Category: Personal

Personal, Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING, Uncategorized

Front of The Class

I never did it.

Couldn’t.

To be honest – didn’t really think much of the people that did.

And I can’t tell you why. I think it’s just normal for most people to NOT sit in the front, but rather to blend in to the middle of the pack.

So think about this… What if I told you that the further back in the class you go, the less self esteem you have? The less confidence you have? The more you care about what people think of you.

Sorry if that offends you a little, but I sat in the middle too. What does that say about me?

Here’s why I think this: lately I took up yoga. In the past 2 weeks I’ve done 9 classes and I’m loving it. I felt like a bit of an idiot in my first class because I did NOT seem like the typical yoga master. I kind of look like a meat head, I don’t go to the gym to socialize AT ALL, so if people do see me they probably think I’m not the nicest guy – and yoga people all seem to be all zen, wearing spandex and less concerned with being jacked.

So what did I do? I went ALMOST in the back of the class and off to the side. Why? to not get attention and to blend in. Why? cause I thought I’d look stupid.

But in my last class I walked in and there was NO room except for the front of the class (Da Da Daaaaaaaaa). So.. whatever… I took it. Too bad.

Within the first few minutes I noticed that I was having a way better class than usual because I WAS NOT DISTRACTED. I can only guess that out of all the units of focus I can muster – having 30 people in between the Instructor and I takes up a few of those units. This time, it was just me, the wall in front – and the instructor. And man… I got a lot out of that class.

When the class was over I couldn’t BELIEVE how good the class went.

I also couldn’t believe how I could not care LESS about what anyone thought during the class. I honestly might as well have been taking a private class.

Then it hit me….

Have I been missing out on getting the most out of experiences, being present in the moment – because I’ve been distracted, or worse, concerned with what other people think?

How much have I been missing out on?

So beside Yoga itself being a LIFE HACK that’s been making me a total weapon, I find that it’s taught me this valuable lesson about having as little as possible between me and what I am focusing on.

I’ve started to become envious of those that sat in the front of the class this whole time, not giving two sh*ts about the people behind them THIS WHOLE TIME, and getting the most out of their experiences THIS WHOLE TIME.

If you’re going to be involved in an experience that you’re going to benefit from, and spend the same time and energy as everyone else – you might as well get the most from it.

Get in front.

Personal, Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING

Leading With Your Heart

When you lead your way through life with your heart, you experience it on the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows.

Through the highs that love offers, you can feel connected to a higher power – something indescribable that can only be understood through experience. If you’re lucky, you’ll feel this at least one time while you’re here on Earth.

Through the lows that love offers, you can feel so alone and betrayed, confused and broken. The world can be a dark and merciless place during these times.

Without the highs and lows – what would life be?

Shallow? Numb? Regrettable?

The polarization of the feelings love offers can often make your feelings towards how you live your life go from one extreme to the other.

Do you commit your life to it and ride the highs, and surrender to the pain of the inevitable lows?

I think so.

I think a life without it wouldn’t be one worth living.

On your path it’s important to remember that you often get what you focus on, so make sure you focus on the good.

For every death, there is a new life.

For every heartbreak, there is a new story being written.

For every end – a new beginning.

Take in and appreciate the finer things life has to have, keep a strong focus on the good – and lead with your heart.

See you on the Path

Personal, Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING

Do It On Your Own.

To start off the new year, I wanted to do something different than just wishing you a happy new year, and actually HELP you have a really happy new year!

Have you made any resolutions for 2011?

I haven’t.

Instead, about 9 months ago, I made my resolutions for each year, for the next five years, set goals for each one, and then an end goal for 10 years from now.

Seem like a bit much?

It’s not really. To me, it was about putting resolutions/goals (whatever you call them) into a bigger context and with a larger purpose. Setting your goals for years from now helps you see the big picture and helps keep your “eye on the ball”.

Is your goal really to lose 15lbs? Or is it to live a healthier life and enjoy your life more?

Is your goal really to save $10,000 this year, or is it to be more financially secure, and on the path to financial freedom?

See how context comes into play?

