Winning at Work Without Losing at Life – with Garrett Maroon

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 00:02

All right, well, welcome back to the One Life podcast. I wanna thank you again for listening and being a part of our One Life community. This episode for me is really awesome because he's a new friend of my life, but I'll say of the people I've met in this industry, he really is living out the whole idea of One Life. Garrett Maroon is here with us. So Garrett, excited you're with us ⁓ to give you a formal introduction, if I could.

Garrett Maroon (: 00:26

Yeah, brother.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 00:30

And first of all, the title of this talk, by the way, is going to be the balanced breakthrough winning at work without losing at life. And that title is actually coming from a book that Garrett's got coming out. So we'll get to that here in a few minutes. But just by way of more formal introduction, let me introduce you to Garrett. Garrett's real estate journey began with just 40 names in his database. And in just over 10 years, he sold more than 650 homes, all through relationships without spending a dime.

oup in Southeast Virginia. In: 2023

with one more on the way. So he's also slightly crazy apparently. So Garrett, bro, welcome to the show,

Garrett Maroon (: 01:31

Yeah. Thanks

buddy. I haven't slept in a while, so give me some grace there. But no, I'm honored to be here, buddy. And I, and I, you know, so much appreciate your words and your kindness of living out the one life. I would say that I'm striving to live that out well, right? I don't know that I do it well, but I strive to live that out well and the Lord's been gracious so far. yeah, excited to be here.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 01:52

I love it, man. And you just actually teed up that the really first question I have for you is, you know, those listening to this show, they know that one life is all about, you know, I talk about it a lot, but it's this idea of living out your mission, your purpose, your faith, your marriage, your family, all these things, instead of compartmentalizing all these things in our life, it's blurring the lines and living all this out through our business. And Gary, you exemplify that. So I'm curious, you know, that's why I wanted you on this show.

But I'm curious, yeah, do you see yourself that way? Do you feel like that's what you're doing?

Garrett Maroon (: 02:24

Man, it's a great question. ⁓ You know, I think all of us are our own harshest critics, right? You know, I would say this, man. I've been fortunate, I've been in for 11 years, that I, for whatever reason, and honestly in the Lord's kindness, I had enough awareness to protect my time early on. And so almost within the first year of doing business, I'd sit down with clients and I'd say, here's my hours, right? And you know, nine to seven from Monday to Friday, Wednesday night, I'm done at five because it's date night.

you know, a Saturday by appointment, I don't work on Sundays unless we're actively negotiating. And I had enough awareness to do that, to protect it and say, man, if I succeed in this industry, but I lose, you know, I was only married at the time we didn't have kids. Like if I lose my, my marriage along the way, what's the point of this? Right. And so I think I at least had enough awareness there, ⁓ to really care well for that, Matt, but you know, like anybody, I think, you know, it's really hard as an entrepreneur and especially in the real estate industry.

⁓ is even if I'm physically somewhere, might not mentally be somewhere. And so it that's been hard for me. It's still hard for me. You know, it's easy for me to jump into work conversation. My wife and I had a date night on Tuesday, we're recording on a Thursday and she asked a question. We're dreaming a little bit about, how much fun would it be to live in Tennessee or wherever? And I'm like, yeah, you're right. Well, we're trying to build this on our team and do this in our organization and thinking like, here's how we're going to get there. And she said, I don't want to talk about work.

It's like, yeah, you're right. This is not a word conversation. So man, I would say it's something where I need to constant reminders of those in my life. And I'm actually looking right behind me, but what I call the scoreboard to just keep me focused and settled right there that I love what you talked about, right? The blurring the lines that you just kind of live and you do it all together. It's this one life idea. So to come back to your question, do I think I do it well? Not as well as I'd like to. Let me say that I strive for it for sure.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 04:21

Hey, you just said something that really caught my attention. We're in very competitive environments. We're in the real estate space, right? It's all about, you know, ⁓ up and visual, the goals, the markers, right? What are the leading and lagging indicators? You just mentioned a scoreboard and I don't think you're talking about ⁓ conversations and closings. What's your scoreboard? What exactly do you mean by that?

Garrett Maroon (: 04:43

Yeah. So man, so this whole idea and this is, you know, really kind of the foundation of the book, not to jump into that right away, but you know, it was, so I've been in for 11 years and was doing really well as a young agent had sold 50 homes, my, my second full year in the industry, all by referral. And so I kind of just did what I was supposed to do. Right. I didn't know any better. just started building a team. That was what I was supposed to do because you're young and you're doing really well. Right. So it all, you know, fast forward to about 2019, I'm sitting in my backyard.

I have four agents. I've got three full-time admin. We're selling a bunch of homes by referral. And it was great. But I remember getting to this point and saying, well, I can double my, my profit next year. Like I had this idea of how I could double my profit, but I'm going to have to work like 50, 60 hours a week. And it was this moment for me, Matt, of clarity that I really believe the Lord gave me, but clarity where I stopped and I just asked myself this question, Garrett, in five years from now, if you were looking back on the same man today,

and you had the choice, right? Who would you choose? Would you choose to be the guy that worked extra to make more money or would you choose to be the guy that figured out a way to make as much money as you're making now and actually work a lot less so you can be more present with your family? And that gave me a lot of clarity. Well, then I'm walking up to my office, which is where I am now. I'm walking up to my office and I'm like, if that's true, like I got into this industry for my wife and my kids, right? To provide a better life for them, to be more present with them, which is what most people would say.

Well, if that's what I really want, then like, what am I even doing? Why did I bring on more agents? Right? Why did I have three full time admin? Why was I working all of these hours anyways? And I realized that I come into my office, I'm looking at it, right? Here's my whiteboard, which is behind me now. And on the whiteboard is exactly what we said. All I was measuring was number of transactions, GCI and volume. Right? That was all I was looking at. And so I started to realize for me, Matt, that I had fallen

pray for lack of a better word to the industry's definition of success, right? The way that they keep score when you meet a real estate agent, it's like, great, you know, how many deals did you do last year? Right? Or, you know, at realtor problem at the end of the year, when you have your award ceremony, you know, who got an award? What was your ranking? How big is your team? All those things. And I realized that I wasn't keeping score the way I wanted to. Right? I don't know that I would have said I was failing as a dad or husband, but I wasn't measuring what I actually cared about.

