Do we really know what is important? In any given day, do we value what we have or just take it for granted and let the petty frustrations of our real estate career bury our real life's mission and divert our priorities?  Do we often half listen to our spouse or children because we have a transaction falling through or a seller who seems impossible? Tonight, I was with a friend at the airport as he waited for his wife and son. They were late. Usually, this scene would have created feelings of frustration, impatience or maybe even anger. Some may have complained to whoever would listen that they had things to do or places to be. Some would have spoken of the inconvenience of the delay. This night was different. When a cell phone rang to tell us the passengers we awaited would finally arrive in 10 minutes, the wait seemed like 10 years. No one complained.

My friend , Frezghi Abraham, was breathing rapidly, his face was awash with anticipation and he was hanging onto the friends who had assembled with him to give him strength and share his joy. This was a moment he had been waiting for. Tonight, he was to see his wife and 11 year old son for the first time in 10 years. Tomas was a baby when he last saw him. As a recent Eritrean refugee to the US, Frezghi had spent every waking hour working to make this moment possible. In his native country, he had endured prison and torture; he and his wife had been injured in a bombing. She lost an eye. Then they were separated; if he stayed, he would have been killed.  In the last 13 months, she and her son have been in hiding in Sudan while the government was rounding up foreigners and putting them in refugee camps.  She hid for their lives.  Frezghi frantically called anyone he could find to help get his wife and son out of Sudan. It worked.   Tonight all the trauma ended   When his wife and son finally appeared, everyone cried. Everyone hugged and embraced his family. Such pure joy!

Tonight, when we are tempted to go to sleep thinking that work is more important than reading to a child or spending uninterrupted time with our spouse or parents or friends, hopefully we will remember this story.

Our relationships and our community, not our deals or our businesses are our most precious assets. We all want careers worth having and businesses worth owning, but most of all we need and want a life worth living!  Live in gratitude for your own incredible self, your family, your friends and colleagues. Remember to express appreciation for how blessed you are.

As serious business people in real estate it becomes clear really fast that safe is not where we want to be. I am not talking about personal safety which of course is paramount in our business, but rather being "safe" in our business practices. We grew up with our parents telling us not to talk with strangers; we are told not to be pushy; we are admonished to take one step at a time and whatever you do don't "make a scene" The fact is we are in a very competitive business. Recently, at the Keller Williams national convention called Family Reuniion, I had the privilege of hearing Seth Godin, author of his most recent best seller THE DIP.  Have you read it? If not run to the bookstore to get it. Godin told us..Hey, there is a superstar shortage in real estate. A shortage of trustworthy superstar agents. Being the best is not about effort and not about cheering. Whether you are judged the BEST is up to the person interacting with you. Our goal is to be the best in our self-defined world. Godin talks about the DIP being the chasm between "showing up" and pushing through all obstacles to ultimate success.  People start talking about you when you are out there, taking a chance! Be just a little bit better and people start talking about you. The old "safe" way of doing real etsate was to get a listing, buy a lot of ads, do cold calling, sell the house, make a commission, and put the money back into the ads to get another listing etc.  Get a buyer sell them a house and get another buyer. According to Godin, the new mantra is to BE REMARKABLE. You can't just do the job like everyone else.  It is all about your unique story, people "buy" your story...they see you are different; they spread the word to others..List with Her..her work is remarkable. The process propels itself.

But, you say. the market is... With 23 years worth of markets under my belt, my answer is "Who cares?" The fact is that agents "buying into" a down market are following the lemmings into the sea. Playing it safe. Don't invest in your business now, they say. I don't have the money for training now. There are no buyers. It is hard to get clients now. If you hear yourself saying these things, you may have hit your DIP. Godin talks about what can happen when people hit the DIP. Responding with stress means that some are getting tired and quitting the business. They panic and quit. They are frustrated with waiting and quit. They think they don't have the talent and quit and so on. Now is the time to make the choice. Are you going to push through the DIP? It is up to you to decide. When you decide, measure your progress or get a coach to help and hold you accountable. You can't see progress unless you have a plan and a commitment to it.

Mediorce is easy. Average is overrated. The alternative.... Aim High. Act Bold, Live Large. Be remarkable!

I just love that Geiko commercial. It made me think of how long I put off creating a real estate blog, because I thought it would be do technologically challenging. Active Rain is brilliant in that AR recognizes that real estate agents need tools that they can used without having to be IT specialists. I have no idea how a digital camera actually works to capture images, nor should I have to know all the  details of how a blog is constructed. Kudos to Active Rain for creating a way for the less than techy to participate in the blogosphere. I intend to train other Realtors on how to participate in this exciting arena. Thanks to all who sent words of encouragement on my 1st blog. You were awesome!

I have experienced many "firsts" of significance in my life. There would be the first step (that one I don't remember), 1^st date, 1^st job in first university teaching career, 1^st ocean dive for my SCUBA certification, 1^st run for public office, 1^st sale in my real estate career and so on through life. All these were anticipated for a period of time and with enthusiasm. However, I never anticipated a first blog nor did I anticipate my enthusiasm to be tempered by just a tad of terror. Nevertheless, my years of real estate business beginning as Rookie of the Year in both units and volume for a national franchise followed by nearly 22 years of a successful and profitable practice leaves me eager to share and determined to help others be the best they are committed to be in real estate and in life. Life today in all its facets in my opinion is about relationships. Talent, education and experience while very important are not as important as those connections we make on a daily basis. My hope is that my blog will lead to a whole new set of valued relationships with my readers.

 

Have you read the QBQ by.....?  This amazing book and his follow up book Flipping the Switch (more about these in a later blog) have taught me to ask the right questions. The "what" and "how" questions instead of the blame& guilt questions often beginning with who, when or why. My friend Fran Flynn Thorsen, a blogger of national import was my inspiration to step out of my comfort zone and go "public" with my "what" and "how" questions. What can I do to help raise the bar in the real estate industry? How can I help other real estate professionals achieve their dreams? This is my mission on a daily basis in the non-cyber world of real estate as Broker of Record and Team Leader of the highly productive and profitable office of Keller Williams Real Estate in Allentown. Join me to discover how  my agent leadership team and I strive to provide the cultural and learning based environments with our agent partners so that they will have careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. Or just ask a question. I like putting my years of experience to the test.