Monday Morning Wake Up Call:

Your Motivation, Inspiration, & Direction for the Week Ahead

A Change of Seasons Summer is officially over. As I have talked to friends and family the past few weeks, some are a little sad, while others are happy and looking forward to the change. Change is not bad, but it does cause us to think about how that change will affect our life. In the book, The Seasons of Life by Jim Rohn, Jim shows the parallels between life and the changing seasons. Seasons will come and go without fail and we don’t have any control over that. What we can do is utilize each season, to get the greatest rewards. It is like the parable of the sower and the reaper. What we do in one season helps to ensure success in another season. Understanding the seasons of life allows us to comfort those who are going through difficult times, or more importantly, helps us to get through difficult times. The tough times In life are referred to as the “winter”, which will eventually give way to “spring”. Spring represents new beginnings, while summer is a time of strength. We feel in control during the summer seasons as they represent a carefree time of joy and peace. And then Fall arrives. Fall is a time of harvest and to reap what you have sewn. As an agent, if you planted your seeds in the spring, and have cultivated them throughout the year, this fall should gave you a great harvest! But fall also represents that the end of a cycle is approaching.   The lesson of the seasons, personally and professionally, is a reminder of the cycle of life. How often have we realized too late, that we rushed distractedly through a season, only to experience regret rather than joy. When this happens, it should be a lesson in life. Teaching us the importance of recognizing the different periods of our time on earth: the need to reflect on and capture the spirit of each, and to live appropriately.   Something to Think About When we are young, in the spring of our life, we are in a hurry to grow old. During our summer strength, we are much too busy. In our maturity, or the fall of our life, we agonize over lost purpose. And as we decline, we so often wish to return to youth. The springtime of our life. But the season which follows Fall is Winter. Winter represents death, so that something new can emerge in the Spring. Death does not always represent an actual death. Sometimes it is the death of a relationship. Some relationships must end, so that new and fresh relationships can blossom.   Weekly Action Step: This week, take time to reflect on the purpose that this summer brought into your life, and embrace the changes that the fall will bring. Some things will end, but there is always a Spring, a time of renewal and new beginnings. What will you wish for the Spring of your life?   Words of Wisdom: Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. - John F. Kennedy Hope everyone that is reading this is having a really good day. And if you are not, just know that in every new minute that passes you have an opportunity to change that. - Gillian Anderson I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road. - Stephen Hawking Each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our goals in life. I learned this first through agriculture, because all farmers can expect to have about 40 growing seasons, giving them just 40 chances to improve on every harvest. - Howard Graham Buffett When the seasons shift, even the subtle beginning, the scent of a promised change, I feel something stir inside me. Hopefulness? Gratitude? Openness? Whatever it is, it’s welcome. - Kristin Armstrong

 

Monday Morning Wake Up Call

                         

 

Going the Extra Mile
Good morning! I hope you had a fantastic weekend and that it will be an even better week. Today I’m going to talk about going the extra mile.
 
In the 1870s, a young salesman in a hardware store observed that the store had a lot of odds and ends that were going out of date and not selling. Having time on his hands, he rigged a special table in the middle of the store and loaded it with unsaleable merchandise at the bargain price of 10¢ per item. To his surprise – and the surprise of the store owner – the gadgets sold like hotcakes.
 
Out of that experience grew the great F.W. Woolworth Company, an original pioneer of the five-and-dime store. The young man who stumbled upon the idea by going the extra mile was Frank W. Woolworth. That idea yielded him a fortune estimated at more than $550 million. No one told young Woolworth to go the extra mile – and no one paid him for doing so – yet his action led to ever-increasing returns for his efforts.
 
Something to Think About
Do you go the extra mile and deliver more than clients expect? Is it possible that going the extra mile might catch the attention of a new client? What might that be worth?
 
Weekly Challenge
Do something this week that qualifies as “going the extra mile” in your personal life, your professional life or both. The results might surprise you.
 
Words of Wisdom
“Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.” – Gary Ryan Blair

“You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service than you are now being paid for.” – Napoleon Hill

“If you want to succeed at any job, make yourself invaluable. Go the extra mile; make them never be able to imagine what life without you there would be like.” ­– Ross Mathews

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” – Steve Jobs
​
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” – Paul J. Meyer 

Monday Morning Wake Up Call

Your Motivation, Inspiration, & Direction for the Week Ahead

Finding Life’s Diamonds Good morning! What a marvelous Monday it is! Today’s story is about a farmer who lived in Africa at a time when diamonds were being discovered throughout the continent. When he heard how much money he could make (literally millions), he sold his farm and headed out to the diamond line. He wandered all over, constantly searching for diamonds and wealth, which he never found. He eventually went completely broke and threw himself into a river and drowned.   Meanwhile, the new farm owner picked up an unusual-looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle. A visitor stopped by and, in viewing the rock, practically fainted; the funny-looking rock was about the biggest diamond that had ever been found. The new farm owner said, “Heck, the whole farm is covered with them!” And sure enough, it was.   The farm turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine – the richest the world has ever known. The original farmer was literally standing on “acres of diamonds” until he sold his farm.   Each of us is right in the middle of our own “acre of diamonds,” if only we would realize it and develop the ground we’re standing on before charging off in search of greener pastures. Something to think about: Opportunity doesn’t just come along; it’s there all the time… we just have to see it.   Weekly Challenge Summer is over, and it’s time to kick into high gear for the fall market. Are you standing on diamonds in your real estate career without realizing it? What will you do to set yourself apart this fall?   Words of Wisdom “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas A. Edison “What I think a lot of great marathon runners do is envision crossing that finish line. Visualization is critical. But for me, I set a lot of little goals along the way to get my mind off that overwhelming goal of 26.2 miles. I know I've got to get to 5, and 12, and 16, and then I celebrate those little victories along the way.” – Bill Rancic “You don’t need a big close, as many sales reps believe. You risk losing your customer when you save all the good stuff for the end. Keep the customer actively involved throughout your presentation, and watch your results improve.” – Harvey Mackay “Too often, sales reps simply regurgitate their presentations and expect to land the sale. It doesn’t work.” – Harvey Mackay