And so for me now, I shifted it where, yes, I have a profit goal, don't get me wrong, but I also have three goals. Number two is a wife goal and number three is a family goal. So the wife goal is that we have one day, date a month and one date per month at night. And then the family goal is I take every seventh week off so I can just be present with my family. Right. So now every decision that I make gets filtered through that. Right. So I had an opportunity to speak and it was going to be this really cool event.

And it happened to fall on one of those weeks that I was off. did it hit my profit goal? Sure. Could I still done those two days with my wife? Yeah. Was it right smack dab in the middle of the seventh week off? Yes, it was. So, Hey, I really appreciate your offer. I can't make it right. So it just gave me a new way to determine whether I was succeeding in the way that I wanted to. So that's the shift for me is being able to focus on how I define success, right? How do I redefine the win so that it makes sense for me in my life.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 08:03

⁓ like I'm fortunate to be in a lot of conversations where I often hear, Matt, thank you, you really inspired me today. I'm not getting inspired as often as I used to, but bro, that is inspiring, man. Like, you know, they say what you track and measure grows, right? We hear that all the time in business. And I don't track and measure that like intentionally. I mean, I'm intentional about trying to carve out those one-on-one times with the kids or the date nights or the time away. It's not up in visual though. You know, it's on my calendar, but

Garrett Maroon (: 08:15

Thank you.

Yeah. Sure.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 08:32

Man, I love that idea of like, what are you measuring? Right? I love it, bro. That's inspiring. And you've definitely touched on this idea. And we talk about this on the show a lot is presence is not proximity does not mean you're present. Big difference, right? And we got to work on the difference between what can we do to step away confidently in our business, live with the results because we're, drawing the line right at some point. Like you said, I said no to the speaking opportunity. I don't know that most of us would have the discipline or resolve to do that.

Garrett Maroon (: 08:35

Yeah.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 09:00

to stick to the priority. man, I honor you for that. That's beautiful.

Garrett Maroon (: 09:03

Yeah,

thank you brother. Yeah. And I'll say this. Here was the challenge for me, right? Is the, you know, in the normal real estate world, right? Traditional brokerage, which most people are in, it's, if you don't keep producing, the brokerage goes out of business. And so we've been taught that there's one way to succeed, right? You got to do all of these different forms of Legion and blah, blah. And then there's only one measurement that matters, right? How many deals are you closing? And

You know, I'll share this. really hit home with me, Matt. was a couple of years ago. I was teaching kind of this concept of the scoreboard. I was kind of playing around with it. And, ⁓ and it's a pretty large room, a bunch of high producers in the room. A woman comes up after, after the talk to me, Matt and says, Garrett, you know, introduce yourself. I'm a, I'm a mom and I'm a solo agent. Last year I did 50 transactions. My best year ever, which is awesome. And she said, and everybody's been asking me, what am going to do this year? So I tell them 60 or 70 because we're supposed to keep growing.

I said, it's great. know, whatever. She said, no, but after hearing your talk, I'm going to intentionally sell 30 homes and it's going to change my life. like, well, tell me, what does that, what do you mean by that? She said, Garrett, I got into this industry because I wanted to pick up my daughter from school. And guess what I've never done because I've been so busy selling houses. I've never picked up my daughter from school. So I'm going to intentionally aim for 30 because what I really want is to show up for my daughter. And I'm going to do that right now. I wish that day, Matt, I had gotten her phone number or some way to say, I honestly don't know who she is.

And so she ever hears this, I hope that you've actually lived that out. But the point is most agents get into the, and you know this better than me. Most agents get into this and say, I want time freedom. want money freedom. I want family freedom, whatever they're looking for. And they think the real estate industry is their way out. I think it actually becomes the wall that's in the way. And we need to figure out like, okay, I can't let them tell me what winning is. I need to figure that out. Right? If you're a

stay at home mom because your priorities are to homeschool your kids and you know, you know, take care of the, the, your, your husband, take care of whatever your, your goals are. And that means all you have time left for is five deals. That's a good thing, right? It's a good thing that your feet are where they, where you want them to be. That's an amazing thing that you're doing. And I'm proud of you and you should be celebrated. The industry just happens to celebrate. If you do a thousand deals, doesn't matter if you missed every family dinner or not. Congratulations. You won. ⁓ and we just got to shift that.

Right? And I think most agents want to shift that we just don't know how.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 11:24

You know, it's interesting. Now I can talk to you for hours. I'm just thinking all the questions I want to ask you. You just said most agents want that. One thing I've realized is what will do these webinar opportunities or a workshop in the office and it's a chance to come really dig in to get some handles and tools around how to find that harmony between work and life and the registrations are always high, but the show up is always lower. The ratio from registration to people showing up is so much smaller than

like a listing presentation topic, for example, it shows the desire. People are aware they want this in their life. They want to make strides, but it doesn't seem important enough to prioritize it over maybe the buyer opportunity they think they have that day. But they would show up to perfect their listing presentation, right? It's interesting what we prioritize.

Garrett Maroon (: 11:56

Yes.

Hmm.

Yeah,

that's interesting. know, to the agent that's listening that is struggling to make ends meet, I get it, right? You know, having the conversation to say, well, how do you balance your life? They're like, I just need money. And I respect that. Go hustle and figure that out. Right. All I'm saying is, right, we tend to

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 12:21

Totally.

Garrett Maroon (: 12:31

that's really interesting data that you have, because we tend to say, well, this is just a season of striving for me. And when I get to the end of that, I'm going to relax a little bit. Well, no, we don't. If we're honest with ourselves, like at the end of that season of striving, we just keep striving because we learned that that's all that we ever do. If we actually were disciplined enough to say, yeah, go hustle. But then remember once you're done with that season to reset yourself on the scoreboard and what actually matters to you. Right. So.

