(Old) Man Camp Stories Part 3: Whistle While You Work

So by now you have probably picked up on the fact that the weekend of (Old) Man Camp was wet. Sopping wet. It was not the crisp fall weather I envisioned when signing up, it was slop. We had to build camp, light a fire, cook food in never ending rain. Now, this could have completely ruined my trip-and justifiably so but why be miserable? Thankfully my group and I decided to make the best of a bad situation and have fun.

Making the best of a bad situation is a life lesson. Things will not always go your way. Deals may be rough, inspections fall through, some clients are more challenging to work with but you always have control over your attitude. Having a positive outlook and remembering that this to shall pass will help you remain calm no matter what life (or business) throws at you.

Even in the rain I loved (Old) Man Camp. I am so happy I went and learned to make a fire in the rain! I am happy to have met the people I did. It was made more enjoyable by the positive attitudes everyone had. Never let it rain on your parade.

(Old) Man Camp Stories Part 2: Latrines. Can You Dig It?

(Old) Man Camp brought many opportunities for me to try my hand at new things. Lighting a fire in the rain, managing to get out of wet clothes without bringing water into the the two man tent, so many many things I learned. By far the most important was digging latrines. Without the latrines we would have nowhere to go, so to speak, and I thought it would be an easy job (just dig a hole!) and so I volunteered. I could not have been more wrong.

First there were specifications for digging this hole. Six feet long, one foot wide, one foot deep. The next problem was that I was not digging in dirt, I was digging in wet clay (it rained the entire time) and a basic shovel would not cut it. I had to use the right tools for the job in order to make progress.

Having the right tools for the job is an important life lesson in whatever you do. In real estate this means having the right technology. Some people are slow to pick up new innovations, but In an ever advancing society that will put you quickly behind. Clients may want to see property on the fly or look at pictures of a house before going in. You better have mechanisms to make that happen. Documents can be signed electronically saving everyone time, are you using those tools? Staying on top of current technology can save you time and show clients you are a savvy professional.

I may not dig any more latrines, but if I do I will know which tools to use to make the job go smoothly. That is good advice for any situation.

(Old) Man Camp Stories

Over the weekend I attended a retreat called Old Man Camp. I got to know new people, I got to hike long distances, I got to freeze my butt off in the rain, but I had a lot of fun. Everyone there had to come out of their comfort zone in some way and learn new skills, be they interpersonal or physical. Good thing some men knew how to start a fire in the rain, that was a skill a lot of us had to learn!

Before even setting out on the retreat we learned that we would not be camping with anyone we knew. This was a great way to practice building relationships. I would be spending the weekend with completely new people and having to work with them to get tasks accomplished. Would I get along with everyone? Hiking and camping in the rain I would have to at least figure out a way to get along. Truthfully, In this situation it is easy to figure out just how much you have In common with new people.

I often say Real Estate is a business of relationships. We need to work with other agents and clients with all different types of personality types. The more personal relationships you build the more referrals can happen, the more business follows. (Old) Man Camp was an extreme way to practice relationship building, but the idea follows through into professional and personal life. Doing things together and learning the art of getting along is a skill that will serve you well in many aspects.

Making Choices

It is my Grandaughter Sasha’ s birthday this week and to celebrate Lois and my daughter took her to The American Girl store in Columbus. Sasha told me the night before that it was going to be her biggest, best day ever. Even though she was at our house the night before (where Lois lives by the credo that there are no rules at Grandma’s) Sasha still went to bed at eight, seemingly because she knew the faster it was morning time, the sooner she would be at the store.

Lois said that when the group got to the store Sasha was all over the place! So many choices to make! Which Doll? Which outfits? Should she get furniture? There were a million other little girls making the same decisions. Sasha had to carefully decide which were the right choices for her. After some negotiations she made her decision and chose a beautiful doll, some accessories to go with the doll,a casual outfit, and a party dress. She decided to forgo the bed she desperately wanted for more outfits. Pretty good haul. She was pleased and walked out of the store not wondering what if.

There can be so many options available in business that it can be hard to make decisions. Sometimes a choice that may be extra shiny may catch your eye (the doll bed with beads!) but won’t be practical in the long run. It is important to make good decisions about the people you work with as far as mortgage writers, inspectors, and title companies- they are an extension of you. It is also important to make good decisions about the way you market yourself, the technology you use, and who you hire to work in your office.

In a sea of different choices making the right ones is the way to guarantee professional success and satisfaction.

Top of Your Game

The Bengals are headed into game three at 2-0. They have made some great gains since last season including shoring up defense and exploiting all of their offensive weapons. It may seem like a break in the schedule to be playing the 0-2 Ravens, but that would be deceiving.

The Bengals play the Ravens twice a year since they are In the same division, both teams know the other’s weaknesses and how to exploit them. Having lost 2 games the Ravens will be fighting to win a game and not give up too much ground within the playoffs. Most importantly, the Ravens have home field advantage- their fans will be cheering them on hard. All of these things add up to The Bengals needing to be extra vigilant to protect their record.

Things that can seem to be an easy task on the surface often hide dynamics that make the task significantly harder. In sports these turns up as losses that should not have happened, in real estate life these turn up as the inspection that goes wrong, losing the listing of good customers to a competitor, or the mortgage approval that comes with extra qualifiers. A touchdown has to have many factors come together perfectly to happen, the same can be said of a closed deal.

