Mortgage Broker Broadcast
Developing your knowledge to help you build a successful Mortgage Broker business. Craig Skelton shares his thoughts and experiences on all aspects of mortgage advice covering everything from operating in the banking world, estate agency based advisers all the way up to working as a self employed broker. He will be joined by experts from within the industry and other business sectors which all play a key part in becoming a successful mortgage broker in the modern world.
Mortgage Broker Broadcast
Mental Fitness: The Secret Weapon Every Mortgage Broker Needs
Maintaining mental resilience isn't just helpful for mortgage brokers—it's essential for survival in our ever-changing industry. The constant juggling of applications, client expectations, and market shifts creates a perfect storm for stress, but your response to these pressures remains entirely within your control.
This episode dives deep into practical mindset strategies that transform how you navigate professional challenges. We explore the profound difference between experiencing events and choosing your response to them—a distinction that puts you back in the driver's seat of your wellbeing. By focusing exclusively on what you can influence rather than external factors, you'll reclaim valuable mental energy and enhance your effectiveness.
Discover actionable techniques like setting micro-goals, practicing negative visualization, cognitive distancing, and "not suffering twice" by staying present instead of catastrophizing. Learn how to structure your workday with deliberate breaks, flexible scheduling, and strategic task management to prevent burnout while maximizing productivity. The episode also addresses rejection management—an unavoidable aspect of broker life—with approaches that help you depersonalize setbacks and extract valuable lessons without questioning your worth.
Beyond individual strategies, we examine how aligning your work with deeper values creates resilience against industry turbulence. When you view your role through the lens of helping families secure homes and providing trustworthy guidance, market fluctuations become less threatening to your sense of purpose. Combined with physical wellbeing practices and strong support networks, these mindset tools create a foundation for sustainable success.
Ready to transform how you experience the mortgage industry's challenges? Listen now, then share with a fellow broker who might benefit. Check out Broker Foundry and our YouTube channel for more resources, or explore Self-Employed Broker Pathways on my website if you're considering independent practice. What mindset shift will you implement today to enhance your resilience?
Looking for one to one mentoring, visit my website to see how it works craigskelton.co.uk
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Hi and welcome to this week's the Mortgage Broker broadcast. I'm your host, craig Skeleton, and over the past few weeks, in the last episodes, we've explored long-term goal setting and we've also looked about how to embrace AI, and today I wanted to shift things a little bit and talk about something that is just as important. I want to talk about your mindset, and our industry is fast paced. You're having to spin so many plates, so staying calm, focused and resilient isn't easy or an option in our world, but it's absolutely essential. So why is stress normal and also optional too? Well, let me just start with this stress is a fact of life, but being stressed is actually a choice. People in the past, post eras, have faced wars, plagues, political upheavals, yet they believe that we had the power over our own minds, not the external events. So you cannot control rate changes or lenders underwriting decisions, but you can control how you respond to them, which is your own perceptions, not outside, and when you recognize the that stress comes from your own perceptions, not the actual event yourself, you take back control. Talking about control, we're going to talk about focus on what you can control. Another key thing that it's to separate from what is in our control from what isn't, and when you stop worrying about things you cannot influence, you free up time and energy for what you can as brokers. That means focusing on your own actions, preparing thoroughly, communicating clearly, nurturing relationships and letting go of outcomes that you cannot dictate. So how do you stay centred? Well, first thing you can do is micro goals and reflection. Break your year-end goals, which you should have, into weekly micro goals. Each small win builds confidence and momentum. At the end of each week, spend 10 minutes working on what worked and what didn't. Reflection turns experience into insight. There's also negative visualization. I've talked a little bit about this in the past. Imagine the worst case scenario an application falls through a client or, even worse, a client chooses another broker. By rehearsing how you're going to respond, you reduce anxiety when those challenges arise and they will.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about cognitive distancing. When stress creeps in, ask yourself what story am I telling myself about this situation? Is it the only possible story? This helps you separate your judgments from the actual event itself. Another big thing is do not suffer twice. And what do I mean by that? Well, we suffer more in our imagination than we do in reality. We often magnify future problems that may never happen, and when you catch yourself spiralling in this situation, you've got to acknowledge it and bring your attention back to the present.
Speaker 1:You also want to look at work-life balance and protecting your energy. Stress can derail productivity and can harm relationships too. So how do you regain balance? Well, you prioritise and plan, set manageable daily goals and be realistic about your workloads and deadlines. A clear to-do list helps you feel in control and lets you eliminate unessential tasks, divide large projects into smaller steps and reward yourself for each completion, even if it's just a five minute break or a walk to get a coffee. When big tasks go in your mind, chunking them down makes them less intimidating.