Mad respect if you're, I've got a buddy of mine who's in the two 10 collective with us, Matt at EXP. And he is working his butt off because his business is not where he wants it to be right now. He's trying to make ends meet. And we literally spoke yesterday and I was like, brother, I'm really proud of you. You're working 18 hour days because you're doing what it takes to provide for your family. Praise God for that endurance. Right. And your obedience in that. And then once he gets to the other side of that, that's where we need to say, great, you hustled your way here.

I don't want you to stop hustling, but I want you to do it in a set hours, right? So that you can show up and hustle in the things that matter, which is inside your family or as a dad or whatever. know, mad respect to those people, but know that at the end of the season of striving, you got to actually learn to stop and reset, or we just keep on going.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 13:45

I think for the community, the One Life community, you hear us talk about this harmony between work and life, but don't ever hear that as a excuse or a cop-out to, you know, there are seasons of life you got to grind, right? The question is, is it defined the rhythm and routine of your life, right? Seasons are different than the definition of my overall rhythm and routine. And I'm glad you elaborated on that, Gary, because I think a lot of people need to be reminded of that. Question for you about, you know, so you've been doing this for 10 or 11 years.

Garrett Maroon (: 14:10

Yeah, it's good.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 14:15

I'm sure the reason you got into the business has shifted from what you see is kind of the purpose now. So from when you got into the business to now, like at what point did you start to see that change and really start to see your business as a ministry?

Garrett Maroon (: 14:30

Good question. mean definitely there's been, you know, so I will say from a new agent, I had no idea. You know, it took me five and a half months to make a sale. I had no idea if I was good at it or not. It took me probably two years to even realize like maybe I am an entrepreneur, you know, and so there's been a lot of changes and shifts and for a long time it was just survival even though I was selling 50 homes a year like it just felt like survival and

on my faith. So in October of: 2022

last three months really of that year, Matt, for me was just, you know, for me as a Christian, I was reading Ecclesiastes a lot and it's King Solomon, the wealthiest person who's ever lived, the, you know, the wisest person who's ever lived, had all the things and basically he's like, but it was all meaningless, right? At the end of the day, all of that was meaningless. And so it doesn't mean relationships aren't meaningless, you know, go read Ecclesiastes and you can see it. But for me, I just got stuck. like, what am I even doing?

You know, like, why am I doing this? Am I just like playing the game that everybody is playing? Am I, even though I had come up with this idea of the scoreboard, I just felt like I was just doing what everybody else around me was doing because that's what I was supposed to do. And so it really forced me into a position where I just started asking the Lord right through prayer, who do you want me to serve? Like, I just kept asking that question, who do you want me to serve? And for me, it became really clear Christian agents, right? Like that's who I am already. Why am I not?

n, it's been a journey. So in: 2023

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 16:38

So let's kind of double click on the local business, the 210 Realty Group specifically, which sounds like it's really kind of fleshed out over the last couple of years. So what's unique about how you're building that business locally and how you practically integrate the faith into the team, the culture, and the way that you even grow the team?

Garrett Maroon (: 16:42

Hmm? Hmm?

Yeah, good question. So yeah, it's a biblically based referral team. So for us, it's not that we wouldn't have, certainly we'll work with anybody, right? And, you know, we can have conversations about that and our thought process there, but it's really, we're going to try to attract to the Christian agent to serve them. If you are not a Christian agent, that's okay. You're just going to know that we're going to pray. We're going to talk about scripture in our meetings, right? And everything comes from that foundation. And so

The difference has been from the team that I was running to even now is leading with that. Number one, I think it makes us that much more accountable to the world around us, right? Which I actually is scary sometimes, but I appreciate, hey, you guys are the guys leading this Christian team. Like you gotta act like it. You gotta operate in this way, which I appreciate that. But from an actual strategic standpoint for our team meetings, for example, so we always talk about, we wanna push forward your body, mind and spirit.

Right. And so we're talking about how do we take care of our bodies because that honors the Lord. And so everything's going to filter through that, right. The spirit, we're going to actually go through scripture together every time we have a team meeting. Certainly we're going to pray together. We're going to, we're going to pray for one another. ⁓ right. When we, when I do team coaching, it's praying with everybody. And then it's bringing in scripture as a way to represent how we need to focus in our business. Right. You know, so for example, with agents.

So when we talk about, you know, this last week, as I was coaching our team, one of the agents said, I just struggle with staying disciplined, right? And doing that. And instead of saying, well, you just got to get out there. You just got to do it. Right. I was able to share with her, Hey, this is a spiritual issue, right? It's a spiritual issue. A lack of self-control was actually a fruit of the spirit. so instead of me just saying, go discipline yourself.

It's, let's get back to the Word and let's see what it says about self-control. Let's see what it says about discipline and let's go to the Lord to say, hey, make me more like Christ because that's the outcome is that I will be more self-controlled, which will play out in my business, right? So it's bringing back the truth that everything starts and ends with the Lord and starts and ends with Scripture. And so that's a big difference. And then from an outward perspective for us, we're not out there.

being crazy and saying, you know, this is everything about Jesus. And if you disagree with us, you're wrong. And blah, blah. Like, I don't think that's appropriate or kind or loving to anyone. But when we show up, we want our clients to not be surprised when we pray for them, right? We want agents to not be surprised when, you know, we're having conversations with them and the code broke and it's, Hey, you know, I was, I'm doing a deal with an agent right now who was working on her anniversary and talking about how hard it was. couldn't, I was like, Hey, let's hang up. I'm going to tell my clients to hang on for a day.

because your family matters so much more. like, wow, I really appreciate that. Like, yeah, I'd love to send you a resource, send her an episode of the Christian Agent Podcast, right? And just say, we're doing a Christian Agent Mastermind, I'd love for you to come. I have no idea if she's a Christian not, but I'd love to help care for you in your business. She's not an EXP, I don't care. You know, so I think it's just the way that we approach ourselves. And quite honestly, Matt, labeling ourselves that way just holds us to the standard that we should be held to anyways. And so I would say that's really the biggest difference from an outward perspective.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 20:03

me how your team, your partners, your referral partners are actually on your direct team or just your clients. Like how do they respond to this? Do you have much pushback? I'm interested.

