A few weeks ago I was witness to an incredible conversation concerning being inspired by and growing into your future you.  We all have that person we want to become and questions on how to get there.  My idea was to know where you are going.  Thus, the “Opi meme” was born.

The initial benefit to me was I had sat down and defined the future me. While this seems like a child’s fantasy playtime (and in some respects it is), it also proved to be a wonderful exercise in self development, goal setting, and prioritizing.

Then, in the fashion of meme’s, I tagged a few folks and they tagged a few more.  A new benefit that I had not considered before appeared – I got to read other people’s “opi’s” – their desire for their future selves.  It was very inspiring and informative.  It is much easier to think big about yourself if those around you are thinking big too.  And it is easier to achieve big when you are accountable to and supported by those same folks. 

• When was the last time you thought big?
• Who are the people that support you in achieving big?
• Have you been the kind of manager, friend, person that encourages big?

Need some inspiration? These folks are full of it – inspiration, I mean! And try it – write an Opi of your own.  You may surprise yourself.

• Chris Cree
• Tony Clark
• Jim Walton
• Joe Hauckes
• Terry Starbucker
• Kirsten Harrell
• Karen Putz

I get this question a lot.  So I will answer it here.

Say what you want about the practices of performing real estate transactions. I know many people approach this business many different ways. Some focus on marketing, others on great sales techniques, still some more on education and designation – I sure there are a host of others. I won’t even get into commercial real estate, that is a whole different animal.

I am a residential real estate agent.  I deal in homes and families. I focus on people and safe havens. I say it in my website, I don’t buy and sell houses – I help make homes.

This outlook on real estate does not lend itself well to the wonderful art of salesmanship.  I am a huge Zig Ziglar fan – I think his valuation of the sales profession is pure genius.  His character and moral fortitude should be the standard. But, I am not a salesman. Well, I may be a good fit for his current approach. But, I still feel I lack all the qualifications to merit that designation.

I am a matchmaker. It is my job to understand the desires of people. If they aren’t sure what those desires are, it is my job to help them formulate them for themselves. Then I find those homes that will be that fulfillment. I match them up. I am a matchmaker.

It is my personal opinion that a good many real estate professionals approach their business this way, even if they word it differently. I also think the clients respond well to this approach. I may be wrong, but if I am, this is one instance where I will have to stay wrong, because I am not sure I could do it any other way.

I’d like to add some validity to my personal thoughts.
Are you an agent or a professional in some other client based market? How do you approach your business?
Are you a consumer? How would you like to be approached?
Have you been either in the past? Tell me about it.

In honor of my birthday, I decided to test my own theory about making little changes to see if productivity is all it could be.

• I should not sleep in on a regular basis.  The past couple of mornings, I made myself stay in bed until somewhere around 7.  This does not work for me. It throws off my whole day, I can’t find my groove, and stuff that I need to do gets left undone.
• I should sleep in once in a while. The first day of this test was great! It felt like I was getting away with something and we all need that every so often.
• I should not turn off my laptop for an extended period of time. I decided this would be a eFree weekend. I scanned emails for emergency situations and a few other things, but I left most of it alone. Consequences – this has been the hardest Monday I have had in quite a long time. I feel very behind and feverish to catch up. My tummy hurts and I have a headache.
• I should turn off my laptop for a little while. I have kinda been doing this for a while. 8PM is shutdown time unless there is something going on. This is good for me. I will keep it.
• I need to thin out my blog reader or find a better way to monitor it (suggestions would be great). There are some really smart people out there and I love to keep up with what they have to say. They are inspiring and motivating. But, keeping up takes so much time.  I am thinking there just must be a better way…I know you know what it is – so skip the rest of this post, head on down to the comments, tell me the secret you have been keeping to yourself, and then come back!

Much of the little changes were things that were not life altering or earth shaking. But they don’t need to be – that’s while we call them “little changes.” Unless you are seriously defunct in some way – and I don’t think that you are – much of what you do in life is appropriate, helpful, productive, and good. But watch you don’t become stagnant, complacent, and mediocre. It is a pitfall I have to watch out for all the time.

We know this is true in most areas of our lives.  We perform maintenance on the car before it breaks down. We pay the bill before it is late. We buy the safe-box before the hurricane hits. We make changes, prepare for the future, and look for the “better way.” This should be a integral part of the way we run our business.

The best doesn’t hold that spot because they are the best – they hold it because they continually look for ways to be better than themselves. They know that all things evolve, relevancy changes, and purpose fulfilled must give way to new challenges accepted.

I will be content, but I will not be comfortable. I will be full, but I will stay hungry. I will feel accomplishment, but I will look for the challenge.

Do it different – then do it again!