Growth Notes

How Does Important Work Get Done in Your Business?

On a stormy Saturday episode of Growth Notes, host Frazier asks how the important work gets done in your business and warns that if the answer changes based on the day, person, or busyness, you’re making it up as you go. He explains that while instinct can solve a problem once or twice, sustainable businesses need repeatable systems that define what happens, in what order, who owns each step, and how results are measured. Repeatability reveals what works, where processes break, and what needs improvement, rather than re...

Sustainable Consistency: Build Commitments That Fit Your Real Life

Frazier shares a practical growth note on consistency and recurring actions, emphasizing that sustainability is the key to progress. He explains that a common mistake when building a new habit, system, or routine is setting standards based on perfect conditions—like ideal time blocks, outreach targets, or content publishing goals—which may work briefly until life inevitably interferes through busy schedules, overlapping meetings, family needs, or low energy. He argues this isn’t a discipline issue but a mismatch between commitments and real life, so actions should be small...

Know Your Numbers: Operate Like a Business Owner

Frazier recaps a Mortgage Mornings kickoff call with Jonathan, who shared sales strategies including communication and knowing your numbers, and encourages listeners to join future sessions. Frazier emphasizes treating your business like an owner would—understanding performance from “cradle to grave” by tracking what’s working and what’s not, so changes and optimizations are based on objective data rather than feelings. He notes that people often rely on “I feel like” assumptions instead of reality and offers a test: write down your top five most valuable agent relationships from memory, t...

Heeding the Advice Around You

Frazier opens Wednesday’s Growth Notes by reminding listeners about “mortgage mornings” at 10 AM Eastern, with a link in the show notes, where Jonathan is hosting another weekly sales masterclass. He then asks whether you are heeding the advice you receive, whether it’s advice you seek, unsolicited advice from others, or “free advice” coming from your circumstances, environment, and even your body through health issues. Referencing Own or Be Owned by Cody Sanchez and its themes of sacrifice, he encourages turning off the tendency to stay in your own head and refuse to li...

Lean Into the Love-Hate of the Mortgage Business

Frazier opens Tuesday’s Growth Notes with a reminder that there are two days left to join Broker Fuel, the paid version of Different, before enrollment closes until early November. He shares a short reflection from a recent conversation about the universal love-hate relationship many have with the mortgage business: early growth stages bring adrenaline, energy, and a willingness to grind, but once the business is established, some tasks that once felt exciting can become burdensome. Drawing on memories of building startup companies before entering mortgages, he notes how pe...

Stare Failure in the Face: Anti-Manifestation and Systems That Save

Frazier opens Monday’s Growth Notes with a reminder that he and Jonathan Haddad go live every Monday at 11:00 AM Eastern on Facebook and LinkedIn for a half-hour industry talk. He then shares a lesson from Cody Sanchez’s book Own or Be Owned, describing her “anti-manifestation” exercise in which she wrote down worst-case scenarios for every facet of her business while it was crumbling. Frazier highlights Sanchez’s point about staring failure in the face, recognizing herself as the common denominator, and committing to put systems in place t...

Avoid the Rabbit Holes: Social Media, Rates, and Meetings

On Sunday’s Growth Notes, host Frazier describes “rabbit season” as the time when “struggle bunnies” get pulled into distractions that hurt loan officers’ businesses, referencing ideas from The Green Zone Project. He highlights common “rabbit holes,” including unplanned social media doom scrolling, obsessing over interest rates despite nobody knowing what will happen, and spending hours in meetings that don’t move the business forward. Frazier urges listeners to use social media with a purpose, focus less on rates and more on trust, service, expertise, and relationships, and track every invite...

A Different Gear: How Loan Officers Win Market Share in a Noisy Economy

On the Growth Notes Podcast, Frazier shares a quick Saturday update while driving home from Tennessee, saying he highly recommends visiting Chattanooga, which has become a frequent “home away from home” for him. He then shifts to a core message he’s repeated across webinars, calls, podcasts, and an Accelerate session at Fuse: many people don’t properly appreciate what’s coming next in the economy, and competing will require a higher standard, more discipline, and a “different gear.” He urges listeners to evaluate their daily ac...

