MY BROKER SUCKS! - PART 2 OF 3

MY BROKER SUCKS! - PART 2 OF 3

As I left off on the previous blog, my broker suggested that I start reading and journaling.  She begins her day with a time of reading, reflecting and journaling.  Not me, I'm a coffee and newspaper guy first thing in the morning.  Have been for most of my life.  It comes I think from those early mornings as a youth delivering the daily papers back home in Kansas!  So, as you can see, some habits die hard.  I do still enjoy the paper and coffee, but I've added a couple of new steps in the old morning routine!

As I stated before, I was in a bit of a funk.  I had no energy, little drive.  Some of you may know the routine.  It wasn't just mental.  And to help understand my funk, over the summer I became a cancer survivor.  I say this to help everyone understand my mental state, which wasn't good.

Let me ask you, if you had a friend or business associate who was having difficulties, what would you do?  My broker noticed all of this, and wasn't going to let me stay there.  Let me explain how.

She noticed that I was being inconsistent in my weekly efforts.  Why?  I didn't have any 'investment' in the game!  What'd she do?  You may have guessed.  ACCOUNTABILITY!  Yep, that's it!  If I didn't do what I said I'd do over the next week, she'd be in my pocket!  YES, COLD HARD CASH!  I don't know about you, but giving up my Starbuck's and lunch allowances for NOT doing what I said I'd do didn't work for me.  Let's just say she had some great lunches and lots of Starbucks!

Am I money motiviated.  Yes!  Aren't we all at some point in this business?  We have multiple reasons to do what we do, but at the end of the day money is one way we measure success.  I chose not to keep supplying her Starbuck's habit, and over time have been much more successful in keeping up.

That's not to say I've been 100% successful, but definitely better.  And then the unexpected happened!  Horror of horrors to those of us working from our home office.  Yes, my broker came to visit.  She had been having trouble with her fax, and long story short after several attempts, asked if she could come over and use mine.  Oh #$*&%@!  I had to quickly hide stuff.  Why?  Well, let's just say may office was a bit cluttered!  We got her fax off and she went on her way.  No big deal, I THOUGHT!

Our next coaching session was a NIGHTMARE in my mind!  You may have noticed by now that I am extremely closed minded and NOT-AT-ALL OPEN TO NEW IDEAS.  My broker thought things over about my office condition, and HAD THE NERVE TO SUGGEST that my office was a reflection of my life.  Man, that was deep.  She thought that if I cleaned it up and got it more organized, that things generally would improve.  Great idea? Right?  Well, yes generally.

Now, here's the investment in accountability in this situation!  Yes, more cold-hard-cash!  But we're not talking Starbuck's here!  Oh no!  Here's where part of the "My Broker Sucks" comes in.  She likes wine.  And not just the $2 Buck Chuck variety!  Don't get me wrong, I like wine too.  And for the penalty in not doing what I 'chose to commit to do' would have been sufficient cash to buy some really nice wines!  Yes, that's plural.

Yes, I did get it cleaned up and organized.  It needs work daily, but I'm doing a much better job.  I really hate it when people control what I do!

Getting cash out of my pocket is another way that MY BROKER SUCKS! Part 2 of 3