Are you stuck on the hamster wheel of success in this industry?
Most mortgage loan officers work harder than ever these days, yet they feel like they’re running in place. More deals. More emails. More fires to put out. The question is—does all that work actually move your business forward, or are you just keeping up?
There’s a reason so many of us feel stuck. We’re trapped in our own success, caught in a cycle of constant busyness. We’re working in our business every single day but never stepping back to work on it.
This is where the real shift happens. If we want to escape the grind, scale our income, and create a mortgage business that works for our future (instead of us working for it), we need to make the leap from technician to entrepreneur.
The Technician Trap: Why Success Can Hold You Back
When you first started in this business, you had one goal: close loans. And maybe you got pretty damn good at it. You took every call, handled every problem, and became the go-to person for your clients and referral partners. You built a machine that runs on your time, energy, and effort.
And that’s the problem.
Success is a trap. The better we get, the more work we create for ourselves. We keep grinding, thinking the next deal will bring freedom. But instead, we become prisoners of our own businesses. If we decide to step away, everything will fall apart.
That’s not a business. That’s a job. And the worst part? We work for the most unforgiving bosses in the industry—ourselves.
So how do we escape?
What It Means to Work ON Your Business
Most originators only work in their business—closing loans, answering emails, handling day-to-day tasks. And sure, that keeps the lights on. But if we never take time to work on our business, we’ll never grow beyond where we are now.
Working on your business means building something bigger than you. It means creating systems, automating processes, and putting the right people in place so your business runs without you.
Think about it: if you had to open 5,000 mortgage branches tomorrow, how would you structure your business so you didn’t have to be in every office, making every decision? That’s the mindset shift you need.
What does working on your business look like?
- Creating a Perfect Loan Process – A structured, repeatable system that ensures smooth transactions every time, without your constant oversight.
- Scaling Your Marketing – Generating leads automatically so you’re not chasing business every month.
- Building a Rockstar Team – Training others to handle tasks you shouldn’t be doing, so you can focus on growth.
- Automating Low-Value Work – Removing yourself from routine tasks so you spend more time on high-level strategy.
Our businesses should serve our lives, not the other way around.
How to Find Time to Work ON Your Business
Here’s the excuse every loan officer makes: I don’t have time to work on my business.
Wrong. We don’t make time because we don’t prioritize it.
The highest-earning originators schedule time to step back and focus on growth. Here’s how you do it:
- Block out CEO time every week. Protect a few hours (or even a whole day) for deep work. No calls. No emails. Just strategy.
- Get out of the office. Work from a coffee shop, library, or anywhere you won’t be interrupted.
- Audit your time. Track everything you do for a week. Find the low-value tasks sucking up your schedule and delegate or automate them.
- Say ‘no’ more often. Stop letting other people’s urgency control your schedule.
- Prioritize deep work. The most successful people in this industry don’t just work harder—they work smarter.
Josh Mettle, Faculty Mentor at The Loan Atlas and Division President at NEO Home Loans, teaches inside The Loan Atlas how he used early mornings to study marketing and business strategy. That one habit transformed his career.
What would happen if you carved out time to work on your business every week?
Think Like an Entrepreneur: Scale Your Business Like a Pro
There’s a difference between being a loan officer and being a business owner.
A loan officer grinds through deals every day, hoping things get easier. A business owner builds systems that create freedom.
Which one do you want to be?
Top producers don’t just close loans—they build machines that generate revenue without their constant effort. They create businesses that can scale without them. That’s the difference between a technician and an entrepreneur.
Here’s the bottom line: If your business stops when you stop, you don’t have a business. You have a job.
Your Next Move: Take Action Today
You don’t need more motivation. You need action. Here’s what to do next:
- Make a list of five things you can do to work ON your business this month.
- Choose one focus area. Do you need better marketing? A stronger team? More automation?
- Schedule CEO time. Block it in your calendar right now.
- Start small and stay consistent. One hour a week is better than nothing. Progress compounds.
If you keep grinding without stepping back, you’ll be in the same place next year. But if you commit to working on your business—even just a few hours a week—you’ll start seeing massive results.
Your business should give you freedom. Not a job. Not stress. Freedom.
The only question is: Are you willing to make the shift?