Speaker 1:And then let's look at flexibility. You are self-employed. Flexible schedules and flexible diaries are more productive, and a bit more flexibility can help you manage personal commitments without sacrificing business results too. And you also need to be taking deliberate breaks. Short breaks throughout the day help clear your head and improve decision making. Whether it's even a quick stretch away from your desk or walk, or a few deep breaths, give yourself permission step away from your your screen, step away from your desk, because that small pause reduce the risk of burnout and will improve your focus. When you return, when you get back to it, your focus will be so much better. You can also tune in for focus as well. Thinking about listening to your favourite music or your playlist can foster concentration. It can be distraction as well, depending on what you're doing, but your favourite music can foster concentration, reduce stress and stimulate creativity. So putting a playlist on while you're tackling admin tasks or planning marketing content can really work and can really help. Music can even help blow your blood pressure to not come out.
Speaker 1:And then let's look at communicating openly. When you feel, when you're feeling overwhelmed, be honest with yourself and your support network that's around you. You also need to communicate openly when you're feeling overwhelmed. You need to be honest with yourself and also the support network around you, because even doing that you could if you're working with other brokers and sort of have that relationship and you communicate with other brokers, you could come up with practical alternatives instead of just venting, because I know a lot of brokers do vent with each other, which is great and does help, but sometimes the outcome of that can be practical alternatives, which is great, and because you're looking at a situation from another person's perspective, which often diffuses the tension and taking a step back before you lose control can help to handle the conflict constructively later on.
Speaker 1:And give yourself grace. Give yourself a break. No one's perfect. Whatever they're portraying online or on social media. No one is perfect. So allow yourself to be human and do the best you can, recognising that there will be days when things don't go as planned, and that is okay. And at home, similar principles apply Unplug and set boundaries.
Speaker 1:Technologies make it easier to work anywhere, and home is one of those things, but being always on can burn you out. Unplug when your workday's over and create that personal time. You've got to learn to say no. Overscheduling yourself with professional and personal commitments only adds to the stress. Set boundaries and remember that you don't have to do everything. And build a support network. Stay connected with friends, family, other brokers people with stronger support systems have better health outcomes and quick chat can reset your perspective and I know this goes without saying.
Speaker 1:But stay active and take care of yourself. Regular exercise reduces stress, depression and anxiety and it boosts your immune system. So prioritising healthy eating, sleep and hydration, treating your body well, increases your resilience to stress. I'm not saying you have to run 10k a day or anything like that. Just get out there and just do some walking and just do some exercise. And just one thing to always remember that seek help when needed. If stress feels unmanageable, it's okay to talk to a professional. There's no shame in seeking support. It's a proactive step towards maintaining your well-being, and your well-being is the most important thing. So let's just quickly look at handling rejection and handling rejection with grace.
Speaker 1:Rejection is part of our job. A lender might decline a case, a prospect might choose another broker. Rejection often reflects another person's preferences and circumstances and not your value. So things you can do with that is recognizing subjectivity. Rejection usually isn't an objective assessment of your worth. You can reframe the experience, view rejection as an opportunity to find clients and partners as well that are better aligned with your values. And then you can list incompatibilities, like remind yourself what wasn't ideal about your situation and then, affirming your strengths, reflect on past successes and to reinforce a positive self-image. And it's always about extracting lessons, identifying any constructive feedback to help you grow. By depersonalizing rejection, you maintain momentum and avoid self-doubt.
Speaker 1:And then let's look at our industry. The financial service industry can be an absolute roller coaster when rates rise or leads slow down. Just remember you can control how you respond. Turn down the noise limit, doom scrolling and gossip, and focus on providing value for your clients and think about active life, which is about showing up, contribute to the common good and fight for what's right without succumbing to stress. When you align your work with your values like you're helping people secure homes and educating clients and being a trustworthy advisor you're more resilient to external turbulence. So that's it.
Speaker 1:That's this week's episode on resilience and mental wellbeing. I hope you find these tools helpful to help you stay centred and be calm as you navigate the challenges of being a mortgage broker. And just a quick reminder Broker Foundry if you'd like more support with mindset and business growth, have a look at the Broker Foundry, subscribe to our YouTube channel for new videos on the first of each month and if you are contemplating self-employment, then check out Self-Employed Broker Pathways on my website. It talks about three different routes that are tailored to your different stages of your career and emphasizes on trust, honesty, integrity too. So have a look on my website and see more details on there. And, as always, if you found this helpful, share it with a fellow broker, leave a review and subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Thanks for listening, thanks for watching. Take care of yourself and remember to run your own race.