Garrett Maroon (: 20:15

Yeah, so thankfully no, know, so I'll say this. So, most of the time, no, when we shifted it to two 10 realty group and made it really clear that we're a Bill Klee based real estate team. had a client who messaged me past client who done a couple of deals with them. And she just said, I just, I'm sorry, I can't be in your business anymore. Please stop sending me anything. Please stop asking me if you know anybody thinking about buying or selling whatever just doesn't like that. We're believers. That's fine.

Right. Like that's okay. It's unfortunate. I don't want that to happen, but that's okay. I would say for most people, they most of the time just don't say anything about it. For the ones that really appreciate it. They're like, I'm just really grateful that you guys would just be honest and come right out and say it right. Because that's what we're looking for. And it's not a marketing tactic. Don't hear me say that, but it is effective because we're being really honest. Like this is who we are. And so if that's what you're looking for, it's us. If that's not what you're looking for, please don't come here.

So I would say broadly speaking, Matt, we've had a really good feedback. And then for the agents that we work with, they're not surprised. Most of them don't care who we are, what we do, you know, right? But for the agents that really understand what we're doing, they're not surprised. We're like, Hey, can I just pray for you? And they're like, what? You know, we're just doing a deal together. I'd love to pray for it. Right. Or our clients did a walkthrough yesterday and I was just in there. I was like, can I just pray for you guys? You have a baby coming. I'd love to just pray for you. ⁓ right. And they're like, ⁓ please.

you some people don't even know what that means but they appreciate it so broadly speaking mad i would say people really appreciate just our authenticity in that and our willingness to just lift them up

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 21:47

Yeah, I imagine so. And for those listening to this show, like this is all about one life. And of course, Garrett and I are very passionate about our faith. We're rooted in our relationship with the Lord. But if that's not you, the purpose of one life, like maximize capacity, what is it that you are passionate about? What is it that makes your heart sing? And Garrett's an example of aligning what makes your heart sing and that mission and greater purpose out through your business instead of trying to live these multiple lives. we've all heard, right, your vibe will attract your tribe.

Garrett Maroon (: 22:04

Mm-hmm.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 22:17

and you're just doing it in a faith-based way, which I love, I resonate with, but I think a lot of people could take this lesson and it could look a lot of different ways into your business.

Garrett Maroon (: 22:26

It's 100 % right. Yeah, it is about who are you wired to be, right? I think the industry gets it wrong in so many ways where it's this is who you need to be to succeed, right? It's like, that's not true. I think you need to figure out who you already are and go be excellent at that. That's what business is supposed to be. And so if what we're talking about doesn't fire you up, that's fine. Something does. Go build your business like that, right? I agree with you 100%. Each of you have something you're passionate about. We don't need to pretend anymore that we have to push that aside and be, you know,

whatever, nice suit and slick back hair, nice car, whatever. No, show up as who you are. And if anything, that's the easiest way to show up every day anyways, because you don't have to pretend to be who you aren't. And then just go be excellent at that because nobody can be you. And so why would we try to be somebody else that just doesn't make sense? So I'm with you. Whatever it is, figure out what it is and just be true to that. That's what the world needs. The real you, not the ideal you. Right? And I think we need the freedom to go live that out.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 23:21

Just to lean into that for a second, you know, we all struggle with imposter syndrome. I've used that term so many times, so many people in our industry use it, right? But the thing is, it's all down to authenticity. If I'm really trying to be somebody other than myself, well, no wonder I feel like an imposter. But how easy would it be to alleviate, eliminate imposter syndrome in our life if we truly just showed up as our authentic self, right? And there's a poem, you've probably heard it, but Mary Ann Williamson wrote a book. It's an excerpt from her book. love it. I call it a poem, but...

Garrett Maroon (: 23:44

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 23:52

If you ever heard the excerpt, it says, our deepest fear is not that we're inadequate, it's that we're powerful beyond measure. That poem, you ever heard that? I'm gonna send it to you, Gary. It's so inspiring. But basically it says, basically when you're living the life that God planned and purposed for you, not only is that most fulfilling for you, we unconsciously permit others around us to do the same, right? It gives them the permission to step into their authentic self, which is how we best serve the world, right? And honor the Lord and all the things, right? So you're living that out, bro. It's super inspiring. I'm so glad to have you share your story.

Garrett Maroon (: 23:57

Mm-mm. No. Yeah, please.

Hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 24:21

I want to move to the book. So you have a book coming out, The Balance Breakthrough. I'm excited about the book. I know I'll resonate with it big time. So let's talk about it for a minute. What inspired the book, first of all, and even the title?

Garrett Maroon (: 24:33

Man, well, I'd love to, well, the title, I'd love to say it was ⁓ through lots of prayer and some amazing moment. It was my editors and my publishers who it was originally gonna be called the Common Agent Scoreboard. That was the working title. And I'm on with the publishers, Matt, and they're like, ⁓ Garrett, we're talking about a bunch of stuff. They're like, can we just be honest? like, yeah, we're like, this is a really terrible name. I'm like, is it? They're like, yeah, nobody's gonna buy this. So like.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 25:00

I like it.

Garrett Maroon (: 25:00

Yeah, they're

like, we need a better name. I'm like, all right. So they just started asking me questions and like through the conversation that came out and I was like, you're right. That's way, that's way better. So that's how the name came about is my publishers, like no one's going to buy this. So that shifted, but man, really it, the content of the book was, know, I, this is just my life, right? And so, you know, I've never lived anybody else's life. No one's going to live anybody else's life. But as I've gone around and taught more and coach more, I realized that

⁓ in the Lord's mercy, my experience in real estate has been so unique compared to a lot of agents in terms of, you know, decently protecting my time and my family and all of those things, right? Like I've been out of production essentially for two and a half years with just one agent and that's just unique. And it's just what I do. So it's not that, you know, it's not that unique to me. And so I just started thinking about like, okay, what were those thought processes that helped me realize there's a different way, the way that I actually want to build this business and the scoreboard idea and all of these different pieces.

