As I was sitting in my office a fortnight ago it came to me that for two years I have been working virtually seven days a week. When I say seven days a week I am not speaking part-time or casual drop-ins to the office but actually spending hours on end consumed with work on the behalf of my clients. I get an idea and start a project and come out of my trance when the phone rings: are you coming home tonight? I think I have the opposite of AADD.
Contemplating the meaning of life, I realized that I needed to make a few changes. On the spur of the moment I decided that I needed to move my office into my home full-time in order to better balance my life and concentrate on growing and strengthening the marketing arm of my business. I rang up a few friends and, announcing what I was doing, asked for help gathering the essentials. With the exception of desks and equipment, my office emptied out in half a day. I can't tell you what a disaster my garage looks like. There are now boxes stacked up against the walls and I know the file that I have been looking for for the past two days is in packed in one of them . . . I just keep guessing which box, rummage through it, growl in disgust when it isn't in that one and move on to the next. I've been though all of them and the file is simply not there, yet I know it is.
My timing to attempt to work from home was spot on. Family descended on me for a visit Monday and I actually had time to spend with them over the past few days that I likely would not have had if I was still focused on trekking into the office every day. Last Monday I packed everyone off for half a day so that I could get some work done. Mission accomplished: I was able to focus on work and later on spend and evening dining out with family and friends.
There are times in your life when you suddenly acquire more information and as a result create a change in attitude. This is how, in sales, a "suspect" - we suspect that they are buyers - shifts first into a prospect and then a homebuyer. We give the prospect more information and they give us some, and before you know it we are able to provide them the information they need in order to make the best buying decision. The more information you have, the better your decisions. This is why prospective homebuyers should communicate with their agent and vice versa.
This week I'll be down in Orlando speaking at the 2009 Southeast Builders Conference (SEBC). On Thursday, July 30th I'll be speaking in the "Meet the Experts" forum at 1:30 PM on Alternative Marketing Strategies. At 4 PM I'll be speaking on Overhauling Your Marketing Program. I'm really looking forward to being able to chat with other professionals in the construction and development industries about the important role marketing plays in determining their success or lack thereof. Best of all, I look forward to helping builders, developers and their support staff improve their efforts by sharing with them ideas and insights about residential marketing when done well.
When you have a passion for something, others catch inspiration by your attitude. Attitude determines your altitude and there is no doubt that attitudes are contagious. Ever start out the day out in a great mood and cross paths with someone who is a foul one? I've learned to NOT let the attitudes of others influence mine and yet it can still sometimes take a conscious effort on my part! If you believe you're going to have a stinkin' day . . . you most likely will. As Napolean Hill said . . . "As a Man Thinkith . . ." When you believe in something and have that attitude of belief, you are so convincing that you convince others.
Immediately after the SEBC, I'll be heading out to a thousand or so miles away to another state to work with builders and developers who desperately need affordable, sensible marketing. I'll be five whole states closer to the state I love: Arizona. I'll be challenged by some new situations as well as a change in latitude, yet I'm looking forward to learning their markets and approaching their residential homebuilding and development situations with a new set of eyes and fresh, new ideas.
A change in latitude will refresh me, my ideas and my energy, and I am confident that I will do the same for them. Sometimes you have to change your latitude in order to increase your altitude!
For several years I have been encouraging those I work with not continue to operate the same as last year, or even last week! Every day there is some new reason why people won't buy, won't sell, or won't make a move. Life is not static! Failing to change and adapt to current situations will only set ourselves up for failure.
Mazda used to have a great slogan that they no longer use. I think that many of us need to make that infamous Mazda slogan our slogan: Enjoy the Ride.
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