"When peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger."

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

First, let me wish my sweet Em a happy 4th birthday. I no longer have two 3 year olds in my house - but it is still a whole lotta fun!

Those that know me well probably felt a little goosey when they read today's quote. Relax. TAT is not going political - at least not today.

Think about that statement and read the quote again, realizing that the thought it brought to my mind was not political at all. What do you see? When I read the quote, I heard, "When peace is broken anywhere inside me, peace all around me is in danger."

How often do we fall into that trap of allowing discord in one area to create chaos in all others? How often do we ignore the heavy because it seems easier than doing the work it takes to lighten the load. How often do we to avoid confrontation only to create a boiling situation that explodes at the most inconvenient time?

It is always hard to put the most difficult task of the day at the top of your "To Do" list. However, almost every productivity expert in the world will tell you that is exactly where it belongs. I can think of few things more difficult for me than harnessing - and holding on to - an inner peace. Maybe I should give it a higher priority.

Today I encourage you to consider your personal state of the union. Take a minute to converse with your Inner Warrior and and assess whether or not you are keeping the main thing the main thing. Is your mind like water - does it react appropriately to the rocks that are thrown in it? Or is it experiencing aftershocks of pervious disruptions? It doesn't work well in nature and it doesn't fair much better within us. Then take care of first things first.

And as always, thanks for joining me for that cup of coffee,

Children keep us in check. Their laughter prevents our hearts from hardening. Their dreams ensure we never lose our drive to make ours a better world. They are the greatest disciplinarians known to mankind

- Queen Rania of Jordan

Today is my baby's birthday. She is 3. In a week, I have another who will turn 4. A month later, one turns 13, and then 9 three months after that. Every birthday brings excitement and anticipation. Parties, family, friends, and certainly cake! There is also a lot of reflection for me.

Becoming a momma in 1997 altered more than my figure. My world view, perspective and life mission changed. As I held a full, pink blanket in my arms, I realized that I had just become responsible for another human. It was now my job to raise the mother of my grandchildren. I began to imagine the kind of woman I wanted her to be. I realized I had to set out to become that woman for her. More than a decade and 3 more babies later, it would be an understatement to say it has been a roller coaster. I have, at times, lost my smile, my drive and my mind. But, at the end of the day, mountains are mole hills and there is no monster in the closet. A great bedtime story and a hug can cure a lot of things.

Today I encourage you to find reflect on that which keeps you in check - especially if that things makes you laugh! I understand we have to spend a great deal of time focused on function and production. But for now, for this cup of coffee, imagine a birthday party with hats, and favors, presents, and, of course, cake. Allow that thought to move you to your place where your humanity lives and smile. Your day will be better for it. And as always, thanks for joining me for that cup of coffee,

"Success and failure. We think of them as opposites, but they're really not. They're companions - the hero and the sidekick."     Laurence Shames, Writer

Say the word "failure" out loud. Seriously. Don't just imagine yourself doing it or pretend like you have done it because you know I won't know. Say it out loud. If you are like me, you  don't want to do it. Just the thought of completing the exercise makes you uncomfortable. If you did muster the gumption to vocalize the word, the pit of your stomach disliked it. Interesting the way a word can inspire such fear and hesitation.   

Even now, just writing about the topic gives me pause. Some say that the things we focus on are more apt to appear in our lives. Thus, discussing failure, talking about it, speaking it out loud increases the chance that we will encounter it. Maybe.   

But, just maybe this productive discussion inspires something different. Maybe the issue isn't necessarily failure, but the perception of the situation not gone quite right. Perhaps failure is the sidekick with the misunderstood personality or even the villain who never intended to be bad - that was just the hand life dealt.  Realistically, one can never expect all things to go according to plan. At some point, at some time, some thing will be less than optimal. There will be failure. It is not if, but when. And the defining characteristic will not be the perceived shortcoming, but the benefit afforded by flexing intestinal fortitude.

Today I encourage you to reexamine your prejudices to the word "failure." Question them, turn them around, flip them inside out and try to see them in a different light. Understand that we do this not out of some strange respect to the word. In actuality, I could not care less if the semantic is well treated. I do, however, care a great deal about the effect the word has on the effectiveness of phenomenal people. I care about the effect the word has on me. And just like the monsters under our beds, it will disappear when the light shines.  

 As always, thanks for joining me for that cup of coffee,  

 Turn Around Tuesday is a weekly newsletter published by April Groves  

Real estate professionals understand the importance of personal branding.  Rarely will you see a business card or advertisement that does not a picture of the agent.  Phenomenal practice! Many people have trouble with names.  Few forget a face. Couple it with a recognizable company logo, and you have greatly increased your chances of being remembered.

