UNLIMITED POWER....you had it ALL along!

I'm a lover of words, so reading books and writing are among my most practiced pleasures.

My mentor/father-figure Daryl Baskerville has never ceased water the garden of my mind!  A few weeks ago he told me about this book UNLIMITED POWER.  I was hooked by the title alone, and as is our custom, desired to get it so we could study it together. I'm ready to GROW, so I'm ready to KNOW! The excitement and significgance of him presenting a new book to me meant that class was in session again.  Since his new job and my new marriage the time for fellowship has dwindled.

Now why does all this have any meaning what so ever?  Well, let me take you back, oh let's say 1997:

I was homeless, dragging my then 4 year old child around Los Angeles looking for a place to stay.  I was just kicked out (again) by an abusive "lover" who brought me to California in the first place.  He just took the car that I was paying the note on, and we were officially on tha street. Fortunately, I was able to find refuge with an associate co-worker of mine's relative.  They were nice people and all....except the fact they were crack-heads and alcoholics, and the small apartment reeked of body odor, burnt crack and hard liquor. The apartment was sooo filthy I didn't dare eat or drink from anything there!  I only had enough money for a loaf of bread and peanut butter, so that's what me and my toddler lived off of til it made her sick and hospitalized her.  I thought she was having another sickle-cell crisis, but it turned out she just had too much peanut butter and  not enough real food in her system!

I was trying my best to find an EXIT strategy out of that retched place, and I heard that I could get on the top of the Sec. 8 Housing list if I enrolled into a women's shelter home for about 4 to 5 months.  I also heard so many horror stories about those places that I'd rather just sleep under a bridge!  Anyway, after being turned down from several apartment complexes, I ran out of bus fare so I  had to walk the rest of the way back to the apartment I was "living" in. I told the lady of the house what I was looking for and she ended up giving me a flyer that said "BUDGET HOUSING--Apartment Placement Service."  I called the number and asked the man for an appointment the next day.  His name was Daryl Baskerville, and he specialized in locating affordable housing for low-income families.  At the time I worked as a TA for Los Angeles Unified School District in the City of Watts, and my monthly income was about $550 to $600.  I knew that I could only afford $400 a month with utilities paid. I thought that was reasonable seeing that back home in Dallas, my dad was paying $475 for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment!  Not having ANY KNOWLEDGE or understanding about the Los Angeles rental market, he let me know this was an unrealistic expectation in this town.  Deep down inside, I felt that this was my last hope.  If he can't find me something, I would have to just bite the bullet, face the dreaded women's shelter. I insisted that he look for my specific criteria  and I would call him at week's end.  Well, he ended up calling me Friday letting me know HE FOUND IT!  A cozy little single for $400 UTILITIES PAID!  Just as I requested!  I was ECSTATIC! I felt like I won the $200 million dollar LOTTO!!  Everything we owned was in a giant black trash bag, and Saturday morning I was ready to move into my very first apartment!

One of the teachers from the school I worked in was a Christian. I told her what I was going through and she was able to gather furniture donations from her church.  When it was time for me to move into my apartment Saturday morning, not only did Daryl come to pick me up, but the people ended up giving me a dresser drawer, a t.v. and a chair.  I was so greatful! Not only that but my new landlords asked if I had a bed. I replied no, and the let me know that they had a full sized bed unused in their garage and I could have it if I wanted it!  NOT ONLY THAT.....but after Daryl helped me move my all but 4-5 items into my new place, he asked me one question that would change the course of my life from that moment on: "What are you doing on Saturdays?"  Nothing really was on my agenda.  He let me know that he let one of his employees go, but he & his wife needed help running the office on the weekend, and I could make some extra money in the process of helping him.  WOW! An apartment, furniture and a job all in ONE DAY!?  I was so grateful for him helping me & my baby get off the streets, that I went straight to his office that very day!!  I worked my TA job in the morning and BUDGET HOUSING in the afternoon.  Little did I know then, that BUDGET HOUSING would be the catalyst to launch my career in Real Estate! My job was to  find qualified tenants and find adequate housing for them that matched their criteria; basically doing for others what had been done for me. I guess you would call that a "tenant agent."  As I look back in retrospect, it was preparation to learn how to become a buyer's agent to find adequate housing that matched a buyer's criteria.

As I worked, Daryl taught me all kinds of sales skills, people skills & other  techniques to generate more business. He introduced me to books like "How to Win Friends & Influence People," Think & Grow Rich," and other books that enriched my life. With every challenge I was faced with he had a book to help change my thinking and behaviors where things would come out in my favor instead of against me.  Through the learning of these books, and primarily the principles of the Word of God (the Bible), I was taught HOW TO GET RESULTS!  It was then, I  began to realize unlimited power was in me!

This is UNLIMITED POWER: knowing what you want and moving to ACTION to get what you want.....RESULTS!

Positive

Energy

Activates

Constant

Elevation....