Act Like the Producer You Want to Become
I just got back from my morning bicycle ride, and for almost the entire two hours I found myself thinking about one idea:
Act like the person you want to become.
It sounds simple.
Maybe even a little too simple.
But I think it explains a lot about why some loan officers consistently grow while others spend years waiting for things to finally click.
Most people assume the order goes like this:
First, I become successful.
Then, I start acting successful.
First, I become a top producer.
Then, I become disciplined.
First, I make more money.
Then, I protect my schedule, prospect consistently, and follow a real plan.
But I have found that it works almost exactly the opposite way.
You start acting like the loan officer you want to become before the production shows up.
The habits come first.
The results follow.
What Would a 15-Loan-a-Month Loan Officer Do Today?
Imagine for a minute that you are already consistently closing 15 loans a month.
Or 20.
Or 25.
Forget how far away that number may feel today.
Pretend you are already there.
What would your average Tuesday look like?
Would you wake up and immediately start reacting to email?
Would you spend the first hour scrolling through social media while telling yourself you are “doing marketing”?
Would every incoming phone call be allowed to completely rewrite your schedule?
Would prospecting happen only if you somehow found spare time?
Probably not.
If you were already producing at the level you want, there is a good chance your day would look much more intentional.
You would know what activities create business.
You would protect time for them.
You would follow up when you said you would.
You would spend more time talking with people who can actually create opportunities.
And you would probably say “no” to a lot more distractions.
That is the part people miss.
You do not wait for the production to start operating that way.
You start operating that way so the production has a chance to appear.
Top Producers Are Not Disciplined Because They Are Successful
This is an important distinction.
Top producers do not suddenly wake up one day with an overflowing pipeline and think:
“Wow, now I guess I should become disciplined.”
Their discipline helped build the pipeline.
Their routines helped create the relationships.
Their follow-up helped generate the referrals.
Their prospecting helped create the opportunities.
Their accountability helped keep them consistent.
Success is usually the evidence of habits that were already happening.
That is why loan officer success habits matter so much.
The habits are the cause.
Production is the result.
Your Calendar Tells the Truth
One of the quickest ways to see what somebody actually prioritizes is to look at their calendar.
We can say:
“Growing my production is my number one priority.”
Okay.
Where is that on the calendar?
Where is the prospecting block?
Where is the database follow-up?
Where are the Real Estate Agent conversations?
Where is the pre-approval follow-up?
Where is the time for practicing scripts?
If those activities are not scheduled, they are competing against everything else that happens during the day.
And everything else usually wins.
A busy mortgage business can fill every available minute if you let it.
There is always another email.
Another file.
Another question.
Another notification.
Another meeting somebody would love to put on your calendar.
The future version of you has to protect the activities that build future business.
Busy and Productive Are Not the Same Thing
A loan officer can work incredibly hard and still spend very little time on the activities that create new loans.
That is one of the sneakiest problems in our industry.
You can have a packed day.
You can answer 75 emails.
You can attend four meetings.
You can solve three file problems.
You can clean up your CRM.
You can update your social profiles.
Then 5:00 comes around and you feel exhausted.
But ask one question:
How many new business conversations did I have today?
Sometimes the answer is zero.
That is why being busy can be dangerous.
Busy gives you immediate evidence that you worked hard.
Productive activities often create delayed results.
The referral call today may create an introduction next week.
The follow-up today may produce an application in two weeks.
The database conversation today may produce a closing two months from now.
The payoff is delayed, so those activities are easier to postpone.
Successful loan officers learn to do the important work before the urgent work takes over.
The Future Version of You Probably Prospects
If you want significantly more production, there is almost certainly some version of prospecting involved.
That does not have to mean cold calling strangers.
It could mean:
- Calling qualified Real Estate Agents
- Reconnecting with past referral partners
- Following up with past clients
- Working your database
- Calling aged opportunities
- Staying engaged with pre-approved buyers
- Asking for introductions
- Asking for referrals
The specifics may vary.
But conversations create business.
If the future version of you has a bigger pipeline, that pipeline has to come from somewhere.
So ask:
Would the loan officer I want to become protect time every day for conversations that create opportunities?
If the answer is yes, start doing it now.
The Future Version of You Probably Follows Up
There is a lot of money sitting inside incomplete follow-up.
A Real Estate Agent you met six weeks ago.
A borrower who said they would be ready “after summer.”
A past client you have not talked with in two years.
A pre-approved buyer who stopped looking.
An old referral source who quietly disappeared.
Top producers do not necessarily have magical databases filled with better people.
Often, they simply stay engaged longer.
They have systems.
They have reminders.
They have scripts.
They follow through.
If you want to become a loan officer with predictable production, start developing predictable follow-up habits before you have predictable production.
The Future Version of You Uses Accountability
People sometimes think accountability is something you need when you are struggling.
Not true.
High performers use accountability because they know how easy it is to drift.
The more successful you become, the more distractions appear.
