Riding the 80/20 Wave — How Top Agents Harness Natural Forces Instead of Fighting Them
Riding the 80/20 Wave: How Top Agents Harness Natural Forces Instead of Fighting Them
(Chapters 14 & 15 of 80/20 Sales & Marketing)
Imagine standing in the ocean, staring at an incoming wave. There are only two kinds of people in that moment:
Those who dig their heels in and try to resist it.
And those who catch it and let the wave carry them 50 yards with almost no effort.
Perry Marshall would say most agents live their careers in the first category. They paddle against currents, fight market shifts, cling to low-value tasks, and wonder why they’re exhausted by February.
And if you think I’m talking about you, specifically… maybe I am (you know who you are).
The top 1%?
They surf the forces that already exist. They let natural 80/20 currents do most of the work for them.
This week is about becoming that second kind of agent.
🌊 1. Surfing the Current: How Great Agents Ride the Market, Not Fight It
(Chapter 14: Harnessing Natural Forces)
Perry’s core argument is simple:
“The universe is not random chaos — it’s full of rivers of natural flow.
If you fight them, you lose energy. If you ride them, you multiply it.”
In real estate terms:
When buyer urgency is high → ride it.
When sellers start pricing realistically → lean into it.
When rates dip 0.25% and phones heat up → capitalize immediately.
When your sphere is talking about moving → add calls, not ads.
When the market’s attention shifts toward affordability → follow it.
Agents burn out because they insist on forcing the world to match their calendar instead of aligning their calendar to the world. You see it all the time and if you’ve ever been in a coaching program, most coaches do their darndest to get you to follow THEIR system no matter what. And if it doesn’t work for you? It’s because you didn’t work their system properly, right?
The truth is:
Markets have momentum. Buyers and sellers have energy patterns. Social platforms have seasons.
When you align to those forces, lead gen becomes easier, not harder. Because make no mistake - you may be a real estate agent yet your #1 job is generating leads to serve. I don’t care how long you’ve been doing this job, when you forget this key aspect of real estate, your business will wane.
You don’t push the boulder uphill — you stand behind it and give it a nudge in the direction it’s already going.
This requires you to be adaptable and throw away the stubborn attitude.
🧲 2. The Gravity Trap: Why Agents Stay Stuck in $10 Work
(Chapter 15: $10/$100/$1,000/$10,000 Work)
There’s a phenomenon Perry calls “gravity pockets”: Tasks that feel productive but contain almost no leverage.
Real estate version:
Redesigning your email signature.
Updating your bio for the 11th time.
Rewriting your buyer packet.
“Researching” marketing ideas instead of executing them. (We’re all guilty of this one)
Doing client paperwork (I guarantee if you let the office handle your paperwork, your business would increase at least 30%)
Toggling MLS fields like you’re defusing a bomb.
These tasks pull you down into $10/hour gravity — the kind of work that consumes time and produces no momentum.
Meanwhile, the activities that create $1,000–$10,000 hours require discomfort:
Making that follow-up call you’ve delayed.
Repricing a stale listing and having a tough conversation.
Asking for the referral.
Filming the video.
Negotiating with confidence.
Setting expectations clearly.
These don’t feel as busy. But they move mountains.
Perry says:
“If you want to change your income, you must change the gravitational field you choose to operate in.”
Most agents don’t need more time. They need more escape velocity.
🌅 3. Riding the 80/20 Wave: Let the Market Do Half Your Work
80/20 isn’t just a rule — it’s a natural force, like wind or tide. It tells you:
20% of ZIP codes will drive 80% of the closings.
20% of your database will create 80% of your referrals.
20% of your content will produce 80% of your engagement.
20% of your conversations lead to 80% of your appointments.
Most agents ignore these signals. Top agents build systems around them.
This is what I am trying to get ALL of you to realize about using a CRM… too much of the feedback I received was negative about what the tool would cost instead of the leverage it would create. If you work 40 hrs/week in real estate (and many of us work more), that comes to $1.56/hr for real leverage.
But I digress…
Instead of fighting where demand isn’t… top agents ride the wave where demand already is.
Practical examples:
If multi-family searches spike → film more duplex content.
If move-down sellers dominate your area → publish downsizing guides.
If affordability shifts south/west → market to those corridors.
If certain ZIPs sell 3× faster → advertise your “fast market expertise.”
This is surfing. This is flow. This is natural-force real estate.
Once you start recognizing the current, you stop forcing outcomes and start amplifying momentum.
🧭 Your Challenge This Week
Identify three “gravity tasks” you will eliminate or delegate.
Find one market current to ride (buyers, sellers, ZIPs, affordability trends).
Schedule one $1,000 or $10,000-hour block — something that requires courage, not comfort. This will separate the wheat from the chaff..
Ask: “Where is the energy already flowing?” Then go there. If you need help with this, reach out to me.
Nature rewards alignment. The market rewards timing. Your business rewards leverage.
Stop fighting the waves. Start surfing them.
