There’s a version of you who wakes up knowing exactly where her next client is coming from. She’s not refreshing Zillow leads or cold calling. She’s not endlessly wondering if her content is working or not. She’s just showing up consistently and confidently, in a way that makes people think of her the second real estate comes up in any conversation.

That version of you isn’t that far away. But you have to start acting like her before you feel like her. That’s what this episode is all about! In part four of the Wealthy Agent Upgrades series, we’re discussing what it means to invest in yourself as an agent.

This is the mindset adopted by agents who build lasting, referral-driven businesses — they aren’t doing anything more magical than deciding to step into the identity of the next-level version of themselves.

What Does It Actually Mean to Invest in Yourself?

There’s a big difference between investing in your business and just spending money on it.

Chelsea knows this firsthand. A few years back, she hired a PR person to help grow her brand, which wasn’t cheap, so she had high hopes. But the problem is she went in without a clear direction, basically handing it off and hoping for the best. And when the six months were up, she wasn’t disappointed in the PR person for the results. She was actually disappointed in herself for chasing something shiny without being clear on what she actually wanted from it.

Does this sound familiar? We’ve all done it. We buy the program, hire the expert, sign up for the course — and then kind of… check out. We figure the investment will just handle itself. But that’s not investing; that’s just checking a box!

Kayla put it perfectly, pulling from a Warren Buffett quote: “Investing in yourself is the most important investment you’ll ever make in your life. There’s no financial investment that will ever match it because if you develop more skill, more ability, more insight, more capacity, that’s what’s going to really provide economic freedom.”

Chelsea compared it to marriage. You could technically be married and just go through the motions: post the anniversary photo, get the Valentine’s flowers, go on the occasional date. Or you could actually invest in your marriage. Have the hard conversations. Show up even when you’re exhausted. Make the little deposits every single day. It could be the same relationship, but the results could be as different as “we’re fine” and “we’re obsessed with each other!”

Let’s do another analogy because we love them. Think of your business like a house. You can’t buy it and ignore it for five years and expect it to be worth more. You have to maintain it, tend to it, keep investing in it. The little deposits compound. And one day you look up and realize… this thing is actually worth something!

Stop Saying “I Can’t Afford That”

We have to talk about a phrase that’s quietly killing your momentum: “That’s so expensive.” Or its cousin: “I can’t afford that.”

Kayla argues that every time we use those phrases, we’re giving away our power without even realizing it.

Think about it this way. $100,000 for a new purse is extremely expensive, but $100,000 for a custom-built home, and you’d be at the bank before lunch! If someone told you your child needed life-saving medical care and it cost $500,000? You’d find it. Today. Without blinking.

It’s never really about what’s expensive. It’s about what matters to you.

So instead of “I can’t afford that,” try: “That’s not a priority for me right now.” Or: “I’d rather put my money toward something else.”

Do you see the difference? Suddenly, you’re in control. The ball is back in your court. You’re not a victim of your budget — you’re someone who’s making intentional decisions about what she values.

The law of attraction states that money flows to those who feel worthy of it, believe they can attain it, and maintain a positive, productive focus. This isn’t magic or just manifestation. It’s that when you shift the way you think about money, you start moving differently. You take different actions, which compound.

The question to ask yourself isn’t “Can I afford this?” It’s “Is this going to get me closer to where I want to go? And who do I want to become in the process?”

The Broke Mentality Is Costing You More Than You Think

Have you ever been around someone who’s really, really focused on not having enough money? Everything becomes about the lack.

“Can we afford this?”

“That’s too expensive.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

It becomes all-consuming. There’s no mental space left for anything else.

Now think about being around someone with a wealthy mentality. It’s a different energy entirely. There’s a relaxed presence, a hopefulness, an openness where ideas are welcome, and possibilities are explored.

And, crucially, they’re not focused on themselves. As Kayla put it, when you’re desperate and chasing and hustling, all you can think about is yourself. When you have a wealthy mentality, you actually have the capacity to give to other people.

Moreover, that broke mentality affects your clients, not just you. If you’re sitting across from a buyer at a showing, or guiding a seller through an offer, and somewhere in the back of your mind you’re desperately hoping this deal closes — they can feel it. And that feeling creates anxiety and erodes trust. It costs you the referral.

Compare that to the agent who shows up grounded, calm, and completely focused on what’s best for her client. That’s the agent people rave about, whose name comes up at every dinner party.