Delayed Returns: Playing the Long Game in a Tough Market

From Tennessee on a short weekend trip, Frazier keeps this Growth Notes Podcast episode brief to remind loan officers and business owners to think like CEOs and expect delayed returns on investments. He explains that many activities won’t produce quick results in under 30 days, especially marketing, training, and hiring, and that growth happens through phases and milestones rather than jumping from zero to 100 overnight. Frazier encourages listeners to keep moving forward, measure progress along the way, and commit to the long game in the current market ra...

Gathering Information Isn’t Learning: Execute to Get Results

Frazier explains on Growth Notes that gathering information is not the same as learning, comparing it to hearing without listening and thinking without decisiveness. He notes many people consume “one more” webinar, podcast, book, or event yet stay stuck because they confuse information intake with progress, and the market only rewards what is executed, tested, and improved. Using conferences like Fuse as an example, he argues attendees should define outcome-based goals and measure learning by implementation and return on investment. He shares his approach: calculate total event cost and ai...

Passing the Tests of a Tough Market

Frazier opens Wednesday’s Growth Notes by inviting listeners to Mortgage Mornings at 10:00 AM Eastern, featuring a guest discussion on creating volume in a high-rate environment. He reflects on the past several years of adversity in the market, framing challenges as repeated tests of commitment, staying power, skills, mentality, and overall response. He notes that not every test will be passed the first time, but each attempt builds proof and evidence of growth that can counter doubt and support continued action. Frazier encourages listeners to stay composed, manage emotions, and re...

Retention Over Acquisition: The Cheapest Growth Strategy in Mortgage and Real Estate

In this Growth Notes Podcast episode, Frazier shares a key takeaway from a coaching call: most people default to chasing new customers, but acquisition costs more than retention. He argues that the most affordable and effective source of “new” business is actually past clients—people you’ve already worked with and closed loans for—because retention includes not only repeat transactions but also staying top of mind and trusted when mortgage or real estate conversations come up. Frazier encourages listeners to focus on farming their sphere, da...

On the Growth Notes Podcast, Frazier shares a key takeaway from Cody Sanchez’s talk at Fuse after returning home to Atlanta: the biggest problem in any business has always been, and will always be, you—based on how you react and what you choose to do or avoid. He explains that everything involves risk, including doing nothing, and challenges loan officers who want to grow but refuse to hire because they can’t see past the cost. Frazier argues that if you’re the single point of failure, you don’t have a business—you have a job—and there’s no...

On an early Sunday morning before catching a 5:00 AM flight from Austin back to Atlanta, Frazier reflects on Fuse and shares a dinner he had with members of his coaching group—Holden, Carrie, Dave, Suzanne, and Molly. He talks about how the mortgage industry uniquely brings together people of different ages, backgrounds, and walks of life who might never connect otherwise, and how those relationships can grow into real community. Frazier appreciates seeing members not only focus on their own growth, but also take ownership in helping and contributing to other loan officers. He encourages listeners, whether in th...

AIM Fuse Day Two: The Only Takeaway That Matters—Activity

From day two at AIME Fuse in Austin, Frazier recaps an energizing day one filled with speakers and breakout sessions and explains why he likes to briefly drop into as many breakouts as possible to hear the questions and themes people care about. He notes how events can’t cover everything in main sessions, and breakout rooms help “break out” topics like mindset, sales tactics, recruiting and loaning on agents, consumer direct strategy, scaling, and AI. After a mastermind featuring Darren Copeland, Ashley Courville, Keri Imhoff, and Sam Brom...

The 5-Minute Rule: Stop Living in the Past

On Friday’s Growth Notes Podcast, Frazier shares an update from AIM Fuse, celebrating a strong “day zero” and looking ahead to day one, where he’ll spend time with broker friends and host a live mastermind with Carrie, DC, Sam, and Ashley. He highlights a key takeaway from Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning: the five-minute rule. Frazier explains that when something challenging happens and emotions start to spiral, you should give yourself five minutes to feel it, process it, and learn from it—then move on. He emphasi...

