed opportunities with your clients just in the last year. What's that number? $1M, $5M, $15M in production? What did you leave on the table?

Get out your calendar right now and schedule a recurring appointment with yourself for 60-90 minutes each week.

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🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY COACHING
→ Weekly Email: https://askjimmiller.com/contact/
📲 CONNECT WITH ME
→ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askjimmiller
→ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmillerchicago
→ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AskJimMiller
📚 RESOURCES
→ Reading List: https://askjimmiller.com/my-reading-list-2024/
→ Business Planning: https://askjimmiller.com/take-flight-2/

✈️ Take Flight Weekly,  Episode #300: Win the Week: The Power of a Weekly Planning Session

Jim Miller is a success mentor and life coach who guides top real estate brokers from around the country while managing 2.3B+ in sales production as Designated Managing Broker with Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty in Chicago, Illinois.  He is also recognized as a top real estate coach to top Sotheby's International Realty brokers in 35 luxury markets.

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