Monday Morning Wake Up Call

Your Motivation, Inspiration, & Direction for the Week Ahead

Follow Your Passion! Happy Monday! Isn’t it great to be alive? What if you knew you only had a year to live? How would you approach today?   I recently read the story of Anthony Burgess, who was just 40 when he learned that he had a brain tumor and had only one year to live. He was completely broke at the time and didn’t have anything to leave for his wife, Lynne, who would soon be a widow.   Burgess had always dreamed of being a writer but had never pursued the passion. His desire was to create income that his wife would have after he died. If he published a book, his wife would receive the royalties. With that thought in mind, he put a piece of paper into a typewriter and began writing. Though there was no guarantee that he would be published, he couldn’t think of anything else to do. “It was January of 1960,” he recalled, “and according to the prognosis, I had a winter and spring and summer to live through, and would die with the fall of the leaf.”   Burgess wrote energetically, finishing nearly six novels before the fall. The irony is that Burgess did not die; his cancer went into remission and then disappeared altogether. In his long, full life as a novelist, he wrote more than 70 books. He’s best known for A Clockwork Orange, which also became a movie. If not for the death sentence Burgess thought had been handed down by cancer, he may never have written at all. It’s a great reminder to live every single day, week, month and year for all it’s worth!   Something to Think About Many of us are like Anthony Burgess – hiding greatness inside, waiting for an external emergency to bring it out. Ask yourself what you’d do if you were in Anthony Burgess’s original predicament. How would you live differently today?   Weekly Challenge Is there something that you can do differently in the second half of 2015 to move your real estate career from good to great? What do you need to do for that to happen? Take at least one step toward greatness in your career this week.   Words of Wisdom “Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.” – Anthony Burgess “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain “A great man is always willing to be little.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson “You were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously.” – Steve Maraboli “Today is a new day. Don’t let your history interfere with your destiny! Let today be the day you stop being a victim of your circumstances and start taking action toward the life you want. You have the power and the time to shape your life. Break free from the poisonous victim mentality and embrace the truth of your greatness. You were not meant for a mundane or mediocre life!” - – Steve Maraboli

Monday Morning Wake Up Call

Your Motivation, Inspiration, & Direction for the Week Ahead

Brain Training Good morning! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Are you ready to fast track your success? Research shows that we can consciously keep about seven things in our heads. Once numbers get to 10 or higher, we need to break them into smaller groups. Which list is easier to remember? 15557874567 or 1-555-787-4567?   Functions such as our heartbeat, the air temperature and the position of our feet are on autopilot, allowing us to focus on more important things. This is a very useful feature of our minds. The problem is that if we keep only consciously seeing the seven things we’ve noticed in the past, we’re going to miss the 8th, 9th and 10th things that might change our lives. So we have to tell ourselves to look for something new and different instead of what we already know.   Imagine your brain as a control tower on a battleship in the middle of the ocean. Instead of one radar system, you have dozens: the happiness radar, the misery radar, the problem radar, the failure radar, the beauty radar, the peace radar and the self-critical radar. You can choose which radar you want to turn on and which ones you want to turn off.   The happiness radar is simple to activate. Just write this question on an index card, and read it a few times a day: “What is another reason to be happy NOW?” While this question seems simple, it’s linguistically elegant because it presupposes that there already is another reason to be happy (now your brain is finding two things, not just one). And it has an embedded command to be happy right now… not in the future. Asking the question is part one. Finding the answers is part two.   Allocate 60 seconds to this question, five to 12 times a day, and this mental process will become a habit. You will be rewiring your brain and creating new, stronger neural pathways each time you answer it. Do this every day for 21 days, and you will be happier and more successful!   Something to Think About How many things would you like to change in your life? Could it really be that simple? Are you willing to invest 21 days to find out?   Weekly Challenge Let’s apply this lesson to your real estate career. Write a question on 10 index cards, and scatter them around where you will see them a few times a day (e.g., your computer, your bathroom mirror, the dashboard of your car). You don’t have to work on the answer, just read the question. See it, and let it percolate in your mind. Here are some examples: How can I double my income? How can I make a million dollars? How can I experience more freedom while earning money? Use the same question for a day, a month or even a year.   Words of Wisdom “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine “Don’t be afraid to stand for what you believe in, even if that means standing alone.” – Andy Biersack “Life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish it.” – Unknown “The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible.” – Joel Brown