It’s Okay to Go It Alone (But Don’t Stay There Too Long)

Frazier opens the Growth Notes Podcast from Austin on a Thursday, reflecting on notes from a flight and the importance of not having to build alone. He shares how events like Fuse remind him of the value of a broker community—people to mastermind with, exercise with, and lean on when you feel like you’re on an island. At the same time, as a solopreneur, he emphasizes that certain seasons of life and career require going it alone to stay in the zone and...

Make Today Opposite Day: Flip Negative Thoughts Into Solutions

On a Wednesday morning before flying to Austin for the Fuse event to meet his broker friends and AIM, Growth Notes host Frazier shares an “opposite day” mindset message: when facing new projects, dry pipelines, lean sales months, or other discomfort, people often default to “what if it doesn’t work out,” but he recommends flipping it to “what if it does work out” and becoming solution-focused. He describes catching negative self-talk through personal growth and coaching, then asking what the possible solution is instead of venting or getting stuck...

Restarting Isn’t Failure—It’s a Refined Beginning

On Tuesday’s episode of Growth Notes, host Frazier talks about restarting and why it can feel so difficult after investing time, energy, and resources. He explains that going back to the beginning isn’t truly starting from zero because you return with data about what didn’t work, what broke, what you misunderstood, or what you rushed. That knowledge has a cost, but it should be used to improve the next attempt instead of forcing a bad plan out of pride or fear of admitting defeat. Frazier encourages l...

Stand Out Instead of Fitting In

Frazier reflects on being in Austin around great leaders and experts and argues that the people who stand out are those who aren’t trying to fit in. He notes that humans often try to join the crowd, especially when they’re new and follow where everyone else is going, but in a noisy, distracting environment it’s more valuable to go against the grain, think and speak differently, and avoid parroting the same sales scripts that everyone uses. He adds that if someone is succeeding with common approaches they should keep d...

Maintenance After the Win: Keeping Success

On Sunday morning’s Growth Notes, host Frazier focuses on maintenance and what happens after you reach a goal. He notes that most people concentrate on how to achieve success—steps, commitment, obstacles, and the journey—but few think about what it takes to keep it. Reaching a goal proves you can do it once, while maintaining success requires continuing to show up long after the excitement fades. Frazier warns that complacency often follows achievement, causing standards to loosen, preparation to slip, and the habits that created success to feel less import...

In this Saturday episode of Growth Notes, host Frazier explains that doing hard things in business—waking up early, making calls, following up, creating content, having rough conversations, and sticking to a plan when results are slow—comes with real discomfort, but those costs are temporary. He argues that the greater, potentially permanent cost is the regret of avoiding action because future consequences feel abstract in the moment. Frazier notes that many people want growth, yet growth requires building relationships, increasing visibility, being relentless with follow-up, and looking beyond one’s current pipeline, all of which demand extra effort and pa...

Table Stakes Aren’t Winning: Raising the Standard in Business

In this Growth Notes episode, Frazier reflects on coaching calls and a Tim Grover video to emphasize that “showing up” and doing the basics—making calls, following up, practicing, creating content, and attending meetings—are table stakes, not victories. He argues that business standards have been lowered so much that people seek credit for doing what they’re supposed to do, mistaking effort and participation for winning. Frazier notes he’s guilty of this mindset too and frames the episode as part of his own growth journey. He encourages...

Three Questions to Clarify Any Important Conversation

In this Thursday episode of Growth Notes, Frazier shares a simple framework to use before any important conversation: decide what you want the other person to know, feel, and do. He explains that many people enter meetings with information, talking points, or even a deck, but without a clear outcome for what the other person should leave with. Using an example meeting with a real estate agent, Frazier suggests defining the key message (such as a specific approach that helps convert hesitant buyers), the desired emotion (like confidence in your...

