About
ProspectPulse™ & Five Foundations™ are trademarks of
The Merriam Group, LLC
Our Story
My name is Mike Merriam and I have been in the mortgage industry nearly 25 years. Having spent two decades originating loans and coaching thousands of loan officers at all levels of production has allowed me to observe the qualities, characteristics, and principles that lead to success, and synthesize them into concise, actionable frameworks.
Having coached and mentored hundreds of loan officers through both the best (2020) and worst (2023) markets in history has validated and reinforced the frameworks and principles that led to the founding of Five Foundations™ Coaching and ProspectPulse™.
Having walked 10,000 miles in the shoes of the loan officers I guide provides an authenticity and relatability that goes a long way in producing real and sustainable change that leads to growth and increased production.
There is nothing hypothetical in what we teach. It's entirely practical, born out of necessity in the real world, live market-tested by hundreds upon hundreds of loan officer students calling on thousands of real estate agents and closing countless loans.
Our Vision
In the most basic terms, first principles thinking is the practice of actively questioning every assumption you think you “know” about a given problem or scenario – breaking it down into it’s core ingredients, and creating new solutions from scratch rather than by copying what already exists - which is the majority of thinking.
We have discovered that there are Five First Principles for success as a loan originator: Time Management, Lead Generation, Process, Scale, & Mindset. The Five Foundations. Within each of these exists a set of beliefs and practices one must act on.
01
First Principles Thinking
Nobody is responsible for our successes and failures other than ourselves.
We have the ability to foresee potential pitfalls and avoid them, if we're willing to put the time in. We have the ability to reflect on our days and weeks and consider what went right and what went wrong, and to learn, grow, and reiterate. This is our responsibility. This is our charge as the owners of our businesses.
Extreme ownership of everything that happens is liberating. It simplifies everything and provides a clear focus on what we must do, continually, to accomplish our goals
02
Extreme Ownership
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge
03
Persistence & Determination
Change is hard. We don’t often see immediate results. Results take time and hard work. So we tend to lose our motivation and revert back to old patters. The key to sticking to something long enough to achieve results is to forget about them entirely. Emotionally disconnect from them and simply commit to taking action. If you do the right things consistently, the law of averages will take over and you are guaranteed results. But if you allow yourself to be emotionally tied to results, you’re much more likely to get discouraged.
So – commit to the action and emotionally disconnect from the results.
04