Well here are two bodies of knowledge that helped me come along with my goal setting:

1. This one was HUGE. I remember 1st year in university – I believe the course was ADM 1300, and the professor was Peter Koppel. He had us write down our goals for the next semester, then the next year, the next five years, ten years, and then twenty five years! Now naturally – we didn’t really know what we wanted, and couldn’t even imagine ourselves that far from now. It got better…. He asked us to write down the activities that we need to do in order to achieve those goals. The room went quiet for about 3-4 minutes, and everyone began writing down what they thought had to be done, and what kinds of actions and activities they would have to be doing to achieve their goals. Then he said “ Now look down at those activities that YOU said YOU would have to do to achieve YOUR goals that YOU defined, and ask yourself this question “Are you doing those activities?”, and more importantly “WHY NOT?”. Talk about looking at yourself in the mirror! I really didn’t have any reasons. Maybe a few excuses, but nothing that should keep me back. I felt like an idiot! Like someone had just called my bluff, and I was sitting there with nothing to show. At that moment I realized that NO ONE was going to not only tell me what I was going to do with my life, but no one was going to do it for me.
2. This was a great one as well. I picked up “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill on audio CD for my car. This book has about a dozen chapters, but the first 3 really stuck with me. The first one was about desire. It was about knowing what you wanted, and having a white-hot burning desire for it. You would write down exactly what you wanted and define a time period in which you were going to get it, and then what you were willing to trade in return (example – 80 hours a week, money, sacrificing relationships with others, bad habits, good habits, WHATEVER you felt you could reasonably give up in order to get what was important to you). The second chapter was on faith. Not faith in god, or heaven and hell, nothing like that – instead faith in yourself and an acknowledgement that you could in fact achieve the object of your definite purpose. This FACT was reinforced with plenty of cause and effect logic, and even many real life examples. The third chapter was about affirmations – or “telling yourself you can”. I LOVE this chapter for so many reasons. Mainly because I am a huge believer that you can do anything you tell yourself you can do, but it all depends on what you tell yourself that you can do! Get it? People have certain attitudes and beliefs that limit themselves and direct their lives in certain directions, and their end results is often directly attributes ONLY to these two factors, and not the situations themselves that these people find themselves in. For example – how is it that some people in the world can rise out of poverty, filth, hunger, and handicapped beginnings, to make something tremendous of themselves and end up giving back to the world and communities they came from? But yet – you (or someone you know) can sit there and tell themselves “I have no chance with (insert generic obstacle that people put in front of themselves)”. People in this world are dirt poor, are in bad health and in many cases DYING – yet can still uplift themselves and people around them – but you (or your friend) can not? Take John and Jim – two identical twins, but John tells himself “I’m a loser, I can’t get anything right, and I’m destined to fail” and Jim tells himself “ I’m a winner, things always work out for me, and I’m destined to succeed!” Now take these two twins, and start them off through life the same, and put them through the same set of circumstances through life. Would you agree that John would only see the negative in everything, always assume the worst, and possibly may never even SEE the opportunities around him, and not make the most of those that he does find? How about Jim? Do you think he would only see the best in every situation, spot the best opportunities and make the most of them? Do you think he would even think of failing? Try this: for the next 10 seconds, look around you and spot as many brown things as you can, and then come back to read the next sentence. I’ll mark your spot, GO! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Great! Now how many brown things did you see? A dozen?
Now answer this: How many red things did you see?
You might answer none!
Now look around and spot as many red things as you can. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They were there the whole time, and yet you didn’t see them!
Why is that?
Well – simply because you weren’t looking for them!
The point is that there are all kinds of different things around you at once – including opportunities and pitfalls, your own strenghts and weaknesses. Which ones are you seeing?
Chapter 3 of this book helps you reinforce who you are, and what it is you are striving to achieve, and puts in place some positive affirmations to correct your mindset and put you in a position to find the BEST in life, and those opportunities that you need to make the most of, and it helps you understand that you can in fact make the most of them.
You need to realize that you CAN achieve the object of your definite purpose, and therefore you should demand of yourself persistent, aggressive and continuous action towards its attainment. And that is what the third chapter helps you do.

So what are you going to do about it?