And it just came from, I love this. This is such a blessing to me. I have to help other people do the same thing. Because when I look around the industry, like the heart behind this book is I've seen too many people celebrate it on stage. And I know that their marriage is falling apart, right? Cause they're an agent friend that I know, or I know that they were the number one agent this year and they're winning the award, but they're actually not making money because they're spending so much money on ego and vanity. Right? And so like that just can't be the way that this works.

And so I think we just kind of, mentioned this earlier, Matt, I think the industry in some way just needs permission to say, it's okay if you don't sell 80 homes a year and you intentionally sell 15 because you want to be where you want to be. And that's good. And that's right. And that you don't have to always keep going bigger and bigger, blah, blah, blah. So I just want to give our industry permission to say, this is how you keep score. Right. And it's on your own terms. We're redefining the win.

And then in the book, goes into now, once you've redefined the win, how do you actually achieve that win? So it's a really simple way to create a predictable, profitable lead generation structure that aligns with who you are. Right? So how do we win in the way we want to win? How do we do it in the way that already aligns with who we are? And my hope is that the industry is better and actually produces agents that sell a bunch more homes. But also Matt, like the woman who didn't pick up her daughter from school and actually produces a lot more.

It produces better moms and dads more than it does better agents. That's my hope and I kind of looked around and said, I don't know, I feel like I need to get this out and hopefully it serves this industry.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 27:34

like it's no wonder we've connected quickly you know so well because we did I I could finish your sentences man I'm like I'm so passionate about what you're saying like alignment means everything right so I think this is a long time friendship to come and I'm just so stoked that you're you're in my life and yeah no it's awesome dude and guys for the listener like what he's talking about his life by design you got you became an entrepreneur

Garrett Maroon (: 27:42

That's awesome.

Yeah, it's awesome. I'm I'm glad I wrote the book before you then, because at least I get the credit. Yeah.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 28:03

Like Garrett said, for a different reason, and most of us are probably not living out the life that we envision when we got our real estate license or started our business, right? But that's exactly what we can create in this world, but you cannot copycat the person next to you. Garrett, I'll share something with you. was so encouraged. A couple years ago, I was having a pity party with my real estate coach, and he coached some extraordinary people across the country. And truthfully, I was probably comparing myself to them, right?

He just stopped me in my tracks. said, Matt, he said, I think you are comparing yourself to probably a lot of other people I coach. And I'm like, yeah, man, I probably am to be honest with you. He said, listen, bro, he goes, of course, I'm not giving you names or details. He goes, but I'm telling you, if you could see behind the curtain of all of their lives, you wouldn't change yours in a heartbeat for one of them. know, know, thriving marriage, my kids talk to me and my kids love me. Like there's a quote I have up in visual for years in my office and you'll love this, Garrett. It's exactly what you just described. But it said no other success can compensate for failure in the

You know, but when you're looking at the highlight reel or what he's doing or what she's doing, just remember guys, we don't have the whole story. You know, usually the one with the highest sales probably doesn't have the other end of it. And the one with that has all the unbelievable highlight reel on Facebook of vacations and family memories. Well, they might not be profitable either in their business. So structure the life how you want it, right? And Garrett is just unpacking that very clearly for you. So get the book.

Garrett Maroon (: 29:20

Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

yeah, well, thank you. ⁓ It'll be out hopefully for pre-sale soon. I think it's going to launch in November is kind of the timeframe, but yeah, to piggyback on that brother, mean, it is the reality of when we look around us, The challenge of looking and saying, I'm going to, the industry says, look around you and decide who won, right? How many deals did you do? It's literally that this is how we keep score. And so we got to shift it, but we also have to recognize that none of us knows what our potential is.

Right? All of us know that we haven't maxed it out, but none of us know what it actually is. I don't know if my potential sell a hundred homes or a thousand or 50. I have no idea. Right? And nobody actually knows, right? Cause we're not stamped with this is how much you could do. The reality is, right? It'd be like comparing me to, you know, my best buddy, Tyler, who became a professional baseball player, six, two, really good shapes work super hard, right? Just naturally really gifted. I was a good baseball player, but I'm five, six and three quarters. You got to mark that.

⁓ and in a little bit overweight his donuts are really delicious and so like even if right as right exactly ⁓ thank you that is very kind of use my backup so that's like my claim to fame he backed me up in high school and he gave a pro athlete but you know what i probably was not going to go do that that's not what i was made for right like if you know ⁓ if you buy a lamborghini and you're like i'm doing this to go fast and then you go by a nine passenger van and you're like why is this not going fast but that's not what it was made for

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 30:22

Well, and at 5'6", you're not stretched out as, as, you.

Garrett Maroon (: 30:47

So too often we're looking around us and saying, well, I must be made for that because they're doing it. So that must be me too. That's totally untrue. Every single person is different and unique and you might be made for 30 houses. And when you sell 28, you had a really good year. And the other person might be made for 130 and they did 28 and they had a terrible year because they weren't working hard enough because their potential was different. None of that matters.

What needs to be measured is looking around and saying at the end of my life, what's going to be left? None of the houses that I sell are going to exist, right? At the end of the world, everything is going to literally crumble down. They're going to look at your headstone 200 years from now, not to be morbid, and they're going to see a date dash another date and that's it. And they probably won't know anything about your life. I don't say that to be morbid. I say what matters while you're here? What matters along the way? It's not about how many homes you sell and all the other things.

