1. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying just having the vision is going to magically manifest what you want (tho sometimes it does!). What I am saying is the visualization is the 1st step. As I am working with people on their 2012 Business Plans... this is where we start... I also always suggest a Destiny Display (Or Vision Board ) to give you something to look at regularly to remind you of what you want.(Easy to make with posterboard and magazine pictures or Also... a very cool F*R*E*E Vision Board on Mike Dooley's site, The OrangePeel Vision Board you can use both on your computer and as a print out!!! And a simple My Vision in Progress Box that is portable with strong magnets!)

• Who would you hang out with?
• What would you do?
• What would you read?
• Where would you go?
• Where would you be living?

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The Fun and Excitement are about to begin in Anaheim as 20,000 real estate professionals converge for the annual convention!

This will be a week for me to see friends, old and new! It'll be time to network, learn, laugh and look at all the new tech stuff at the meetings and the EXPO. I have attended every Convention since 1988 and it is one of the highlights of my year. I find it helps me understanding the BIG picture and get a chance to hear from people what IS working.

Here are a some tips that have helped me and hopefully if you are coming will help you! 

The first, I'm sure won't surprise you, coming from me....

Have a plan!

Include these:

• Know specific people you want to connect with. Make a list. Contact some of these people ahead of time and decide when and where you can connect.
• Make a list of specific items or resources you need to be more focused in the EXPO.
• Really important....... Create a budget for the EXPO. You will see many possible resources to spend money on!
• Make your "wish list" of new techniques or ideas you want to find out more about in the educational sessions or breakouts! Would your business thrive next year if you knew more about Going Green? Or working Short Sales? Or 2^nd Homes?
• Keep a little journal with ideas you get and come back afterward and pick the next 3 (Joeann's Rule of 3) items to implement into your business. Prioritize the other ideas and time frame them or move to your "Maybe, Someday" list
•  Pick the education sessions that are most relevant and then order the MP3 recordings of the others you can't go to. (If you aren't going to be there-you can still order these!)

If you aren't already going...it's not too late! Hop in the car or on a plane and come!

You can also follow the Twitter Stream at #narannual or follow the Facebook Page at Realtor's Conference and Expo.

Several of my coaching clients are having their best year ever and I also hear stories from people at the National Convention about how to thrive in these challenging times. Lots of reasons to be enthused! 2012 is going to be an amazing year.Are you ready? It IS your choice how it is going to look! Give yourself the advantage.

When did we stop volunteering?

I saw an extraordinary interlude last week when I visited St Paul’s School for Girls for high school reunion. One of the wonderful activities they planned for our Class of ‘66 was to pair each of us with someone from the 5th grade. The 5^th graders wrote us a letter a couple of weeks before the Alumnae Weekend and then we met with them briefly on our school visit. What fun to compare notes! Each 5^th grader has their own email address through the school and I am continuing to correspond with my buddy, Emmy Shields, who told me “I really like music because it is fun and when I have a lot of things to worry about, it seems to lift them off my shoulders!” What wisdom!

At the end of our visit (this is the extraordinary interlude), one of the teachers said to the group I need a volunteer. An amazing thing happened-almost every girl there raised her hand- they didn't even know what they were volunteering for, but they wanted to be the chosen one! Turned out our visit was going to make them late for their next class. This teacher thought it would be nice to take the cookies we hadn't eaten to the teacher whose class they were late for! Teaching them thoughtfulness and kindness!

What really delighted me, though, was the reaction of the girls to a request for a volunteer....

those girls were eager to participate in whatever life was going provide rather than being cautious about volunteering and taking a risk.

These days in my classes and my coaching practice, I spend a lot of time with grown ups-most of whom have ceased to be curious and eager to get a chance to try something unknown. As we age, it seems we become resigned and, sometimes, fearful of anything outside our comfort zone!

My challenge to you this week……

• Be aware & volunteer!
• Find something to say yes to! (yes…I know I usually tell you to say “no” more…humor me!)
• Find something to make life nicer for someone else!
• Reconnect with the child you were when you were 8 or 9 who wants to make a difference and then do it!

