If you’re like most real estate agents who want to become a full time agent, you’re ready to ditch the 9-to-5 and you’re dreaming of the day where you can control your schedule. You also might be freaking out because you don’t know how you’ll ever make it happen.

You’re afraid to give up the benefits such as a steady paycheck and the health care benefits that come with it.

I understand the struggle, and I remember it all so well. It happened in 2002 for me, but it still feels like yesterday. In this post I want to give you tips to help you reach your goal of ditching the 9-to-5 or the part time job that is preventing you from going full time as a real estate agent.

Listen here and/or keep reading!

Create your on-ramp with a timeline

It takes time to transition, and during that time you need to build your on-ramp from one position to another. The on-ramp may look different for each person, but here are the key points you want to consider:

• When can I work on real estate?
• What can I do now that won’t take away from my current job, but still produce real estate sales?
• How much money do I need in the bank before I jump?
• How long do I need to work my other job before I take the leap?

Work a clear plan…

Once you define your on-ramp, you’ll need to come up with your actual plan—how are you going to get there? In Agent Rise, we’ve created the Three Pillar Plan. These three “pillars” support your business:
1) Sphere of Influence,
2) Chase, and
3) Attraction.

When you first start out you might work your Three Pillar Plan in phases. Here’s an example:

While you’re on your on-ramp, you may choose to work your Sphere of Influence for now, but not Chase because you can’t respond to leads fast enough.

(Note: This doesn’t apply to everyone. For example, your Chase doesn’t need to be online leads that require a fast response. You might do open houses on the weekends instead.)

A different example:

You don’t work your Sphere of Influence now because it would affect your current position. For now, you’ll need to be a “secret agent.” In this case, you might choose to go all in on a Chase pillar and wait to launch your Sphere of Influence pillar until you have released the current job.

(Note: your Sphere pillar is very important to your business. It’s hard to get a good business going without it. Plus, it’s really hard to be a “secret agent,” but I share this example because I know many people need to start this way. Bottom line: Avoid the “secret agent” approach if at all possible.)

Take the leap when the time comes…

All too often I see agents get to a certain milestone in their career and not take the leap of faith.

They say, “when I have three months of expenses saved up, I’m going to do it!” Then they get three months of expenses saved and they come up with an excuse to not do it.

What it comes to is when it’s time to jump, you have to JUMP!

Find out how other agents made the leap…

Let me encourage you to listen to episode 283 of the Agent Rise Podcast where I interview three agents who made the leap. Their stories (as well as mine) will help you connect the dots and fill in the blanks so that you can make your dream of becoming a full-time real estate agent a reality.