The Truth About Becoming a Top 1% Mortgage Loan Officer in the U.S.

A lot of people ask me how I became such a successful loan officer...

Like like the other day when I was standing in line at Walgreens to purchase some Covid Masks for all of my teammates at the office... a banker lady who recognized me from the Tower Club in Fort Lauderdale FL pulls me aside and whispers "Jim, I see what you're doing, how you live your live, and I want the same thing for my family, can we meet for lunch sometime?"  

And of course I set the lunch date, but then got to thinking how this question seems to have become a common theme in my life so I sat down to write the following.

I hope you will feel some sense of inspiration for movement, regardless of whether you decide to embark a career in the mortgage lending space or something else, the same principles apply.

~Jim 

Becoming a successful mortgage loan officer requires thousands upon thousands of hours of dedication to learning, failing, reflecting, and learning some more. You never stop learning.  

You never stop serving. You are either serving your customers, serving your teammates, or serving yourself to become better, stronger and faster so that you can better serve your customers and teammates.  

It's a constant grinding, recycling of energy, and evolving without ever really having a true end in mind, other than than the feeling of perpetual growth --- which makes me happy.  

The thought of "not growing" - reminds of stale musty water slowly evaporating while it sits dormant in an old rusted steel pal in the corner of an rotten mold stinking horse barn. 

If you want to make money... a lot of money... more than 95% of most doctors, lawyers, and professors ... you truly can do it in a career as a Mortgage Loan Officer --- if you are willing to sacrifice at least 2 years of your life without expecting a dime in return.   

Do you make money in your first couple years?  Sure, if you call it that, but you're going to ups and downs and you can go several months with out a paycheck.  The real measure of your success must be what you are learning and every day and how much smarter, knowledgeable, and experienced you feel at the end of every month.

When you can honestly say, "After last month, I feel smarter, faster, and more knowledgeable in certain areas of my craft, and I I learned 5 mistakes that I will never make again," then you know to continue plowing forward with the commitment to never give up .... no matter how much money is your bank account as a result of your efforts.  

When you make this promise to yourself, then you are ready to start down the path of becoming a Top 1% Mortgage Loan Officer in the United States.  Until then, try a different career.  :)

So, that's Rule #1.  Let's define it in one sentence. 

Rule #1: Decide that your #1 goal is to learn (not to make money) and decide that you will never give up as long as you feel smarter at the end of each month.  

To be continued...