I would start with the 1st exercise I talked about. It’s really an eye opener.
I would then go to amazon.ca and order the audio CD as well – no joke.
Here it is:
http://www.amazon.ca/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/1596591587/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293909397&sr=8-1

Now what about your thoughts?

Do you have a certain kind of goal-setting methodology that works best for you?

Any interesting or innovative ideas?

Any that are tried, tested and true?

Personal, Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING

Personal Development and Reflection- Personal Mission Statement

I’ve been reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – and I have to say it is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I have read many books through University, and I have read a good half dozen books since I have been out (6 months actually – so about a book a month). What is really hitting me hard about reading all these books, and my ENTIRE University experience for that matter, is that it is all a tremendous waste of time unless you implement what you learn.

To me, that is simply the reality of the situation. And it’s funny, I remember professors and mentors saying it – and I thought “yah yah, is class over yet? is this going to be on the test?” Thats actually pretty terrible! I guess I can chalk that up to just being young and maybe a little bit immature as a result. I could also blame it on the fact that I didn’t really NEED to care about what was being said, I was just supposed to.

Fast forward to the real world – I am running my own business, I am now married and have a few obstacles in front of me until I start having children.  Thats quite the progress – and quite the change of mindset to boot.

So back to the book – the first chapter teaches how YOU are the creator of your own life, and then the second teaches you that your LIFE must be your first creation. Does that make sense? I might not be saying it right. It teaches to begin and live your life with the end in mind. One of the most powerful parts is the very beginning where it asks you to imagine yourself going to a funeral of a loved one. You drive over, get out of your car, see friends and family in sadness, togetherness and reflection. You walk through the funeral home and approach the casket and you see yourself lying there. It is your funeral. You get a copy of the Eulogy and see that there will be four speakers – a family member, a friend, a colleage and a member of your community. What would you like them to say about you? How would you like to be remembered?

I actually wrote it down. This exercise helped me realize what is truly important to me- the ultimate drivers behind my life.

The chapter ends with suggesting you write a personal mission statement, and it provides a link to a website that helps you create one.

www.franklincovey.com  (who’s life story is unreal).

So I built my Personal Mission Statement.

Here goes:

I am at my best when I am using my unique skills and traits to help others.
I will try to prevent times when I shelter myself too much.
I will enjoy my work by finding opportunities where I can help people solve problems.
I will find enjoyment in my personal life by providing security, freedom and pleasure.
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as Ethic, Integrity, Caring for others Welfare, Intelligence, Determination, Focus, Honesty, Sincerity, Creativeness.
I can do anything I set my mind to.

I will focus on enjoyment of life, pursuit of creativity and uplifting challenges.

Unite my team and push towards health, wealth, maturity, responsibility.

Add to the quality of life of my loved ones.
My life’s journey is to establish my family as one that is secured, healthy, wealthy, strong and happy.
I will be a person who believed in something bigger than himself, that there was a purpose behind every day of his life and he never lost sight of it.

One who devoted all his time and effort to the betterment of his loved ones and raised the bar for the standards in ethic, passion, determination and drive.

I will surround myself with family, and a handful of good friends who share my values.
My most important future contribution to others will be security, freedom, strength, land to live and profit from, access to resources and positive mind frame (created by leading by example).

Strength of character and ability will be taught.
I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

  • Realizing my potential.
  • Continuously improve my production capacity and set objectives for production.
  • Follow through with action steps – implement the knowledge I have gained.

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

  • Choice and Control of circumstances and responses to life. Quality of life is created by self and rests in my hands.
  • Consistency and perseverance in application. Devotion.
  • Pioneering a family with responsibility and love.

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

  • Being physically strong and conditioned.
  • Personal Values and Principles that guide the person that I am.
  • Focus and Unbreakable Ethic. Determination.
  • Living with Passion, Experiencing Love and Caring for others.
Personal, Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING

Friends VS Business

Yes I’m going there. Why? Because it’s a touchy subject and a lot of people have a hard time with it. More importantly however, the likelihood of me getting or loosing a client because of this blog is minimal, but the likelihood of this blog doing a lot of good for all of you out in cyberspace is GREAT. So let’s give it a shot, entertain some friendly debate and come to some conclusions.