You get more files.
More opportunities.
More requests.
More people asking for your time.
Accountability helps protect the activities that built the business in the first place.
That may mean:
- A coach
- An accountability group
- A daily tracker
- A team scorecard
- A prospecting partner
- A weekly review
The format matters less than the outcome.
You need something that asks:
Did I do what I said I was going to do?
Not to shame you.
To keep you aligned with the person you said you wanted to become.
The Future Version of You Has Better Boundaries
Here’s another habit people rarely connect to production.
Boundaries.
Top producers cannot say yes to everything.
There are simply too many opportunities for distraction.
A meeting could always be scheduled during prospecting time.
Someone could always call.
There is always another notification.
There is always something that appears urgent.
Successful loan officers learn that protecting their schedule is not selfish.
It is part of running a business.
If the highest-value activity in your business is prospecting from 9:00 to 11:00, then a random meeting request at 9:30 should not automatically win.
Your calendar should reflect your priorities.
Otherwise your priorities are just good intentions.
Stop Using Social Media as Fake Prospecting
This one may sting a little.
Social media can absolutely create business.
I am a fan of it.
But scrolling is not prospecting.
Watching other people’s videos is not prospecting.
Checking how many people liked yesterday’s post is not prospecting.
Tweaking your profile for the 12th time is probably not prospecting either.
There is a difference between using social media as a business tool and hiding inside it because direct conversations feel harder.
If the future version of you creates five meaningful conversations before checking social media, what would happen if you started doing that now?
There is only one way to find out.
Identity Changes Behavior
There is something powerful about changing the question from:
“What should I do today?”
To:
“What would the person I want to become do today?”
The first question creates a task list.
The second question creates an identity.
Identity is powerful because people tend to act in alignment with who they believe they are.
If you think:
“I am terrible at prospecting,”
you will find evidence for it.
If you start thinking:
“I am the kind of loan officer who creates business before I react to business,”
your decisions begin to change.
You protect the morning.
You make the call.
You follow up.
You keep the appointment.
You behave differently because you are practicing a new identity.
You Do Not Need to Change Everything Tomorrow
There is a danger here.
You read something like this and decide:
“Okay. Starting Monday, I am changing my entire life.”
New morning routine.
New CRM.
New scripts.
New diet.
New workout.
New calendar.
New everything.
By Wednesday, you are exhausted.
That is not necessary.
Pick one behavior.
One habit the future version of you would absolutely have.
Maybe it is:
- Five prospecting conversations each morning
- Every new lead gets called within a specific time
- Every qualified Real Estate Agent gets consistent follow-up
- Every Friday you review your numbers
- Every pre-approved buyer gets contacted weekly
- Your first hour belongs to business development, not email
Start there.
Practice that behavior until it becomes normal.
Then add the next one.
That is how identities actually change.
Use Your Future Production to Reverse Engineer Today
Let’s say your goal is 20 closings a month.
Do not only write down:
“20 loans.”
Ask what has to be true for that result to happen.
How many referred leads would you need?
How many referral partners?
How many conversations?
How many follow-ups?
How many hours of prospecting?
What team support would you need?
What habits would keep those activities happening?
Now your goal becomes useful.
Instead of looking at a big production number and hoping you reach it, you begin building the behaviors that make it possible.
That is exactly what good coaching should help a loan officer do.
Take the future goal and translate it into today’s actions.
A Simple Exercise for Next Week
Before each workday begins, ask yourself:
What would the loan officer I want to become do today?
Then open your calendar.
Look at it honestly.
Does your calendar match your answer?
If the future version of you would make five prospecting calls, schedule the five calls.
If the future version of you would follow up with every qualified Real Estate Agent you met last month, create the list.
If the future version of you would spend less time reacting to email, close the inbox during your income-producing activity.
If the future version of you would protect family time, decide when the workday ends.
Do not make it theoretical.
Put the behavior on the calendar.
Then do it.
Your Future Income Starts With Today’s Choices
Most people want the confidence before they take the action.
But action often creates confidence.
They want the results before adopting the habits.
But habits create the results.
They want to feel like a top producer before behaving like one.
But behaving like one is how you become one.
Your future production is not waiting somewhere in the future.
It is being built through the choices you make today.
One call.
One follow-up.
One protected block of time.
One better decision.
Then another tomorrow.
And another after that.
Eventually people look at the results and call you a top producer.
But you will know what really happened.
You started acting like one before anybody else could see it.
Build the Next Version of Your Mortgage Business
If you are ready to step away from the daily distractions, think bigger about what you want your business to become, and build a clear plan for getting there, join us at Next Level Blueprint Live.
We are spending two focused days helping loan officers look at where they are, where they want to go, and what has to change to close the gap.
This is not about collecting another notebook full of ideas.
It is about creating the blueprint for the loan officer and business you want to become, then leaving with a plan you can actually execute.
Reserve your spot at MasterMindRetreats.com.