Those who know me know that my hair is my favorite thing to play with.  Naturally curly, blown straight, cut it short, grow it back out, color it again.  Never crazy, just noticeably different.

This compulsion has led me to ponder, when is it time to change your photo?  Not just in terms of hair, but growing older, losing weight, getting "work done," - whatever.

When is it time to display your "new self"?

and not just to AR - but to Century 21 Ways Station in Richmond Hill!

Jolondaand I went to high school together. She has always been smart, beautiful, and personable. We had lost touch for quite sometime. Then a year ago, we met back up at a class. It was very exciting to be back in touch with an old friend.

But not nearly as exciting as the day she called me and asked about Century 21 Ways Station. When she decided to make the transfer, I could not have been happier.

Welcome, Jolonda, we are so glad you're here!

If you haven't been meme'ed yet - I am sure you will be...it is tons of fun.

I was meme'ed again and decided to toss a bit of spice into the mix - it's a bloggy contest!

I am inviting all Active Rainers to participate - and I hope you have a good time.

You can find the meme and the contest at Beautiful Chaos.

There's a lot of talk going around about the state of the market. More sellers, fewer buyers, slower business. This affects many areas of our business strategies as agents. One of the biggies is marketing dollars. Now, more than ever, it is important to ensure that your advertising is everything it can be to get the bang for your buck.

Let's talk about the good and the bad.

The Men's Warehouse has a commercial out that I think is utter brilliance. The scene is a wedding. The bride is walking down the aisle and the groom is sharply dressed. The voice over says "When everybody is looking at her, she'll be looking at you." Succinct, accurate, and emotional. I want to buy clothes from there - and I'm a girl!

Hardee's, on the other hand, has rolled out my least favorite series of commercials. Most notable, a couple is sitting on the couch watching TV. The guy has the burger. Girl decides she wants a bite - a loud, noisy, sloppy bite. The burger then inspires her into some Al Bundy/Homer Simpson clone. Not at all appetizing. Which doesn't seem like a good residual for a food company.

What does this mean about our own advertising? Simple, what seems like a good idea to us may not resonate the same way with the public. I think AR could be a great resource for us in this arena. Where better to submit ideas for ads and get objective feedback? It's just a thought.

What are the campaigns out there that make the money jump out of your pocket? What is it about them that motivates you? Which ones turn you off? How do we hedge ourselves against making the same mistakes?

I have to be honest - when I found Active Rain, I wasn't sure how much I would be able to participate.  My other two blogs were already up and running, I manage my own website, I handle a few others for non profits - and did I mention I am a full time agent? Ack.

But AR is addictive and there always seems to be more than enough stuff to talk about - judging from the way my reader stays full all the time.

I have noticed that some bloggers have "The Blog" here on AR and "the outside blog" belonging to their website.

I participate in all because, for me, they serve different functions

• AR - The Networking and education
• The Outside - Client relationship and SEO 
• The Other Outside - Because I know not everybody wants to hear about my husband, kids, folks, and other random musings, but I want to write about them.

I am curious about this decision and why some do one and others do another...

In the comment, please leave links - I would like to do some exploring!

sellsius posted an interesting question concerning self censorship about a month ago and it has plagued my mind ever since.  How much do we self censor ourselves when we blog?

The beautiful thing about blogging is the ability for others to get to know you outside of your alphabet soup of designations, business model of your company, and the name rider on your car. But, this requires some transparency.

In order for blogging to be beneficial, it must be done on some type of regular basis or readers get bored and they don't come back. Even if you are consistent - if you are consistentlyn not interesting, they won't come back either.

One suggestion could be to stir up the controversy. I am not sure I am comfortable with this approach.  I am incredibly opinionated and love political philosophy - you can imagine how many ideas I will not write about, or post even if I did. They would be, by their nature, controversial. Add to the controversy the hardness of the written word (no body language, inflection, immediate feedback) and you are possibly cooking up disaster.

This would probably generate large comment numbers and big buzz.  That is great marketing. But, it can also lead to client alienation. While I am fairly certain on my beliefs, I am generally open to new and different ideas. I am usually good at agreeing to disagree in the professional arena.  Mr. and Mrs. Client is unaware of this point.  They are only aware of my current view on a particular hot topic.

We could even be talking about something as simple as sports.  College football is a big deal (understatement) here in the South. Root for the wrong team...call it day.

So, where is the line? How do you know when you've crossed it? What do you do when your blog has hurt your business?