Make it a Delicious Day!
It IS up to YOU!!!!

If we aren't already connected...

...or if you haven't joined my my Facebook business side... please come play!

...or come play on FourSquare!

1. Have a Vision and Dream Big! My husband and I haved loved staying at Kona Village,a special resort, on The Big Island of Hawaii. Unfortunately it was devastated by the Japanese Tsunami this Spring. On one of our visits, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who passed away last week was also there. As I passed by the surf shack where they beachboys gave us towels and sunscreen, I overheard him asking one of the boys…so what’s your vision for this place five years from now. I loved that…as much of my work is helping others define and then live their vision.
   
   One of my favorite quotes by Steve Jobs described how I romantically see myself and the other members of the Class of 66. He said:
   
   "Here's to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes.The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world - are the ones who DO!"
   
   His Stanford Speech is also full of wisdom and if you haven’t seen it, watch and then start to connect the dots in your life
   
   Now, I can’t say I’ve changed the world in the scale of Steve Jobs, but I have had the opportunity through my coaching to help myself and others change their lives to be happier and touch others

1. Take total responsibility for your circumstances. Don’t blame others, but find what you CAN do and then move forward.
   
   Mother Theresa said 'If everybody cleaned their doorstep, the whole world would be clean'.
   
   I ask my grandchild, Lily, each day what she has learned and who she was kind to. If we each do that every day: learn something and make someone else feel good, we can make a huge difference in the world.
   
   I have realized none of us need to be famous and do great acts to make the world a better, and perhaps, kinder place.

1. Trust Your Heart and Have Faith. This has been a hard one for me. I am soooo impatient. The sign in my office says, “God Grant me patience and I want it right now!” I want to MAKE things go my way, but I have begun to understand that God’s plan and mine may not have the same timeline.
   
   Another Theresa, St. Theresa, also called Saint of the Little Ways believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love. 
   
   Her prayer always gives me comfort:
   
   "May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

1. And, lastly, always remember: You cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought. While you can’t always control your circumstances, you can control your reaction to them. Quantum Physics tells us what we focus on expands. I feel exceedingly rich and fortunate to have had the opportunities my education and my country have afforded me.
   
   Every day above ground is a good one. In my personal world today, there is an abundance of food and water. I’m safe and there is no shooting going on around me. Life is good and I try hard to remember be appreciative and do what I can to live every day giving thanks and spreading love.

Joeann's October Freebies

1. With 3 months left in the year, do you know where your production is based on your business plan for this year? Have you created some goals for the next 90 days to kick it up a notch and finish strong? I use this tracking sheet with my clients each quarter. Set aside a little time to position yourself for a great 4th Quarter!

2. Think & Grow Rich - I’ve offered this before but you can get a paperback copy for only the shipping costs! If you already have one, get one as a present to someone. Napoleon Hill shares the secrets of the Rich and the thinking that got them there! I just got his newly released book, Outwitting The Devil: The Secret To Freedom & Success which my friend, Kristi Soligo, sent and tells me it is fabulous!

3. And Best of all!!!!! A FREE Fossland's Forum Webinar 

Capture Leads With QR Codes with Carrie Gable

Utilizing QR Codes In Real Estate To Capture Leads

Thursday, October 20, 2011
6 AM Hawaii, 9 AM PDT & AZ, 10 AM MDT, 11 AM CDT, Noon EDT

Are you in the dark about what QR Codes are and how you, as a Real Estate agent, can benefit from using them? Wondering what all the buzz is about? Have no idea how to get one? This presentation with Carrie Gable of RealSupport, Inc. will not only answer these questions, but will also show you how to create your own QR code(s) along with 10 marketing ideas to showcase how QR codes can drive more traffic to your website and capture leads.

Sign up Here for the NEXT Fossland's Forum!

Make it Delicious Today!
It IS up to YOU!!!!

If we aren't already connected...

...or if you haven't joined my my Facebook business side... please come play!