That matters, be as excellent as you can be. We want to do that. What matters is exactly what you said, Matt, the people in your life that matter, what do they think? Right? Your husband or your wife who's sitting there waiting and wishing you would just come home and not get on the phone all the time. What did they desire? Is it more home sales? Probably not. Right? What if I worked 15 hours less per week or I worked 15 hours more and made more money? What would you want? And I, I

I you, your kids would say, I just want you. Right? So we've got to actually pay attention to what matters. The industry makes money when they get us focused in one direction. We need to choose which direction to focus on. And that's hard, but stop looking around exactly what you said and say, well, I should have been a pro baseball player. No, I shouldn't. That's not how I was made. And guess what? That's okay. Who am I? What am I capable of? It wasn't as much as him. And that's fine. I'm going to just try to do what I can do.

Isn't that really what is enough? So we've got to pay attention there. And that's hard, man. It's hard for me too. But we've got to pay attention there and keep our feet right where they are.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 32:50

So good, dude. You know, the Bible says that we're fearfully, wonderfully made, right? You know, everybody listening to this show, you were created on purpose and for a purpose. And if you want to have your greatest life, the greatest fulfillment, the greatest impact, the greatest legacy, it's not going to be trying to walk in somebody else's shadow or footsteps, right? ⁓ There's a verse I sent to friend this morning to encourage him, Garrett, and you'll love this, but you know, it's from Ephesians, but now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask, think according to the power at work within us.

but that's not gonna happen if we're walking outside of the plan of purpose that God created us for, right? So I love it, man.

Garrett Maroon (: 33:25

You're right. That's a hundred percent right. Yeah. It's funny. I'll tell this

super quick, Matt. So I always joke, like if I'm speaking and I'll joke and using that example and I'll say, here's a, have a picture of my mother-in-law who's like five, three, and they're good friends from when she, from Northern Virginia, where my wife grew up who's six, 10 and his son is seven, one. So we're going and visiting the dad, right? And we're visiting dad. My wife and I are visiting him. I'm five, six. He's six, 10. I mean, we're not even the same race, right? Like there's no way we're both humans and

He takes me into his office, Matt, because he's a huge sports collector and he's got all these amazing collectibles and he's like, look around all this awesome stuff. Well, that's not what I remember. What I remember, Matt, is he works at a standing desk and I could literally walk just back and forth right under it without ducking. It was so tall. could just, I'm like, this makes me feel not mainly at all. But the reality is like, that's okay. That's not me. Can he dunk a basketball? I probably, he probably can.

I will never be able to do that. And is that not okay? But we spend so much time concerned about, why am I not 6'10"? Why can't I do these things? Maybe you just can't. Is that not okay? And when we accept that, and we say, what can I do with what I have? That's really what life is about. And I know that I can show up well for my kids. I know that I can show up well for my wife. The market doesn't dictate that, right? And then, you know, I talk about the hierarchy of attention. And so for me, like we...

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 34:46

Right, right.

Garrett Maroon (: 34:52

Most real estate agents like I can give everything to everybody all the time, right? Don't worry, I'll be present with you and then I'll answer the phone. I'll jump right back in. That's not how this works. The hierarchy of attention, right? Actually labeling out who should get the best of my attention. So for me, that's the Lord, that's my wife, that's my kids, and then that's my work. Right? And we've got to have that and understand and then ask ourselves the question, man, how am I doing with my wife? And maybe I'm like a six out of 10. I'm not saying time because I'm going to spend more time at work typically than I am with my kids. And I get that.

What I'm saying is the quality of my attention, right? If I'm a six out 10 with my wife, just say, man, what can I do this week to be a seven? You know, I need to schedule a date for next week, right? I haven't done that. Whatever it is, what's the hierarchy of attention? You all feel it. We just don't operate in that space. So we've got to understand what can we do with what we have? And I think when we look at it that way, maybe we give ourselves a little bit more grace, right? Which is really hard to do.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 35:44

So good, So good. Man, I'm looking at the time and there's so many questions I had that I want to talk with you, but you're doing a lot of cool stuff. So we're going to put a lot of this in the show notes for those listening. It'll be, I mean, you've got the 210 Collective that's more on a national level, right? You got the Faithful Agent podcast. You have Serving Not Selling. I mean, there's so many cool things you're doing, bro. So I want to get all that in the show notes. But if I was going to lean into one of those with the time that we have left, I do want to talk about Fatherhood and Family.

Garrett Maroon (: 36:07

Yeah, thank you.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 36:14

But talk about the Christian Agent podcast just briefly, you know, what inspired it and I'm curious, do you have a favorite episode or favorite guest conversation that you love to just kind of go to?

Garrett Maroon (: 36:22

Yeah.

n a blessing. started that in: 2021

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 36:26

I'll keep that up, bro. That was literally the softball for you.

Garrett Maroon (: 36:50

For a long time you're like, I have no idea who cares and is anybody listening, right? ⁓ I will occasionally feel like I'm just gonna quit right? I've been doing it every single week 250 episodes a lot and I've had those times where someone just reaches out randomly It's like hey, I just want you to know I listened to your show and it really was impactful for me this morning Literally Matt. I know you didn't you didn't know this you weren't doing this up But I just was meeting with someone about two hours earlier today and they said hey, I just listened to that episode with Matt

And the idea of blurring the lines that they're not all separate has made a really big impact on me legitimately, right? It's good buddy of mine, Jason. And I'm like, Hey, I didn't even know you listened to the show. Thanks for telling me, right? Leave it, go, go leave a review. ⁓ and so it's been a blessing to just do that and be in that space. and so, man, I'm so thankful for that. It turned into the Christian agent podcast because for me again, it was like, I went looking for that. So exactly what you talked about early, the authenticity.

of there are shows that, whatever, here's how to go sell more houses. Those are awesome. I don't need to be another one of those. And when I went around, I started looking for where's the Christian agent conference. That's how it started. And I was like, wait, this don't exist. And then where's the Christian agent podcast? Wait, that doesn't exist. Like someone needs to talk to those people. And so was, all right, no one's doing it. So I guess I just will. And so that's where it came out of. So again, to your audience, like you are unique.