Don’t Let Comfort Choose Your Path

In this Growth Notes episode of Mortgage Mornings, Frazier reflects on how staying on a familiar path can feel “right” simply because it’s comfortable, repetitive, and safe, even when it may not be the best direction. He explains how comfort can lead to complacency and postponing change by telling yourself you’ll move when the timing is better. Frazier encourages honest self-questioning about whether you’re choosing what’s right or what you can do without risking much, and he acknowledges that an unbeaten path brings uncertainty, learning as you go, and th...

Lead With Confidence and Expertise

On a Tuesday Growth Notes episode, Frazier reflects on a podcast discussion about charisma, character, and what people look for in a leader, noting that these qualities are often conveyed through presentation, message, and influence. He argues that what consumers, agents, and others need most right now is confidence and expertise wrapped in leadership, regardless of whether someone owns a company or is a loan officer managing their personal brand and reputation. Frazier cautions that contrarian social posts about media narratives and “everyone is doing this but I’m doing that” ultimately don’t...

Thoughts, Vibration, and Action: Turning Want Into Progress

Frazier builds on a prior Growth Notes point that listeners have already proven they can start from nothing, emphasizing that progress begins with thoughts that shape belief and then drive action. He notes how principles from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich overlap with Ed Mylett’s teaching on “vibration,” describing vibration as the energy people bring to situations and how it reflects thought patterns and behavior. Frazier argues manifesting isn’t “thinking something into existence,” but visualizing, believing, having a definite purpose, and taking consistent actions that align with tho...

Starting From Nothing: Use Opportunity and Creativity This Week

On a Sunday episode of Growth Notes, Frazier encourages listeners to plan the week with the mindset that they can start with almost nothing and still build something great. He reflects on how many people began adult life with little money, few connections, no audience, and limited education, especially before social media, yet still moved forward. Frazier argues that people often think they need resources, influence, or money to begin, but both he and listeners have already proven otherwise, and opportunity allows people to advance from humble beginnings...

Five Lessons Frazier Revisits in Think and Grow Rich

On Growth Notes, Frazier asks what movies, books, songs, or other media people return to for inspiration, then shares that he revisits Think and Grow Rich as a foundational guide to sales, business, and success principles. He highlights five lessons: having a definite purpose with a clear, specific goal; cultivating a burning desire to create momentum through obstacles; using persistence to overcome temporary defeat (which he distinguishes from “failure,” which he associates with quitting); recognizing that opportunity often comes disguised as hardship or unexpected challenges; and viewing defeat as a...

Real Leadership Means Asking for Help

On Growth Notes, Frazier shares a simple lesson for loan officers and others facing adversity: everyone in the mortgage industry is “the CEO of you,” responsible for their reputation and brand, and therefore a leader even without owning a company or managing a team. Because success is a team effort involving processors, assistants, lenders, and others, Frazier argues one of the most powerful leadership actions is admitting you need help. He challenges the belief that leaders must have every answer, solve every problem, and carry every burden, warning that this mindset lead...

Is This True? Challenging What You Think Is Holding You Back

Frazier leads a Growth Notes exercise where listeners write down everything they believe is holding them back from achieving what they want, using any tool to record their list. Afterward, he instructs them to go through each item and ask, “Is this true?” relying on facts rather than feelings, and to prove whether each belief is actually true. He uses examples like mortgage rates, noting they may be obstacles but questioning whether they truly prevent success when others are still doing deals. Frazier shares that his coac...

Use Storytelling Hooks to Keep Prospects Reading (Lessons from The Conversion Code)

In this Growth Notes episode, Frazier shares a tactical marketing lesson from the newest edition of Chris Smith’s The Conversion Code on using a “storytelling hook” to increase content consumption. He explains that long intros like stating your name and credentials cause people to bounce because attention is limited, so content should open with a problem and a story to quickly signal relevance. Using an example that reframes “best iPad apps for real estate agents” into a short narrative about a real agent named Susie, he...

