Gary Keller — How to Focus on the One Important Thing | The Tim Ferriss Show

Gary Keller (@garykeller) is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count. In 2019, KW, which also ranks number one in units and sales volume in the US, was named by Fast Company as the “most innovative company” in real estate. In 2015, Gary began driving KW’s evolution into a technology company, now focused on building the real estate platform that agents, buyers, and sellers prefer. He is competing with multi-billion-dollar, venture-backed companies using his own money. Gary is the bestselling author of The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times. You can find Gary’s podcast, Think Like a CEO, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you typically get your podcasts. Please enjoy! Intro [00:00] That summer Gary shadowed an accountant, a lawyer, a banker, and a realtor [06:30] Insurance lemons into real estate lemonade [09:57] The series of events that compelled Gary to strike out on his own [12:02] An initial $44,000 loan and a commitment to never borrow again [25:07] How KW became the largest real estate office in Austin in 2 years [27:20] Playing "red light, green light” to make financial decisions [30:13] A tough decision [31:12] Gary prefers business disagreements to agreements [32:29] What is a buy-sell agreement? [35:26] The importance of separate counsel for partnerships [36:08] Power of attorney and a hard-won family lesson [38:13] Redefining franchising and a Dairy Queen mistake [43:02] The McDonald’s French fry story [50:27] Time off that led to “the most valuable asset of the company” [53:15] Why does Gary still use a paper calendar and a pencil? [1:04:17] A movie analogy for blocking time to get things done [1:11:03] What is the focusing question (as outlined in The ONE Thing)? [1:14:12] “A clear path to a lesser goal is the problem” [1:23:38] Prioritizing important categories that lie beyond the focusing question [1:27:51] How Gary used the focusing question with his sometimes acerbic mother [1:29:51] Gary's exercise routine [1:32:22] Finding true north plus my own focusing question [1:37:06] Is there anything to which Gary categorically says no? [1:38:53] How to accept an award with a proxy [1:46:40] What would Gary’s billboard say? [1:47:49] The importance of thinking big and aiming high [1:48:32] How to stick with new habits [1:51:32] Why did Gary agree to do this interview? [1:55:25] Closing thoughts [1:56:53] SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 400 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

Tim FerrisshostGary Kellerguest

Dec 16, 20192h 2mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: December 16, 2019
Duration: 2h 2m
Channel: Tim Ferriss
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Gary Keller (@garykeller) is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count. In 2019, KW, which also ranks number one in units and sales volume in the US, was named by Fast Company as the “most innovative company” in real estate. In 2015, Gary began driving KW’s evolution into a technology company, now focused on building the real estate platform that agents, buyers, and sellers prefer. He is competing with multi-billion-dollar, venture-backed companies using his own money. Gary is the bestselling author of The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times. You can find Gary’s podcast, Think Like a CEO, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you typically get your podcasts. Please enjoy! Intro [00:00] That summer Gary shadowed an accountant, a lawyer, a banker, and a realtor [06:30] Insurance lemons into real estate lemonade [09:57] The series of events that compelled Gary to strike out on his own [12:02] An initial $44,000 loan and a commitment to never borrow again [25:07] How KW became the largest real estate office in Austin in 2 years [27:20] Playing "red light, green light” to make financial decisions [30:13] A tough decision [31:12] Gary prefers business disagreements to agreements [32:29] What is a buy-sell agreement? [35:26] The importance of separate counsel for partnerships [36:08] Power of attorney and a hard-won family lesson [38:13] Redefining franchising and a Dairy Queen mistake [43:02] The McDonald’s French fry story [50:27] Time off that led to “the most valuable asset of the company” [53:15] Why does Gary still use a paper calendar and a pencil? [1:04:17] A movie analogy for blocking time to get things done [1:11:03] What is the focusing question (as outlined in The ONE Thing)? [1:14:12] “A clear path to a lesser goal is the problem” [1:23:38] Prioritizing important categories that lie beyond the focusing question [1:27:51] How Gary used the focusing question with his sometimes acerbic mother [1:29:51] Gary's exercise routine [1:32:22] Finding true north plus my own focusing question [1:37:06] Is there anything to which Gary categorically says no? [1:38:53] How to accept an award with a proxy [1:46:40] What would Gary’s billboard say? [1:47:49] The importance of thinking big and aiming high [1:48:32] How to stick with new habits [1:51:32] Why did Gary agree to do this interview? [1:55:25] Closing thoughts [1:56:53] SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1dSzTkW About Tim Ferriss: Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 400 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running. Connect with Tim Ferriss: Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-1/ Visit the Tim Ferriss PODCAST: https://tim.blog/podcast/ Visit the Tim Ferriss BLOG: https://tim.blog/ Follow Tim Ferriss on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tferriss/ Follow Tim Ferriss on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/ Like Tim Ferriss on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/

SPEAKERS

Tim Ferriss
host
Author and entrepreneur, host of The Tim Ferriss Show.
Gary Keller
guest
Real estate entrepreneur, co-founder of Keller Williams and co-author of The ONE Thing.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Tim Ferriss, featuring Tim Ferriss and Gary Keller, Gary Keller — How to Focus on the One Important Thing | The Tim Ferriss Show explores gary Keller on focus: the one thing that changes everything Gary Keller traces how early career rejections and a values-driven departure from a prior firm led to the founding and cashflow-based growth of Keller Williams.

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