I haven't written a deal since December 1st.

Four months of nothing.

For context, I've done somewhere between $250K and $450K in production every year for the last five years, and I've never had a year under $100K since going out on my own. So on paper, right now, I look like I'm completely falling apart.

But honestly? I feel fine.

That probably sounds like cope. But I mean it, and I want to explain why, because I think there's something useful in it for anyone who's been in a slow stretch and felt like the walls were closing in.

Let me start with the mental side.

Because I don't think we talk about it enough in this industry.

When you're in a dry spell, there's this hum of anxiety that stays with you. It's not always loud. Sometimes it's just there in the background while you're eating dinner or putting your kids to bed.

Other times, it's a death spiral of anxiety.

It doesn't matter how many years you've been doing this or how good your track record is. When the pipeline is dry and the calendar keeps moving, your brain starts running worst-case scenarios.

The fix? I've learned to recognize when I'm doing it. And remind myself that catastrophizing isn't based in reality. It's based in fear. And fear is always about the future, never about what's actually in front of me right now.

The reality is:

Right now, I have five deals in the pipeline. Right now, I made my calls today. Right now, I'm doing the work. That's all I actually have control over.

Your peace-of-mind can't be contingent on your production numbers. Because production is never fully in your control. You can influence it, you can stack the odds in my favor, but you cannot control it.

The moment you outsource your emotional state to numbers, you’re in trouble.

That's why I can sit here right now, four months without a deal, and tell you I feel more settled than I have in years.

Not because I'm not thinking about it. I am. But because my identity and worth isn’t wrapped in “production.”

This is pretty normal for me.

If you’re a Max Rev OG you might’ve noticed that we have a similar convo this time every year.

February and March are always my slow months.

Here's my thesis as to why.

The window between Thanksgiving and New Year's is the hardest time to prospect Everybody's busy, distracted, checked out, or flat-out telling you to call back in the new year.

So whatever X-dates you're calling on during that stretch, those are the prospects who will be the hardest for you. Do you prospect 60 days out? December and January are probably your slow months. Prospect 120 days out, like me? February and March are probably your slowest months.

I can’t prove this with hard data, but for this n=1 it makes perfect sense.

My best year ever I did just over $420K, and I didn't have that Q1 lull. But when I look back honestly, I don't think I did anything dramatically different. I just had a few breaks go my way. A couple deals that could've pushed into spring closed early instead.

The real fix, and I'm being more intentional about this going forward, is to start working my February and March X-dates earlier.

There's another layer to this that I've been thinking about too.

Last year I had about 12 wins. Twelve. That's a solid year by most measures. But I ended up around $200K because almost every deal was in the $15K to $20K range. Lots of activity, lots of deals, not a lot of revenue per close.

The year I did $420K, my smallest deal was $30K. The floor was higher. I wasn't doing more deals, I was doing bigger deals.

This year, the pipeline looks more like my $420K year. I've got a $100K BOR, a $50K deal, two deals around $35K, and a $30K AOR I'm proposing this week. If I close the biggest ones, I'm having a helluva year.

Moral of the story is:

I can't control which prospects turn into won deals. Some years it'll be a big stringer of deals, others it'll be smaller ones, still other years it'll be medium sized. That's out of my control.

Sure. I can control deal size somewhat by raising my floor. But, I can't pick who opts in above that floor.

Make sense?

This is the part that might be the hardest.

If you're in a dry spell right now, the instinct when things are slow is to blow everything up. New script, new mentor, new approach. Do something different.

I'm not doing that.

I'm staying the course. Same scripts, same approach, same day to day activities, same filter for qualifying prospects. Because I know what works and I know it's just a matter of time until the dam breaks.

And I'm not going to chase just to feel busy, either.

Chasing is how you dig the hole deeper. Not just in terms of wasted time, but in terms of what it does to your head. Every dead-end pursuit reinforces the feeling that nothing is working. Every call that goes nowhere chips away at your confidence a little more. You start to feel desperate, and prospects can feel desperate. It changes everything about how you show up.

Stay true to your process.

I don't know where you are in your year.

Maybe you're crushing it. Maybe you're in the same spot I'm in.

If it's the latter, here's what I'd tell you.

First, look back honestly. Did you drop the ball somewhere in Q4? Did you get caught up in year-end shenanigans and let the outbound activity slip? If so, that's probably what you're feeling right now. Know what caused it, fix it going forward, and stop beating yourself up about what you can't change.

Second, don't change your approach if it works for you. Tighten the discipline, yes. Work farther out, yes. But don't blow up a process that's worked just because it's not producing right now. The delayed feedback loop works in both directions. The consistent work you're putting in today will show up in the pipeline in ways you can't see yet.

Third, do the internal work. I can't tell you exactly what that looks like for you. For me it was dealing with anxiety, learning to separate my self-worth from my production, and building a version of myself that isn't dependent on the scoreboard to feel okay. That's not a one-time thing. It's ongoing. But it is the difference between a slow stretch that breaks you and a slow stretch that you just walk through.

The desert doesn't last forever.

I've been doing this for 15 years. I've never had a year under $100K. I've got five real deals in the pipeline right now. I'm making my calls. I'm staying selective. I'm at peace.
I'll be fine.

And if you're doing the work, so will you.

See you Friday.

-MS