That's amazing. Go celebrate whatever that uniqueness is. And I guarantee you there are more people waiting for you to stand up and just be honest about who you are because that's how they are too. And they're like, man, I wish someone would just tell me that that's them because then I'll connect with them. Right. Because that's what I'm looking for. And so, man, it's just been a blessing. And all the conversations, you know, have been amazing and just encouraging. And I learn along the way, like, if anything, I'm connecting with amazing people like you, Matt. I mean, how else were we connected?

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 38:19

Mm-hmm.

Garrett Maroon (: 38:38

and so that's been the my favorite part honestly is meeting these incredible people literally all over the world who are agents and christians and that's a cool thing so it's been a it's been an amazing ride it really has

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 38:49

You know what,

like, and be bold, you know, because I think the way we connected, Garrett, if I remember is I had an announcement video about joining the brokerage, right? And I'm pretty bold about my faith and my process of making that decision was very much, you know, rooted in prayer. I think that's how we, don't know, is that how we connected? Do you see that?

Garrett Maroon (: 39:06

Yeah, yeah,

I saw it. And so just clicked on your profile and was like, I think this guy loves Jesus. So I was like, I should message him. Yeah, yeah, right. That's exactly right. You're right. You made that clear. And so it's great. Now I can connect with you. 100%. Yes. Right. 100%.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 39:11

Yeah, we gotta meet, right?

but your world will open up if you would just be your authentic self. Right? I love it. So,

all right. So man, we got a few minutes left. I did want to lean into family. So ⁓ if we could maybe just make it short for our listeners, Garrett, what has been, how has being a father, obviously you got four under the age of eight, one on the way. Dang bro, like you're in it. But that it's awesome. But how has that shaped your leadership? How has that influenced ⁓

Garrett Maroon (: 39:40

You

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 39:46

The way you look at life, way you look at business.

Garrett Maroon (: 39:49

Gosh, that's a good question. Man, I mean, honestly, so many things I would say. First thing as a parent is I realize how often I say things and don't live that out, man. So I am convicted all the time of, Hey, you know, we can't operate like this kiddos. We've got to be honest. And, but I'm like, wait a minute, what am I doing? Where are they learning this from even? Right. And so that part of the conviction of that is huge. And then I think it's really forced me to say,

Where do I really care about developing? Anybody on my team, anybody in my world, like I care about you, don't get me wrong. But I am specifically, biblically called to grow and raise these children to know and love Christ. Like that's my biblical command. And so how do I do that? And as a leader, there are so many times, leader of my home, there are so many times, like don't want to do family worship. I don't want to open the Bible again at dinner. I'm tired or...

you know, whatever, I don't want to pour into my kids anymore, I'm exhausted, I don't want to come play with your Legos, whatever. And man, there are, again, let me admit, there are so many times where I just don't, and I'm like, man, I'm just being selfish, right? But there are, the grace of God, sometimes where I'm like, but this is what mattered, this is what I've made a commitment to do, and what's gonna matter long-term, it's this. And so,

mean, having kids has shifted the way that I think about my work, the way that I think about leadership, the way that I think about my business, right? Even in the sense of, I don't want to do this for 60 hours. I could, I don't want to, I want to go home. I'm not willing to lose the little years, right? Like this is the busiest season probably of my life as a parent. I assume so. If it gets busier, please don't tell me. I can't imagine, ⁓ right? it's the right writings. Well, true.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 41:30

Well, you might want to stop at five if you want that.

Garrett Maroon (: 41:33

But it's busy, it's loud, there's all the things, right? But yet, being present and learning to say, don't just wish it away, this is part of the process, right? It's just like being in real estate, just like owning a business. Part of the process is how hard it is. And there's gonna be really good moments along the way. Most of the time, it's just hard, stick with it, right? As a dad, you don't have a choice. I'm always a dad. And so in business, if I just say, I'm always this, I'm just gonna keep doing this, and I'll figure it out along the way.

man, at the end of the day, it's just giving yourself grace, knowing that like, man, I'm going to do the best that I can with what I have, which we shared earlier. And most of the time it's not going to be my best. And I hate that that's true, but it is. And so just going to try to be good the next time. Right. ⁓ so man, there's so many things I've learned as a dad, but I want my kids to look and see that work is the thing that blesses our family. Not that keeps daddy away from them. And so I've had to learn even instead of saying, sorry, daddy's going to work. Just say, Hey, daddy's going to work.

because this is how I provide for our family and it's good and I can't wait to be home. Right, so you know, things like that that have really helped me just kind of shape the way my kids think about work. I hope, you know, they're eight and under so I don't know that you can ask them yet. Yeah, yeah, but they're watching.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 42:42

Yeah. bro, they're watching, man. They're not what you said.

It's not what you say. It's what you do. They're watching. And I love what you just said about like, hey, work is a blessing. It's a good thing. If God God loves it, he loves beautiful hard work. I don't want to go down a rabbit hole. But one thing I'm really passionate about is guys as an entrepreneur, give your kids, give your family a bigger story. So if dad or mom is not home for dinner tonight, right? Hopefully you're home for dinner most nights.

Garrett Maroon (: 42:55

soon.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 43:10

but they know it's because you're on mission as a family. They're in it. They know you're building a bigger life and a bigger story with purpose and impact and meaning. Garrett, if they're watching you and they're listening to the podcast, they know how you're running your sales meetings. Your kids are going to know that you're on mission and they're part of that, right? When they don't see dad maybe for, you know, that Saturday afternoon, because you go do something, it's not just because, dad's working and he cares about work more than us. No, he's pouring into somebody else that needs to be inspired and challenged and

you know, pulled forward to the season in their life. Like our kids are watching this stuff guys like they really really are. They're way smarter than we think.

