Sponge BobWhen it comes to serving our clients in the real estate industry or in any other service oriented profession, have you asked yourself lately,

                ARE YOU A SPONGE?

No, I don't mean you're age 39+, and still living at home with Mommy and Daddy. Although that might be a great cost savings technique in today's tough economic climate. : )

I mean are you a constant, and life long learner? I have found that if you keep learning, year after year, as you get older, you actually stay younger. Young at heart I think of it as.

Education includes formal education with continuing education, cross industry classes, informal seminars, learning from mentors, online learning, learning from elderly people, learning from children, learning from blogging, listening to sermons, happy hour learning, roundtable brainstorming sessions, visiting nursing homes, reading, seeing a movie, volunteering, building something, going on a vacation, a candlelight dinner, the list is endless.

So I ask you again. Are you a sponge? If you are, you will soak up much of life's lessons and be full of plenty of the water of knowledge in your sponge and then "applying" your education you can squeeze out the appropriate knowledge to those who need it at the right point in time. You are building a better you, one brick at a time, one day at a time. I believe applied knowledge is power. But first you have to soak up your sponge and constantly have thirst in this area. This is where "more" in life is a good thing. I told someone once that I think I read too much and they laughed, and said Gary you can never read too much, emphasizing the importance of learning.

As friends of mine in Wisconsin or Minnesota might answer with their local dialect when someone asks, "Are you a sponge?" The answer would be a definite:

                      YOU BETCHA !!!!

 
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47 Comments on Are You A Sponge?

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

MAY
08
2008
1 Featured Post
I think most of us who take all the education and information we glean from the great posts on AR are true sponges, in the most flattering sense of the word!
9:37am • #28
3 Featured Posts

Gary:

Great post ... I wrote a post several months ago about being a "Sponge in the Rain" and used the same graphic, and got a gold star (my only feature!).  The AR gods really love sponges, and I love being a sponge, too.  It's so important to keep a teachable spirit in life, no matter how old you are there is always something to learn.  
9:50am • #29

Being a sponge is the only way to live.  There are so many opportunities in life to grow into the true person that you were created to be.   Well done Gary!
11:23am • #30
Very nice, I am proud to be a sponge.  I recognize that I have a tendency to become a professional student and I make consistent efforts to TAKE ACTION.  Thank you for your contribution.
11:31am • #31
8 Featured Posts
Sponge Man! Awesome post-Just when I think I've seen it all, someone else comes and tells me a thing or three! I find this especially true when teaching my transaction management classes. Real estate professionals are amazing individuals who are always asking "But what if we did it this way?" Welcome to My Sponge World!" 
1:30pm • #32
167,532 Points 4 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog
I Want to be a sponge!  If I could, I would be a professional student and just go from learning one thing to another for the rest of my life!
2:53pm • #33
208,738 Points 6 Featured Posts Outside Blog
Gary,  I firmly believe in education.  Always have of educating myself to better serve my clients and to educating them as well.  Congrats on the gold star!!
3:27pm • #34
I love to learn!  Great post!  The day you stop learning, is the day you begin your decline.
4:20pm • #35
402,651 Points 29 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Hi Gary,

Children are the the tiniest bodies and yet they are the biggest sponges....amazing isn't it? I've been a life-long sponge and I'm afraid I'll never use up all of my 'spongibility' before I leave this earth as it seems our brain cells are pracitically limitless....now if only we could create more time!

Jo 
4:44pm • #36
1,403,420 Points 54 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master
You have to be a sponge in this business...both for kowledge and for listening to what your clients want
4:45pm • #37
1 Featured Post
LOL Gary great post!!  We all need to learn something new each day. :)
7:43pm • #38
1 Featured Post
Gary, I used to be a sponge. now I am an instructor/trainer. honestly, I still like learning, but not in a classroom. I like learning while I'm teaching. I just can't sit in someone else's class.
8:36pm • #39
238,737 Points 7 Featured Posts Outside Blog

WELL SAID!!! I am a firm believer of continue education. The world's too big and there are always more things to learn and new trends to learn.

Cheers,

Cindy 
8:49pm • #40
149,396 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog Hit Router
I just wish more of our colleagues were learning-based and saw the value in that...  It would make our profession a much better place to be and would improve our status in the client's eyes!  Thanks for reminding us of the importance of constant learning, Gary!
8:51pm • #41
217,645 Points 12 Featured Posts Outside Blog
I am definately a sponge...Congratulations on the feature!
9:18pm • #42
237,041 Points 5 Featured Posts Called Shot Master
I can identify with this post Gary. I have much to learn and strive to do so every day.
10:48pm • #43
1 Featured Post

Gary - What a great way to reinforce the importance of lifelong learning.  It doesn't even matter what the topic is - it's just important to keep learning.

A mind stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

11:10pm • #44
531,250 Points 33 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master
Maybe a bit more like a loofah...:)
11:56pm • #45
MAY
09
2008
122,017 Points 6 Featured Posts Outside Blog
I am a sponge. However, I am not yellow. I love learning. I would go to school forever if I could.
9:02am • #46
150,554 Points

With all the short pays and REO's out there, boy have I learned a lot this year!  New Web site, blogging, it was all new to me this year!  Not bad for a 50 something year old lady!
11:10pm • #47

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Gary Woltal - Assoc. Broker REALTOR® SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Flower Mound, TX

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Keller Williams Realty

Address: 2611 Cross Timbers Rd, Suite 100, Flower Mound, TX, 75028

Office Phone: (972) 874-1905

Cell Phone: (972) 310-8858

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