Jesse Itzler sends three personal videos every day.
Not broadcast marketing. Not AI-generated. Short clips filmed on his phone, sent to specific people about specific things he knows they care about.
A windsurfing resort for one friend. A vegan restaurant menu for another. A thousand videos a year, each one a quiet reminder that someone is paying attention.
It was one of several deceptively simple habits Itzler shared with thousands of Australian real estate professionals when he joined AREC 2026 via Zoom, interviewed by John McGrath.
“Only one person can be the richest, and only one person can be the funniest, and only one person can be the smartest.
“But anyone can care the most,” Jesse said
The serial entrepreneur — who co-founded Marquis Jet, later acquired by NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company, and partnered in ZICO Coconut Water, later acquired by Coca-Cola — spent less time on billion-dollar deal-making and more on the small, consistent actions that he says have mattered far more.
That philosophy sits at the centre of what Itzler calls the “life resume” — the argument that experiences outside of work are not distractions from success but the very things that make people interesting, trustworthy, and worth doing business with.
He pointed to his own: living in a monastery with monks for fifteen days, riding his bike across America for charity, running hundred-mile ultramarathons, and co-existing with a Navy SEAL for a month.
Those experiences didn’t just make good stories; they built credibility that no sales pitch could replicate.
His system for building that resume is structured around three annual commitments.
First, one year-defining experience — something significant enough that it becomes the answer to “what did you do in 2026?”
He calls this a “misogi,” borrowed from a Japanese purification ritual.
Second, a personal day every eight weeks, dedicated to something outside the usual routine: fishing with his kids, visiting a college friend, attending an event purely for interest.
A forty-year-old who follows both rituals until eighty will accumulate forty defining experiences and two hundred and forty mini-adventures.
“That’s an amazing life. Business always falls in, but we tend to neglect the rest as we get older.”— Jesse said.
The third commitment is to add one winning habit per quarter — drinking more water, never being late to a meeting, and 10 minutes of daily practice.
Compounding small improvements rather than relying on annual resolutions that rarely survive February.
Itzler also addressed a topic that resonated in a room full of agents working through a difficult market: the internal conversation.
“The words that you speak matter,” Jesse said.
“We tend to really overindex in the self-talk bucket.”
He applies the same principle to his children; when one of his kids says, “I’m not good at reading,” he reframes it: Are you saying you haven’t grasped the concept yet, or that you’re working hard to get better?
For agents working through a buyer’s market, Itzler’s message was blunt: expect the difficulty.
His sales reps at Marquis Jet would return from meetings complaining that buyers pushed back on price.
His response was always the same — you’re a sales rep; they’re a customer. What did you expect? The same logic applies to hundred-mile races, publishing rejections, and property cycles.
“If you have health, you have hope. And if you have hope, you have everything,” Jesse said.
Your Tuesday morning to-do list
- Block out fifteen minutes and write down one thing — outside of work — that could define your 2026. Book it, pay for it, or commit to it before you close the laptop.
- Open your phone and send three short personal videos to people in your database — not a pitch, not a check-in, just something specific you know they’d appreciate.
- Pick one small habit you’ve been meaning to start (drinking more water, fifteen minutes of exercise, reviewing your week every Sunday night) and commit to it for this quarter only.
- Write three handwritten notes to clients, past buyers, or referral partners — no ask, no CTA, just genuine acknowledgement.
- Review your calendar for the next eight weeks and block off one full day for something unrelated to work.