Garrett Maroon (: 43:43

It's true. And I think when

they get old enough, Matt, and I'll super quick, but one thing that I didn't do as a husband for a couple of years in my business is I never stopped to ask my wife, what do you want me to do? I always thought it was sell more houses, make more money. And it was like three years in where I finally just said, hey, I've never asked you, but would you prefer me to be home more even if I don't sell as many homes? She was like, absolutely. It was like, wow, I just assumed you wanted me to do more. I could just never have that conversation.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 44:08

Yeah.

Garrett Maroon (: 44:12

As my kids get older, I want to do the same thing. Right? And always let them know you're part of this. This is what daddy does and it's a blessing, but you're part of this because I'm here to honor you. And so, you know, as an encouragement, you know, it took me a while to learn that.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 44:27

Love it, man. All right, we're gonna round third here. One quick question and then a final thought from you. The question is, what's one scripture that fuels your vision? Sorry, I just put you on the spot, but is there one that just stands out to you?

Garrett Maroon (: 44:36

Gosh,

man, it fuels my vision. Golly. I mean, I think in Proverbs and now because I'm on the spot, I won't remember exactly where. So forgive me for that. I can look it up later. unless the Lord builds the house, the laborer labors in vain. I'm in control of the input. He's the Lord of the output. And I have to remember that every single day. Be excellent in what I do. I don't control the outcome. And so I should be thankful for whatever it is.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 44:51

Mm, yeah.

Proverbs also says, prepare the horse for battle, but he brings the victory, right? So good, dude. Last thing I want, and I'm actually, I'm gonna put you on the spot after this question, ask you to actually pray over our audience, if you would, as we kind of close out the show. But my final question for you, if you could leave a final thought, so understanding what one life is all about, this purpose or, sorry, this desire to have harmony between work and life, and ultimately, I believe that's found in trying to blur the lines, living out the faith, meaning,

Garrett Maroon (: 45:07

Yeah, amen.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 45:31

purpose, family, marriage, all throughout the business. It's just one collision of these worlds. And from my perspective, Garrett, you're doing that at a very, very high level. I know we're always striving to perfect that, of course, but what would you say is a final word of encouragement for our audience?

Garrett Maroon (: 45:48

Man, truthfully, what I would say is it takes a lot of dying to self. And that's not what most of us want to hear. But as a Christian, I know that I can follow the example of Jesus who came to earth to die on my behalf because I was doing things wrong and sinfully. And yet He did it anyways, right, with the joy that was set before Him and overcame death and rose again so that we could be saved. And so as a man, as a husband,

My responsibility is to follow in His footsteps to the best of my ability, right? Which just means putting my own wants and desires and self to death as often as possible. We live in a world that's like, what about taking care of you and all this? And I'm not saying this, I'm going to play pickleball today, right? Those are good things. That's okay. But what I am saying is, man, it's not about you and it never is. And until we know there's something greater, which for us is our faith and honoring the Lord, then how do I put that aside? Right? So, man, that would be my encouragement. How do we blur those lines? How do we do those things together?

recognize there's something so much greater that we should be pointing to and it's not you and it's not me and that'd be my encouragement.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 46:52

Thanks, Gary. Dude, such an honor to have you on the show, bro. A blessing. So thanks for being here. ⁓ So yeah, thanks for being here. The show notes, guys, we'll have his book. We'll have information. We'll even update it when the book comes out with some links, but also how to plug into his podcast, other ways to connect with him. You have an online community group. We'll put information on that for a lot of ways you can connect with Gary, guys. And just want to say, if you're listening to this, all that stuff, by the way, is on the one life podcast.com. The, don't forget the the one life podcast.com.

Garrett Maroon (: 46:57

100%.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 47:22

And we're grateful for you listening. If this inspired you in any way, if it encouraged you, just share it with a friend. Get the word out. We want to grow this community, not just to grow it, but to really encourage entrepreneurs who just want a different life by design, as Garrett talked about. just, they know they're not doing it the way that they intended when they got into the business, right? So share this, let's get the word out. We'd love to grow this one life community together.

The way we're going to close out man, Garrett, if you could pray over our listeners and our audience, bro, that would just be a blessing. And when you're done, we'll be finished.

Garrett Maroon (: 47:53

Awesome. Yeah, I'd be honored. Heavenly Father, thank You for just Your kindness and goodness to us that we live in a country and a world where we have space just to have conversations to encourage and ⁓ challenge and lift one another up. Lord, I pray for everyone listening who will listen today, tomorrow, a year from now, five years from now. It doesn't matter, Lord, that You would meet them right where they are. And that first and foremost, Father, if they feel any ⁓ gap in their life that maybe they would just stop for the first time.

or the first time in a long time, just say, who are you, God? Are you there? Are you real? And just ask you questions. Have a conversation with you, Lord. Allow you to reveal yourself to them. I just pray that first and foremost. And God, second of all, I just pray that as we go about this industry, as we seek to grow our business, to become more excellent in what we do, that we would never forget that the main purpose of being in this industry, the main purpose of being here

as humans in this world is to love those who we are specifically called and designed to love. Those people in our family, those people in our world, those the husbands, the wives, the kids, all of those, Lord, that's the legacy that will last. At the end of the day, the agents around us that look and define us and if you sell a lot of homes, you must have good character. If you don't sell a lot of homes, you must have terrible character. None of that is true. Lord, I just pray that you grant us the freedom to define the win the way that we're supposed to.

in the way that only we can, it's our life. Lord, I pray that we would honor you by just defining it in a way that brings you above all glory and praise. And Father, for those who don't know you, that it would bring honor to those around them, that they would say, this is not about me, it's never been about me. And if I'm not the number one agent, that's okay, because I want the people in my life to know I love them more than anything. Let us be people who show up well.

Father, I just thank you for the time that we had. pray you bless Matt and his ministry, bless the podcast and all the things that he's doing. Lord, receive the glory and praise for it and may more and more people continue to hear the truth and the good news because of him. And it's yours to say we pray, amen.

Matt Farnham | Las Vegas (: 49:57

Man, thanks bro. Appreciate you, All right, buddy.

Garrett Maroon (: 49:59

Absolutely.