In Case of (Mood) Emergency, Break Glass!

        In Case of (Mood) Emergency, Break Glass! – by Dana Sparks

Ever just have “one of those days” in your real estate business? For whatever reason or for many reasons, you are just in a rotten mood and cannot seem to shake it. When you are in this inner state of mind, your productivity suffers and your business is in jeopardy if you cannot find a way to quickly break your mood and get back to work!

In order to be of service to yourself as well as your real estate clients, here are several ideas of what can be “behind the glass” to access in order to break your mood emergency:

• Read motivational quotations that inspire you
• Listen to a “mix” of songs that make you dance, smile or remember “good” times
• Listen to music that soothes, moves or invigorates you
• Maintain an album (or folder on your computer) of personal photos that effect you in a positive way
• Re-read testimonial letters that your clients have sent you thanking you for helping them move forward with their real estate needs either buying or selling a house
• Watch a comedy on television or at the movie theater
• STOP watching the news
• “Photosynthesize” yourself – go outside and get some sunshine and fresh air
• Keep a folder on your computer and copy any motivational emails or photos or sayings that you get and review those
• Hydrate… drink water. Many times when you are dehydrated, the lack of fluid negatively effects your mood
• Go to http://www.Flickr.com and type the word “breathtaking”or “happy” or something similar in the search. Then click on “slide-show” and watch what unfolds before your eyes
• Go to http://www.YouTube.com and search for videos on “laughter”
• Type in “eyebrow dance”on YouTube and giggle
• Reach out to someone you love
• Lose yourself in a great book that comforts or invigorates you
• Call your real estate coach, friends, family
• Relish in previous accomplishments of which you are proud
• Watch sports or martial arts or NASCAR… anything that represents an image of triumph to you and evokes those feelings of performance leading to fulfillment
• Relax in a soothing bath – the negative ions of the water will alleviate your mood
• Dance or sing
• Write in a journal or diary or blog
• Repeat stimulating affirmations and delight in the emotions those words evoke
• Start knitting
• Take some time and enjoy your hobby
• Do something to get yourself into action… anything even if it is washing the car or doing a load of laundry
• Volunteer your time at a place in your community that will so appreciate you (a nursing home, a library, a civic organization, at a charitable event, a church or synagogue, a shelter, a pet-rescue facility, etc.)
• Get some exercise… even a walk around the block will do wonders
• Write down a list of thing you are grateful for in your life right this moment and truly revel in that gratitude
• Pet a dog or a cat or watch animals or children playing
• Eat a little chocolate… it may go a long way as well! (wink wink)

All of these ideas are designed to give you better thoughts, create more positive feelings, to get you into some productive action in order to create the results you desire. This mindset cycle is one of the mental keys to succeeding at your “inner game of real estate.” Regardless of what you do and how you do it, you must break that cycle of negativity that prevents you from being the professional real estate agent your clients need you to be.

Happy Thanksgiving – Be a Blessing

Happy Thanksgiving – Be a Blessing! – by Dana Sparks

This week of Thanksgiving gives us pause to reflect.  We spend this time with family and friends bringing gratitude to the forefront of our focus.  What a fabulous time of year to thank all of our past and present clients for their business, co-op agents for the deals, lenders and closing attorneys for their service and our spouses and loved ones for supporting us!  Be thankful for the blessings in your life and the blessing that you are to so many others.Following are inspirational questions to re-focus your power and propel your confidence to re-energize your motivation! What am I happy about my life right now? What about that makes me happy? How does that make me feel? What am I excited about in my life right now? What about that makes me excited? How does that make me feel? What am I proud of in my life right now? What about that makes me proud? How does that make me feel? What am I grateful for in my life right now? What about that makes me grateful? How does that make me feel? What do I enjoy most in my life right now? What about that do I enjoy? How does that make me feel? What am I committed to in my life right now? What about that makes me committed? How does that make me feel? Whom do I love? Who loves me? What about that makes me loving? How does that make me feel? What have I been given today? In what way have I been a giver? What did I learn today? How has today added to the quality of my life? How have I added to the quality of life of others today? How can I use today as an investment in my future? How can I use today to be a blessing to others?

The Butterfly

The Butterfly A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Remember nature needs no help, just no interference. There are processes of life, things we all go through. The struggles are a part of our journey and are preparing us for what awaits. They are preparing us to fly. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly! — Unknown

Time to “Fall Back” – 3 Lessons for Your Real Estate Business

Time to “Fall Back” – 3 Lessons for Your Real Estate Business – by Dana Sparks

So many title choices for this article: “Time to Get Moving,” “Fall Back Into Real Estate,” and the list goes on and on!  Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend meaning that we set our clocks back one hour.  Another way of thinking about returning to Standard Time is that we gain one hour in our day.  What will you do with this gift?

Time is the only thing that we all have in equal amounts.  Why is it that some people seem to have plenty of time to get all of their business work done and still have time left over for family, friends and fun; others, never seem to have enough time to get all their work done?  To be more effective with your utilization of time, there are three lessons we can learn from our focus on time this weekend:

1. Planning
2. Preparing
3. Prioritizing

Planning: How much time do you take to plan out your business, your day, your lead generation?  The cliche is totally accurate: “Failing to plan is planning to fail!”  Take some time to develop or refine your business plan for 2013.  Determine where you will get your business from next year… what percent from past clients/sphere of influence, internet, prospecting.  Figure out what portion of your closings will be from listings sold versus buyer sales.  Block your daily activities into morning lead generation, afternoon administrative preparation and late afternoon or early evening showings.  Take a 2013 calendar and mark all your vacations and days off.  To quote one of my mentors, “work expands to fit the time allotted.” If you stick with your business plan and your daily schedule, you will find that you are more productive and will have more time for your personal activities.

Preparing: Preparation is basically more specific planning! Preparing is gathering and assessing the resources available to you for a specific project.  What do you do to prepare for your appointments with prospects and clients?  Consider that part of your week should be spent in role playing and practicing your objection handling for sellers that want to list too high and buyers that want to make an offer too low!  Part of your day and week and month is spent in advance preparation for interacting with your clients and colleagues.  When you prepare for these interactions prior to these activities, you will be more efficient and effective in your day and will enjoy the benefits of more time to yourself!

Prioritizing: In real estate, there are many activities that vie for being considered the most important.  The hallmark of customer service is that each client, each prospect, each co-op agent feels like they are your highest priority.  When customer expectations are high, timelines are short, and resources are limited, you want to make sure that your service contains the most essential elements necessary for the immediate need.  Your stress level and that of your customers drastically increases when you are not sure which task demands the higher priority.  Are there tasks that you can delegate to others?  When you do your business plan and discover that your time is worth $250+/hour would it be worth your time to hire an assistant to do your $8-$10/hour work?  Can your buyers drive through some neighborhoods and narrow the houses down to their top 3 choices for you to actually show?  Establish priorities early in the project, while you have more options available for achieving a successful transaction outcome.

When you effectively plan, prepare and prioritize you not only maximize your efficiency but you minimize your stress and find that you have more time available to you!  So “fall back” on the basics and the time you put into planning, preparing and prioritizing will pay great dividends to your real estate business.  The one truly limited resource we all have is time!  We are all given an extra hour this weekend so use it wisely!