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Are you a workaholic? The dangers and telltale warning signs of living an unbalanced life. Part 2"

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Education & Training

My partner, Greg Herder, and I are in the middle of our Gateway seminar program in Orlando as I write this and I have been talking to so many agents who are so panicked about their business and life, they have lost any sense of balance.  They seem to be in such reaction, that I thought I would write the next part of my comments from last week, about some of the hazards of being or becoming a workaholic. Think you don’t have a problem?  Then take the Test below and see how you score…

So, are you a workaholic? Even if you're not someone who describes yourself this way, you might be on a slippery slope toward an unbalanced life.  Answer "seldom," "often" or "never" to the following questions to gauge where you stand:

   1. You work outside of your desired work hours.
   2. You find yourself canceling or postponing planned events with your friends and family because "I have to show a property."
   3. You find yourself working seven days a week.
   4. You don't take one entire weekend off each and every month.
   5. You fear taking vacations because your business can't survive without you.
   6. You answer your cell phone, interrupting family activities or "free time."
   7. You find yourself trying to do two or more things at once.
   8. Your daily work rarely matches what you planned to do each day.
   9. You find yourself working "in" (tactics) your business instead of "on" (strategies)it.
  10. You lay in bed at night thinking about your clients or your job instead of dreaming about that tropical vacation you've got planned.

The more "often" answers you got, the better the chance that you are a workaholic. Too many "seldom" replies and you're also in danger. The first step to overcoming the workaholic trap is recognizing that you need to change the way you do business. The systems Greg and I teach at the Gateway are all about working smarter, not harder, to achieve the lifestyle you truly desire, to the make more in less time, to leverage yourself through marketing systems and people . These are all topics for another article; this one is all about creating awareness and alerting you to the dangers of being a workaholic.

So what did you discover?  Let me know how I can help you!

June Piper-Brandon
Coldwell Banker Realty - Columbia, MD
Creating Generational Wealth Through Homeownership
Don, Great post!!  I used to be a workaholic, now I realize how important it is to have a well balanced life.  Real Estate is like the movie Field of Dreams, build it and they will come.  If you build your business based on ethics, fairness and doing the right thing people will be gravitated towards you and you will succeed in spite of yourself but being well organized and having systems in place is so key to success and without that we are doomed to chasing the next deal and postponing our lives and our families in search of the next deal, the next commission and so on.
Mar 12, 2008 04:55 PM
Don Hobbs
San Clemente, CA

Right on, June!  Many agents hate the lifestyle they've created, but are so busy chasing the next deal, they are just out of control! I know thousands of agents we've trained who have the "Success" so many seek, but at the cost of family, friends, health and highly valued parts of their lives.  I know, you can have it all, abundance in every way, not just money! 

So glad you caught yourself and turned it around.  

Mar 12, 2008 05:32 PM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation
The strategies/tactics thing is a big one.  So many things that agents do are tactics, without putting them into perspective with strategies, objectives, mission and situation analysis.  I loved Gateway - attended it twice over the years and learned a lot each time!
Mar 13, 2008 12:01 AM
Anonymous
Don Hobbs, Hobbs/Herder Advertising

Thanks, Margaret!  Nice to hear from you and to have you reading...  Would love to see you back at Gateway.  With all the changes in teh market, there are many things to be done and shifts in ways we must operate today!!

And yes, i do believe that agents are lost in tactics.  Companies are teaching tactics.  Very few ever get the importance of strategy and how strategies affect tactics and get more results from some of the same tactics they currently do!

Mar 13, 2008 02:01 AM
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