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Bridging the Gap to Success: Change Will Do You Good. Issue 955

By
Mortgage and Lending with Total Real Estate & Equity Solutions, LLC

Change Will Do You Good
 
"It's not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent; but the one most responsive to change" - Charles R Darwin
 
There's a group I ran across on Facebook, "I will not participate in a recession." Interesting name for a group. The title being self-explanatory. 
 
At first, I got a big laugh out it. However, once the initial humor wore off, I began to think that maybe, just maybe, the joke was on me.
 
Follow my thinking for a moment; "I will not participate in a recession." Hmmm... Really? Do you and I actually have a choice in this matter?
 
Okay, okay... Don't get your dandruff all astir and please hold back your canines. Hear me out! I know what you're probably thinking, "C'mon Ron, you're supposed to be this positive thinking, talking, teaching guy; so wouldn't it be the right choice, the positive choice- choosing not to participate in the recession?"
 
"And haven't I heard you quote Earl Nightingale in the past who encouraged me to "do the exact opposite" of "whatever the majority of people is doing" as a key to my personal success?" Well, my friend, all of this is true, but please allow me to illustrate my point:
 
Imagine that you have a full day planned ahead of you- breakfast and lunch meetings, several presentations, two hours of prospecting and follow up calls to make. A one hour tele-training class, and a half-hour tele-session with your business coach. In addition, you plan to be home to help prepare and eat dinner with your mate/family by six o'clock p.m.
 
Now on this same day, right as you pull onto the Road to Success USA, some liquored-up, spaced-cowboy shoots through the intersection (He apparently is on the cross road, the Road to Nowhere-Fast) and without so much as slowing down or blowing his horn, he rams into the side of your vehicle.
 
Although shaken, you're physically okay. However, your automobile and your daily agenda have been severely compromised. And yes, you have got some critical decisions to make at this point. None however involve closing your eyes to the facts of what just happened.
 
Hopefully you can regain enough composure to call your insurance company, book a car rental, push back or reschedule some of your appointments, delegate some of your tasks, and still make it home for your most important six o'clock p.m. appointment.
 
All being said, your day can still be a success and you will be a better more confident person because of the decisions you made.
 
Fiddling while Rome burns 

Legend has it that while the city of Rome was burning, Nero was playing his fiddle. Whether or not Nero's actions during the burning of Rome are true, the phrase has been passed down, "Fiddling while Rome burns" meaning "to...neglect priorities during a crisis."
 
The fact remains, no matter what witty slogans we choose to use, our country and for that matter, the entire world is in the midst of a financial conflagration; an inferno.
 
My own world of Commercial and Residential Mortgage Banking and Lending looks nothing like it did just two years ago- and industry changes have become as common to me as my monthly oil change.
 
Nationwide, 100's of thousands have left the real estate and mortgage industry since 2007; the crisis just too much to bear. On the other hand, many others who chose to remain, in spite of the recession, are thriving amidst present conditions.
 
Such one's acknowledged that they were in a recession and made adjustments in the way they've previously done business. It's my experience that people as a whole, don't change until they see an impelling need to do so. A fire- real or imagined- will really change your life.
 
Pretending that you can somehow shield yourself to the effects of the current recession by "fiddling" may sound clever, but in reality, doesn't impel you to change. "It's business as usual", "Status quo", and "This is the way we've always done it" are the phrases of the primordial past; as extinct as dinosaurs, mammoths, and ancient cave dwellers.
 
There's a fire going on outside of your business today; your survival requires that you make some hard decisions and hard decisions are not always easy to make. But make them, you must. John Maxwell urged, "Stop worrying about the things you can't control and busy yourself controlling the things you can." 

So, if I were to place a giant sign in front of your business today, how would it read? In fact, which of these businesses would YOU want to patronize?:

  • "Nearly Closed- due to recession"
  • "Prices Slashed- just make us an offer. We'll beat all our competitors offers. In fact, we'll even lose money to earn your business"
  • "Stimulus Special" (Ugh, I'm sick and tired of hearing that one!), or
  • "Open for Business: largest inventory in the area- will save you both time & money; 100's of best buys- daily specials; hottest deals- join our VIP members-only club; rarest & most sought after finds- you name it and we've probably got it & if we don't have it we'll help you find it!; get the best bang for your buck- 30 day no question asked guarantees,12 month warranties. Special financing options; be sure to sign up to receive notices about our daily specials"

Ready for change
 
Like any cataclysmic moment, you can allow the present recession to transform you for the better or for the worst. You can come out of it victorious or merely a victim. You can come through it strengthened or weakened- the choice is yours to make.
 
Acknowledgement is the first step to surviving. Change- Intentional and well-thought out, is the major step to thriving. Someone said that change can make you better; but doing nothing will most certainly leave you bitter.
 
Dave Anderson, Owner and CEO of Famous Dave's BBQ, said, "You don't become a sailor by sailing calm seas." And as Sheryl Crowe put it, "Change will do you good."
 
So my friend, there you have it. Whether you like it or not, the current recession has caused each of us to alter our lives- what we eat and drink, how we work, how we play, how we travel, how we spend our money, how we save and invest. Participate in it, you will.
 
But with the right attitude you can make right choices. And right choices will always lead to a good outcome. And that choice, my friend, is all yours to make.
 
To your continued success,
 
Ron "The Mortgage Doc" Reed
Total Real Estate & Equity Solutions, LLC
Commercial & Residential Business Development
(615) 829-9289
 
http://activerain.com/themortgagedoc

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