When I first started in this industry, a lot of my first clients were friends. There was a little bit of potential energy building around me because I was just graduating, getting married, and yes – my Real Estate license. So a fair amount of people were seeing me quite often and on good terms – so the idea of having me help them buy or sell came into my sphere of influence’s head more so than otherwise. Bing Bang Boom, few deals here and a few deals there – and I had learned a tremendous amount in a very little span of time.

I was able to help some of my friends get some incredible homes, in great neighbourhoods, and for a bargain. I’m talking about homes that were 10% under what was the perceived market value, and sometimes more. I found unique units, perfect combination of features, and coordinated the whole shebang to a T.

Some of my other friends pulled a 180 on me, and used my services for a while (one was two weeks, and another FOUR months for example), and then for some reason distanced themselves and ended up getting a backdoor deal done through someone else! I was really mad about it at the time, and to be honest I think I am still a little bitter, but like I have said time and time again – when something goes wrong, look in the mirror for the solution. There is nothing wrong with not getting the deal, as long as you learn from it – and here is what I have learned:

 

  1. Friends and Business blurs the line between a business and friend relationship, and you have to put extra attention into making them as distinct as possible.  When you go out with your friends to dinner or over for some drinks – don’t be a douche and talk work the whole time. I’ve done it once or twice (because I love what I do, and people naturally are always asking about the industry), and it kind of steals from the friendship moment and turns it into a conference. Now the same goes the other way – and this is what is important. When you are WORKING for a friend, don’t be their friend the whole time, and be the Business Professional they respect and were hoping to engage. If you smell something funny in a house, or see something strange – save the stupid jokes for after hours when a good meal, drinks and hindsight go hand in hand. What you run the risk of doing is turning the work time into a hang out session, which again, blurs the lines.
  2. Its OK not to get friends business. Do I want it? More than anything! That’s why I got into this industry – to HELP and do incredible work – who better for than the ones I like the most? So far it has gone well every time with my friends and I always feel like I am top of a mountain afterwards. Do I expect it? No, I don’t. And you can’t.  Friends have hesitations about using friends for business. They have other friends or family members that might be able to help, or maybe they want to do the job themselves – and that’s OK.  It’s a fact of the matter that you will not get 100% of your friends business, and you are just going to have to learn to roll with it. If you can’t – your career will suffer. This is a business of thick hides, and those that have thin ones will get burned very quickly and end up leaving. If you begin to alienate the people closest to you in your life then all other aspects in your life will suffer. Here is my trick: Treat your friends as your SUPPORT GROUP – not your client base. While they certainly CAN be a source of business, you should look to your friends for mutual support. They will be able to give you honest criticisms, advice and yes – referrals. Who better to help you build your business than your support group! This actually reminds me of a story a good friend of mine told me in high school. This girl was a very good friend of mine, so much that we would hang out all the time, talk on the phone all the time, and even take the same classes together. Now despite the fact that she was very beautiful, this was a strictly plutonic relationship – and I learned from it! I remember one day she found out that another good guy friend of hers was only friends with her because he wanted something ELSE from her (wink wink). She was so upset because this whole time this guy had perpetrated to be a good friend when all he wanted was to get in her pants. DON’T BE THAT PERSON. If you are only friends with people to get into their WALLETS – then you will come across as a perpetrator and alienate these people.
  3. I am a RESOURCE – not a one-stop-shop of an answer for the problem of the day. What I mean is, my services are many, my services are unique, and my services cover a wide range of areas. If you treat yourself like a resource then you will start to open up opportunites for yourself and for your friends that you did not see before, and you will learn that you can help every single one of your friends without having to make them CHOOSE you, but rather, go THROUGH you. Going through you can be consultation, advice, opinions, a DEAL, direction, information, referrals to other professionals – whatever. Be dynamic, be valuable and be relevant – you will see that there are many ways that you can help, and they don’t all include your exclusive services.
  4. Other ways to get business. Now for you Realtors reading this, you might be thinking: “But what about making any money?” Ever heard of referrals? If your friend doesn’t want to use you – refer them to someone they will use and get a referral cut! Take the high road and make sure they get the best agency possible! Maybe you can refer them to another professional for a client down the road. Maybe you can just HELP your friend (crazy concept, isn’t it?) and be the really nice guy that made it all go smooth and who happens to be available to that friend’s OTHER friends and family should they want to engage you for a full commitment!  