Kayla used a great analogy here: think about the difference between someone who’s working so hard just to get out of debt and someone who’s building wealth. The first person is grinding up, up, up on a chart and still at zero. The second person might not be making giant leaps, but she’s moving in the right direction — toward her destination. In the same amount of time, she’s further along.

The broke mentality keeps you stuck in the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle of real estate — always chasing the next closing, always asking where the next lead is coming from. The wealthy mentality leads you to think about your pipeline, systems, and brand. The kind of business that runs because of who you are, not just what you do.

The Wealthy Agent Mentality: What It Looks Like in Real Life

Chelsea has been playing this game with herself lately: the $18 million version of me. What is she doing? What is she not doing? What does her morning look like? What problems doesn’t she even know exist because they’re so far beneath where she’s operating?

Here’s what she came up with…

That version of her is getting up and working out. Documenting her morning. Commenting on five local followers’ posts. She’s not making excuses or complaining. She’s not feeling sorry for herself. She’s thinking: the world is happening for me, not to me.

That’s how the $20 million a year agent is acting. And the invitation is to start acting like her now — before you’ve earned the $20 million. You can’t get there before you start living like you’re that person already!

As Kayla cited from the book 10X Is Easier Than 2X: “Money alone is not worth chasing. If money is all you’re after, you will struggle building wealth, which is valuable assets, skills, and creations.”

Wealthy isn’t a number. It’s peace and freedom. It’s knowing your next client is already on her way. It’s showing up to every interaction from a place of abundance instead of desperation. And it starts in your head, long before it shows up in your bank account.

Your Personal Brand Is Your Most Powerful Investment

Imagine Sarah. She’s at Target, toddler in the cart, scrolling Instagram. She sees your listing post, and her brain does a quick scan: not buying or selling = not for me. So she keeps scrolling. This weekend, she’s going to a girls’ night where real estate comes up. Will she think of you? Probably not. Your content didn’t stick. It never had a chance to!

Now imagine Jillian. She’s at yoga three times a week. She follows you. But she’s not buying or selling right now, so the listing posts slide right past her. In six months, three people in her yoga class are going to list their homes. Is your name coming up in that conversation? Nope.

A personal brand gives people a reason to remember you when real estate isn’t even on their mind. So that when it suddenly is, your name lights up in their brain like a little alarm.

If you had 10 followers who hands-down referred you every single time the topic of real estate came up, you’d have more business than you could handle. You don’t need 10,000 followers. You need 10 people who are genuinely, deeply connected to you and your brand.

Compare that to cold leads. You’re jumping when they say jump. You’re fighting to convert people who have zero loyalty to you. They’ll go to whoever has a sign in the yard.

Chelsea reminded us that building a personal brand isn’t a vanity project. It’s actually a service. The people in your community who have no idea how to price their home, or what to expect in the offer process, or whether now is even a good time to sell, need you.

And if you’re not showing up in a way that connects with them and keeps you top of mind, someone else is going to show up instead. You owe it to them to be findable, to be the agent they think of before they even know they need one.

That’s the real ROI of a personal brand. Not just more business for you — better outcomes for the people you serve.

How to Step Into Your Next-Level Identity Before You Feel Ready

The most important thing we want you to take from this episode is: you don’t wait until you’ve arrived to start acting like the person you want to become. You start acting like her now, and THEN you arrive.

Chelsea said that when she’s on the treadmill, she slowly increases the incline until she hits 12. Then she holds it there. And by the time she comes back down to a 7, it feels like flat ground. The hard thing became the new normal.

That’s exactly what happens when you invest in learning and growing. What feels hard and uncomfortable today — getting on camera, sharing personal stories, showing up consistently — becomes second nature. And the level that used to feel impossible becomes your starting point.

But when we’re left to our own devices, most of us stay at the 2 incline. We tell ourselves we’re still on the treadmill and thus doing the work, but we’re not growing.

This is where investing in the right support can genuinely compress time. When you learn from someone who has already figured it out, you can get somewhere in three months that might have taken two years on your own.

So ask yourself: do you want to look spent or invested? Not just in how you look, but in your energy, your presence, the calm confidence you carry into every client interaction and every piece of content you create.

The $18 million version of you is not waiting until everything is perfect. She’s just already decided who she is. Go be her!

This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.