Tom Panos is one of Australia’s most respected industry identities and a firm believer in the 5am club – an association that believes waking up early leads to a more productive and fulfilling day. At AREC 2014, Tom will be bringing a few new things into his role as MC, as well as bringing to life the famous 5am club, in person. Samantha McLean had a quick chat to Tom to see what’s really in store.
Tom, are you excited about your first year as MC at AREC?
I’m very excited because I’ve spoken at the last two ARECs and I’ve loved both of them, so I am really looking forward to MCing this year!
With such a fantastic and prolific line up of speakers, what approach are you planning to take so that everyone receives a well-rounded AREC experience this year?
Since I will be sitting through every session myself, I will be able to capture, summarise, and highlight the key points. Usually at a real estate conference, attendees take copious amounts of notes, but end up missing something that could be a game changer. I will constantly be on the lookout for these phenomenal tactics and ideas that I can utilise. Then I’ll quickly summarise them as I introduce each speaker.
Tell me about the 5AM Club session that you are going to be running?
The 5AM Club session is a combination of a training session conducted by personal trainers, followed by a 20-minute talk on how a 5AM Club has come a permanent part of my life since 2009. This ritual has helped me in my business and personal life and I want to share that with people because it could do the same for their life and their business.
Are you going to be working out?
We urge people to take their running and gym gear with them because from my own experience, people get much more out of the second day if they don’t have a late night the previous night and are sleep deprived. Starting day two of AREC with exercise as part of the 5AM Club is important because people can actually begin to change their real estate career with AREC, there and then at the event.
Is that the sort of discipline (to be really successful) that you’re going to be talking about in the 5AM Club session as well?
We’re going to talk about what people are going to do to make the 5AM Club last more than two days. A lot of people do it for the short-term, but a lot of people don’t stick to it. We’re just going to talk about what the science shows.
If I was undecided about coming to AREC this year, what would you say to convince me to come along?
I would tell you to think of it like a businessperson does. The worst that can happen is that it will be a waste of time and that you might lose the ticket price. But the best that can happen is that your life will change permanently. When you weigh up the two, the sheer value of the reward to your life greatly outweighs the risk. With 20 people on stage, it is unlikely that there’s not going to be one thing that changes your life. Personally speaking, an event like this positively changed my own life and compelled me to rewrite my agreement with reality. This makes me believe that it can do the same for other people as well.
Can you share some personal insights into how that event helped you to change your thinking?
I felt like one of the speakers who was speaking, was speaking directly to me even though there were many speakers over those couple of days. There are times that you feel that one sentence uttered by that one speaker was meant just for you. Had I not been there to listen to that sentence, I might not have made the changes that I had made. You never know which telephone conversation, interview, conversation, or chapter in a book will have a lasting impact on the rest of your life.
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Every year, I am fortunate enough to speak to 10,000 agents and I videotape a million-dollar agent every week. It’s not just what they tell me in their video interviews that go out to 16,000 subscribers every week. It’s what they tell me when we’re sitting one-on-one that’s videotaped. Over the two days at AREC, I am going to make sure that there are some scripts, dialogue, and ideas that I’ve picked up from agents that help people acquire more listings, higher commissions, and increase their sales.
There is still time to get your tickets to AREC14 – visit www.tret.com.au for details!