Break the Box: Finding More Than One Path to Growth

On Growth Notes, Frazier says most people drastically underestimate how many paths are available to them, especially in business, where originators often default to a small menu of options like getting more agents, better rates, more leads, or changing companies. He argues there are many other approaches, such as building a niche, focusing on “lifestyle” local authority to generate attraction, creating a brand around a specific borrower type, strengthening relationships, and improving skills. The real challenge is getting trapped in familiar options and copying what peers are doin...

AI Magnifies the Operator, Not the Tool

On Growth Notes, Frazier says AI will make some people better and others worse because it amplifies whatever habits and skills someone already has. Organized, thoughtful, disciplined communicators can use AI to move faster and operate at a higher level, while poor follow-up, messy databases, and generic messaging will just be scaled up more quickly. Frazier argues most people focus on the tool, but the real power is the operator, since stronger tools don’t fix weak judgment—they extend it. He gives an example of using AI to prepare for...

Chase Impact, Not Attention

On Growth Notes, Frazier says most people chase a “scoreboard” on social media—followers, likes, views, comments, and reach—because it feels good, but those numbers reflect attention, not impact. He argues the one thing worth chasing to change a business is impact, measured by whether content helps someone, shifts how they think, solves a problem, clarifies confusion, or sparks a conversation. Frazier emphasizes that attention is fleeting, while impact is more likely to create business, noting that some large audiences generate little while smaller, impact-driven audiences build something strong through trust. When content...

The Unseen Work Behind “Overnight” Success: Patience and Skill

In this Growth Notes episode, Frazier says success is often judged by lagging indicators like rising attention, content plans working, attracting business, and overall growth, which can look fast from the outside, but the more important story is the unglamorous process: bad videos, terrible marketing, ignored outreach, flawed conversations, and repeated changes to messaging, approach, and sales mechanics. He argues that real progress requires combining patience with skill—patience alone becomes waiting without action, while skill alone can lead to constantly starting over, especially with ADHD. Frazier notes many p...

The Most Expensive Business Habit: Taking Too Long to Decide

In Growth Notes, Frazier explains that one of the most expensive business habits is taking too long to decide, emphasizing that speed matters and prolonged thinking stalls progress. He notes that indecision leads to missed opportunities and stalled relationships because markets and time don’t stop, and someone else will take the spot while you hesitate. Since most business decisions can’t be made with perfect information, Frazier urges making the best decision possible with what you know today, then moving and adjusting based on feedback and data...

Stop Hiding in Preparation: Take Action and Launch

In Growth Notes, Frazier argues that businesses aren’t rewarded for having smart ideas, plans, or perfect marketing, but for putting things into motion while time and the market keep moving. He describes how people delay actions like making videos, building agent relationships, sending newsletters, hosting events, or launching referral programs by waiting for the “perfect” format, presentation, or CRM setup, and how planning can become a way of hiding. Frazier emphasizes the advantage of action: publishing something now creates real feedback and information that planning can’t provide. He encou...

Time Discipline Beats New Tools

Frazier opens with a reminder that it’s Wednesday and invites listeners to Mortgage Mornings at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, featuring a sales masterclass led by Jonathan Haddad with the link in the show notes. He then emphasizes that while people get excited about new tools like AI, automation, CRMs, dashboards, and apps, the skill most likely to determine whether you hit your goals is time discipline, not “time management.” Frazier notes that many say they lack time to prospect, follow up, create content, or stay in touch with clients, but their calend...

Two Words for Consistency: Decision and Commitment

Frazier shares a growth note on consistency, emphasizing that it comes down to two words: decision and commitment. He announces the launch of the Mortgage AI Podcast at mortgageaipodcast.com and that membership is open for Different through September 7th, limited to 150 people for the next 12 months. He explains that there will never be a “perfect week,” so you must decide what you’ll do before the day starts negotiating with you, allowing the schedule to shift while keeping the commitment. Frazier challenges listeners to keep promises to themselves as reliab...