As we head into the holiday season, now is a great time to reflect on your takeaways from 2025 and what steps you plan to take to improve your business in 2026.

One of the best strategies to become better at what you do is to look for mentors or successful people from both inside and outside the industry. For example, if there is a top-notch agent you admire, take him or her to lunch to discover how they became successful. Better yet, shadow that person for a day. Observe what they do that you could incorporate into your business to increase your success.

Don’t stop there, however. You can learn just as much by modeling the habits of people who are successful in other industries. If you haven’t tuned in to the TED Talks, now is a great time to take a look. Only the best-of-the-best make it on to the TED talk stage, so this is a great place to discover new resources from outside of real estate.

Excellence is all around you if you just look for it. When you do find it, learn from it!