Never take for granted that something is a done deal. Never underestimate your opponent. Always be at the top of your game.

Ready For Battle

During my Morning walk one morning I saw a battleship on the Ohio River. I am sure it was headed to some exposition but it was a sight to behold with the sun shining on it. Since it was the morning time I thought to myself that this ship was a reminder to prepare every morning for battle. Real estate can be tough and it is better to be In the foxhole than on the outside.

One way to be prepared is to take some breathing time for yourself before your day begins. You can exercise, you can write, you can read, you can meditate, but do something to center yourself for the day. Something where you can think and plan and visualize just how your day will go.

Once you have centered yourself go over your schedule. Are you double booked? Does anything need to be moved around? Do you have all the contact numbers, e mail, addresses, and directions to all of your appointments? Take some time to organize those items so that you have them at your fingertips when you need them.

By taking time to center and organize yourself for the day you essentially prepare yourself for the battle of your day and being prepared is half the battle!

Early Bird

I am a morning person and always have been. I get up every morning at 6 AM to walk and start my day. The walk helps get me focused and energized for the day to cone. Listening to my favorite music (Neil Diamond) and feeling the cool breeze (in the summer 6AM May be the only cool air) I look around me at the fresh start of the world and realize that today is different than yesterday. Whatever happened yesterday, be it bad or good, is over and today starts anew .

I know some of you are thinking “I am not a morning person, how does this apply to me?” Lois is a night owl so I completely understand that some people don’t feel 9:30-10:00 is an appropriate bed time. I do believe the day is easier if you can take some time in the morning to focus yourself for your day. This may not mean getting up at six, maybe eight gives you time to focus before you head out at ten. Give yourself an hour to focus on yourself and the day at hand. The rest of the day will be busy, don’t you deserve a minute of peace and inspiration?

By the time you start on work you will have your mind focused, thought all of your extraneous thoughts, and be ready for your first task of the day; hopefully you have that set as prospecting. Grab your fresh start daily and see how much more a focused mind can accomplish.

Gotta Go Back to School Again…

When my kids were little they loved the movie Grease 2. I am not sure why they preferred the sequel to the original, but they did and they knew all the words to all the songs. The first song was “Back To School” all about high school students NOT wanting to go back to school. Little kids love going back to school, they cannot wait to learn new things. All of my Grandkids were chomping at the bit to get to school. So what changes as we get older?

As we get older it is not that we want to stop learning, but that the way information is presented to us is more mundane, something we may not be interested in, and let’s be honest more difficult material. Being a teacher myself I know how important it is to present material in exciting ways that keeps new agents alert and engaged. I also think we get stuck in our ways and learning new things challenges the status quo in ways that are difficult to us.

Real Estate is ever changing. The good news is that through classes offered by your broker when they roll out a new program or by taking a class to earn a new certification you always have a way to learn new points of view and  that can enhance business. Technology is another area where new classes can improve knowledge and thereby business. Courses offered by your broker may be met with drudgery but are good opportunities to expand knowledge about your craft.

When it is time for these classes will you be the young child eagerly awaiting class or the older student dragging your feet? When you consider all it cab do to help your business the smart thing is to embrace it.

Happy

Lois was out running errands the other day and one of them was grocery shopping. Somehow she can find a reason to go to Krogers every single day, it is part of the mundane daily tasks we all have to accomplish. I think because it is something that people see as just another thing to check off their list as they complete their day most people do not enjoy grocery shopping. While Lois was shopping this particular day Pharrell’ s “Happy” came on over the speakers. Suddenly shoppers were dancing in the aisle and high fiving each other and generally enjoying themselves. It is amazing what a change of perspective can do!

Now it is true that “Happy” wants to make people dance and I know that we cannot go through life with “Happy” as a theme song playing behind us, but we can change our outlook and have fun while completing mundane tasks. The drudgery of everyday is done for a purpose- so that we can have smoother lives in the long run. If you do your prospecting daily, if you make sure you are following your marketing plan, if you take time to file papers and update your database you are doing everything you can control to make sure business is flowing smoothly. None of these tasks are “fun” but doing them with a smile (and maybe some background music) can help make them seem less like drudgery.

So next time you have a basic task to accomplish put a smile on your face, turn on some music and be HAPPY!

Some Like It Hot ppl

Now that it is September we (at least in Cincinnati) are finally feeling the August heat. There were no days in the nineties in August,but the first week of September could see four days. Our city tends to have unpredictable weather, but when September starts most of our brains switch to fall and to much cooler temperatures. I, for one, am ready for crisp fall mornings- walking in humidity is for the birds! Even when the temperatures finally cool off we will probably have the odd day or even week when the thermometer rises unseasonably high. You never know when you will have a hot streak.

You never know when you will have a hot streak. Isn’t that a concept for business as well as fall temperatures? We, in real estate, often have times when we expect to be busy and times we expect to be slow. What if we just expected to always be hot? To always be busy. To thrive in the hum of the industry. Or just to even be prepared for the unexpected hot streak? Nobody says you have to slow down the closer to winter we get. As a matter in fact many new agents have busy Holiday seasons because nobody tells them to slow down.

Hot streaks happen, they are the result of hard work. They don’t have to be streaks if you constantly have future business in the pipeline. In real estate sales we ALL should like it hot!