I wanted to write today about something that is related to the real estate business but more importantly, the life business.

What I mean is, the values you carry into business more than likely are carried over from your personal life.  What you stand for and who you are should be the cornerstone of your mission statement, your business practices and the person people see.

I had a rather eye-opening experience today that I want to share with you.

Now, I won't get into details but the basic story is, today after a very important meeting, I realized that I had compromised who I was for a bit and it all came down on me all at once.

When times are tough, we tend to hit the survival mode and start to cut the fat (sort of speak) and we begin to cut a little too much here and not enough there.  We start to reshape our thinking.  We begin to ask and even doubt our true abilities, so, we compromise.

I am sure we all do this once in awhile.  Whether it's cutting our commission, putting buyers into our car whom we'd rather not, talk to people like they're paychecks rather than true clients, we have all done it.

Well, today, I realized that I did it to myself.  I justified doing something because in my mind, it was the only thing to do in order to feed the family.  I rationalized all the pros and not enough cons as to why I should take something on in order to make ends meet.  No don't get me wrong, I'm not above hard work and putting in long hours, but when I begin to cringe at the site of myself when each morning I am woken by the sound of the alarm rather than the sound of the birds, I know I have compromised myself a bit too much.  When each morning, I begin to "not enjoy" going to work.  When I begin to find excuses not to work is when you know in your heart, it's time to pack up and go.

I always picture myself going up on stage and talking to individuals in the business (any business for that matter) and telling them my story.  And when I get to the part where I start to tell them about how I made the wrong decisions and compromised myself for money, how I traded time for money, I will happy to also tell them the other part, the second part, where I made a stand.  I drew a line in the sand and said, "NO MORE OF THIS! I CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY!"  I am proud to tell them the part where it's okay to work hard but just work hard for yourself.  Be proud of what you do.  Be honest in your dealings.  Be truthful with yourself.

Some people may read this and say, "heck you gotta do what you gotta do." While others will ask if I did something dishonest in any of my transactions.  The answer is simply NO.  I did not.  I did however, lied to myself about who I was for the sake of a paycheck. 

The truth is, you can make money anytime, anywhere, but you can't make character and integrity.  You must live it.

Welcome back Phuong! WELCOME BACK!