 

My philosophy: Chase good business, not paycheques. Why? Because good business will go much further than your next paycheques will.

 Thoughts?

Personal, Real Estate - ANALYSIS, Thought Process - THOUGHT PROVOKING, Uncategorized

Who’s Bottom Line is Being Negotiated Here? Not Mine, That’s for Sure.

When representing a Buyer I often get asked, “Is your commission negotiable?” Quite often, my reply is, “Well, anything is negotiable – but my bottom line does not move, I’m sorry.”

How rude.

Really?

The way I see it, and I am confident that any good Realtor sees it – is that they are worth something. My time is worth something, so is my effort and my results. But enough about me – what about the client?

How does a discounted commission effect the people whom we represent? For one – Buyers signed up under Buyer Agency Agreements (BAA) have me and my entire brokerage behind them finding them the best deal possible. In this BAA we talk about big bad commission and how much money we are going to make by doing all of this work. Quite often enough, the commission is set at 2.5%. I let my buyers know that in the event that the listing end is NOT offering 2.5% to my brokerage, then they will be responsible for the difference up to the stated amount (i.e. Listing offering 1.5% and Buyers agree my brokerage should get 2.5% – the BUYERS will pay the 1% deficiency). I also tell my buyers that there will be a deficiency BEFORE the offer is made, and that they may have to pay themselves. So what do they do? What would you do? Let say the offer price is $250,000 and you now realize you will have to pay me a $1000 shortfall. What would you do? Just as I thought – you would offer $249,000 and pay me. So who’s pocket does the money come out of? RIGHT! – the SELLERS (they got $1000 less in their pocket, and the Buyers still paid the regular price in the end).

So tell me – why are sellers only offering 1.5% up when the offers coming in are going to be 1% less to make up the difference?

What’s worse is that it is possible that these Sellers who are not offering a fair commission to cooperating brokerages, are not getting fair exposure to buyers because other Salespersons may be hesitant to show properties that aren’t paying! These Sellers are often seen as headaches to a lot of people (sorry to say, but Im being honest) – when it doesn’t even make a difference to how much $$ is involved! Why make yourself a headache for no reason? Why put a big X on your forehead for NO REASON?

So the money comes out of the SELLERS pocket regardless, and now the seller is hurting their chances of getting the BEST kinds of Buyers in to their house (qualified by buyer agents aka they HAVE MONEY), AND they have set the stage for a potential deal with two picky and unhappy parties. Who wins? The sellers don’t, I know that much.

So what about the Seller that has a Professional Real Estate Salesperson list their home for them and who agrees to take a hit on their commission to get the business?

To this Seller I have one question: Do you REALLY want a Salesperson to price, list, negotiate, and close on your home – one of the biggest investments in YOUR life (not theirs), one that is supposed to represent your best interests and fight for you and your bottom line – if they can’t represent their own best interests properly, fight for themselves or their own bottom line? Do you? What if I told you this discount commission you are ‘saving’ is actually coming out of your pocket REGARDLESS in the form of a % difference on incoming offers to pay the buyer agent? WHAT IF the salesperson employed is giving you a certain % of their effort for your certain % of pay?

You shouldn’t want that. You should want a strong, smart, resourceful and determined Salesperson that will not only stand up for themselves, but stand up for YOU and YOUR INVESTMENT and YOUR MONEY.

I wouldn’t hire a discount army to defend my country and I wouldn’t hire a discount doctor to look after my loved ones. I don’t even want a discount dry cleaner to clean my suits for Pete’s sake! Why would anyone want a discount Realtor to represent them with hundreds of thousands of dollars in the balance?

Do a good job, deliver what you said you would, and make me happy and you will get my business.

This country was founded on hard work that relied on honourable businessmen with integrity and an unbreakable work ethic. When my grandfathers were working in the bush and risking their lives to feed their families, or working with the military to rescue my relatives from abroad – they did so with by being strong, prepared, qualified, honest, smart, determined, and hard working.

 As they were – so am I.

I will not negotiate my bottom line, and I will not negotiate yours.