...or come play on FourSquare

I can't think of a more fun person to spend some time with than the wonderful Margaret Rome! She always shares with me the smart things she is doing in her business and every time I talk to her I am inspired! Did you read her book? If not...Get yourself a copy!!!! Lots of wisdom to help you through the challenging times!!!!

Thanks Margaret for making time to connect in yoiur busy schedule!

• Choose the 3 highest payoff actions you can take and do it!
• Create a plan for your connecting with clients in the next 3 months.
• Plan a client appreciation party
• Call your entire database and update your information: birthdays, emails, etc
• Take a class on a topic you want to become more proficient in
• Know what production you want to create between now and the end of the year and double your prospecting time!
• Finetune your Social Media Plan and double the number of “touches” (commenting, liking or sending direct messages)

If you missed RainCamp Online, you get a 2nd chance! The sessions were filled with wonderful ideas and tips and I am so greatful for the generosity of the speakers and to ActiveRain for putting it all together! Listen and learn!!

Do you believe in miracles?... My definition of a miracle as something that wasn't going to happen anyway. Through your vision and intention, you bring things about. I just LOVE knowing I have the power to do this! And, I love playing with it.

Last year, before the NAR Convention, I decided many vendors would be giving away iPads and I WANTED one! I was going to win one! So I visualkized, I told people I was going to win one and I entered at every booth that was giving them away. I did not win one at the convention. But I DID win one 6 weeks later when the Phoenix WCR Chapter had one as a fund raiser. The incident reminded me that the things I intend don't always come with the time frame I imagine, but but they do come!

Miracles show up in our lives as little things and big things. My grandchildren are definitely miracles. As is my new house. I had a picture on my wall in my office for 5 years that is almost identical to the view from my living room!

To wake up each day, healthy and with food in the fridge is a miracle! It's a miracle that the love of my life and I have been together 33 years! And I love the little ones -- like going to the used bookstore and finding the book I want out front on display, or getting a parking space right up front! I've noticed when I acknowledge and appreciate the ones that have already shown up, it seems to engender more happening.

I have started A Course in Miracles Workbook, with its 365 lessons. Each morning I read the Lesson for the day and spend a few minutes during the day of practicing. The initial lessons have been about what is real and what is made up and taken for reality. I am seeing most of what causes fear and unhappiness is because I am BELIEVING something that triggers those thoughts. By seeing, I am putting the meaning to it... rather than that is what it REALLY means ... gives me the ability to put another meaning on it so I am not negatively impacted.

So, what's that got to do with miracles? I know my Thoughts become Things™ (Thank you Michael Dooley) and when I focus on and intend what I DO want (instead of complaining & worrying about what I don't have), miracles unfold. Now, as I have experienced...they don't always come WHEN I think they should or dressed in the clothing I am expecting, but they do come. Being patient about this and letting go and trusting is all new to me... I am working on it and haven't perfected it!

Our move this summer and the slowdown in my work schedule are giving me some delicious time to do some cocooning & time to play with these concepts and I notice I am smiling more and troubled less.

What miracle(s) do you want in your life?

Some Coaching Tips:

1. Notice anywhere you are stressed, worried or discontent. Then think about what rule or meaning or belief you have about that situation. Make up another possible meaning or belief (or several). Pick a new one that isn't draining.
2. Wake up each morning and say, "This is going to be the best day ever" And then think what you could do to make that so.
3. Identify something that is causing pain or worry. Spend 5 minutes with your eyes closed, taking nice deep breaths and Listen for your own inner wisdom and that of the powers in the universe to give you some insight about how to make it better. Do this daily and you'll find even if you don't get an immediate action, that there is less negativity impacting you.
4. For any problem you have, ask yourself, "What is the absolute worst that could happen?" Often the worst is something we could survive or something that is unlikely to happen (I had one client answer that she would be a bag lady... .and then she realized that was an unrealistic fear AND she had skills that certainly would prevent that ever happening)

Kodak is staying ahead of everyone with their new cloud printing services! How cool is this???How could this save you time and untether you from your office!