Silk Flower Gerbera

The 'Declaration of Independence' states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...

That, my friends is a key phrase to remind yourselves of as you pursue your dreams and your unalienable right to build a life and a business that, when you're sitting in your favorite chair looking back, will be completely satisfying and rewarding. Are you following your Life purpose? Do you have the Liberty and Happiness that you deserve?

How much Happiness do you feel right now?

I had the extremely good fortune of being born here and being raised by a loving family. We were never wealthy. In fact, we were somewhere in the massive middle class in terms of money. I learned at an early age how to work to make the extra money I needed to buy the stuff I wanted that was not in the family budget.

I remember the long days of picking berries, mowing lawns, washing cars, working at the burger joint, etc. It was so exciting when I got that first 'Real Job' flipping burgers for $1.25 an hour! Then one summer when I was about 17 or 18 years young I had a 'Defining Moment'.

I remember it like it was yesterday. There I was on a beautiful Wednesday morning standing on the tee box of the third hole playing golf with my dad and two of the real estate agents that worked for his company and it hit me... It's Wednesday afternoon, we're at the golf course, all the guys had cool cars so naturally I said to myself real estate is the business for me!

What did I know?!

At the time I was toiling away at the local paper mill doing the least liked job at the company and was barely able to make enough money to see me through the next year of college! So, I studied like a mad man while I was at the mill working.

I passed my test just after my 19th birthday and 3 years later started my real estate career that served me very well for the next 34+ years! At first I was a complete failure. Oh I was enthusiastic, worked hard and did what I could to learn the business.

And I was drowning... that is until I met my mentor/coach. I signed up for his 3 day boot camp and learned the traits, language and techniques of the top real estate professionals in the nation.

After that boot camp I came home and immediately took 'Massive Action' with the new tools I had learned.

And you know what? My business took off like a rocket!

I went from averaging $671./Month my 1st 6 months in the business to averaging $7325. per month over the next 6 months! WOW! Was I ever jazzed!

I continued to study, practice and rehearse my craft and reached a pinnacle of closing 10-15 transactions per month in my last 5 years of listing and selling residential real estate. Awesome, on the one хэнд because I was having fun, making a ton of money and receiving local/regional/national recognition for my record- setting sales at that time.

Totally all-consuming and whacked out of balance on the other хэнд. My personal life suffered. Let's be 'Bare-Naked' honest... I had no personal life!

But there was something brewing inside me.

It had been incubating for a couple decades and it was long over-due that I follow my true calling... being a professional Coach-Trainer-Speaker and I flat out LOVE what I do!

My sole reason for writing this report is to help you 'Crack Your Skull Open' and start you stepping down the yellow brick road to success in your life... on Your terms... so here's my promise to you:

In this short report I'm going to share a few 'Golden Nuggets' with you on how to discover your true passion and strengths in the real estate industry. I am only scratching the surface here.

Let's dive in and get to work setting you up for 'Massive Success' in the real estate business. I will warn you right up front that this information alone can get you started on the path to your dreams and goals but YOU are the X-Factor in this process!

In other words, I guarantee you one thing, if you learn this stuff but take no action or half-ass it you'll get zero results. On the other хэнд, if you learn it, practice it and take 'Massive Action' with it you'll immediately rise to the top of the real estate game in your market! Fair enough?

Let's Rock and Roll!

BEWARE OF THE PAST (CUT IT THE F LOOSE!)

Look, The Past Is The Past... it does not dictate your future! It does provide clues however, and when you learn to recognize these clues and retrain your brain you will see amazing things begin to happen.

I once heard that the Chinese Monks have a centuries old tradition... a ritual really... that they perform daily. Every morning they hang a rope over a bucket. That rope is then lit and is designed to burn for exactly 24 hours. Then the next morning they take the bucket filled with ashes and toss it to the wind, symbolizing that yesterday is simply a bucket of ashes to be discarded so that today may start anew. Then they hang another rope and fire it up!

I like that analogy. To forget yesterday and start renewed and fresh every single morning so that you may live life to the fullest. When you do that you are conditioning your mind to give today your 'Best Shot' and deliver your gifts to as many people as possible so that YOU can make a difference for them. That's really living, loving and making a difference!

So...TIP 1: Get in 'Right Mind'. The exercise that I did to solidify this for me was to simply answer this question:

"If there were NO Limitations or Consequences, what would my Perfect average day look like?"

(This took me a couple hours because I drilled down deep... to the point of describing my thoughts right before I fell asleep, to what I would eat and with whom, to what conversations I would have and with whom, to where would I live, what would my home look like-feel like-smell like... REALLY DETAILED because I learned from my coach that to be terrific you MUST be Specific!)

So that is Step 1. And believe me, I procrastinated on doing this exercise for many months because I thought it was just too hard and would take too much time and I already knew this stuff anyway so why put myself through this... besides I believed at the time that there were limitations and consequences...

I was completely blown away though once I did this mind-control exercise. My life began to immediately move toward my 'Perfect Average Day' that I had mapped out. Suddenly I had more confidence, less doubt, more zip in my step and began communicating with my clients in a much more positive and productive way.

So do this exercise and as you do it, let go of ALL the limitations that you've placed in your mind about success, money, where and how you would live that perfect average day. Rid your mind of consequences that are bad-(those only happen when you do something you shouldn't anyway and you're not that kind of person, right? Right!)

Let's march on...

Step 2 is to understand what your 'Core Beliefs' are now and if they are in alignment with your goals and if they are set-up to provide the highest level of service you can to your customers and clients. What I mean by that is to dive deep in to the recesses of your mind and really ask yourself some tough questions... but great questions... that reveal to you what your current 'Core Belief System' looks like and where you might need to tweak it.

When I looked at this for myself I determined, and subsequently demanded, that I live by this simple to conceive and yet difficult to execute belief:

"My genuine, core and unshakeable belief is that I can and will do anything I put my mind to... PERIOD! And if I know that what I'm doing is the right thing to do and I know that what I'm doing is for the absolute betterment of my community and I know that every time someone gives me money for my products and/or services, that money will be exponentially less then the value of what I give them"

Do that and... then you're UNSTOPPABLE... Right? You KNOW that, no matter what, you will accomplish your goals.

NEXT THING TO DO

Once you've completed designing your "Perfect Average Day' then it's time to pull out your calendar and plan the next 12 months. Start by scheduling all the personal things that you know you'll need to and want to do, including days off, special occasions, community projects, etc. What you have left are the days and hours that you can commit to your career. Then break it down further to design your 'Standard Work Week'.

In detail, write down every activity that you will do each day that you've committed to working in your business. For example, I start every day by getting up at 5:30. I go to the gym from 5:45-6:30. From 6:45 to 7:00 I review my daily activity schedule. Then I shower, dress, have a cup or two of coffee, spend time with my beautiful lady and start writing. I write from 8:00 to 10:00, I take a break from 10:00 to 10:30 and do some chores, then from 10:30 to noon I prospect for business, then... are you starting to get the idea?

I have a set routine for each day that I decide to work. Do I get pulled away from it? Absolutely! And that's okay... it's called Life! It's the framework that counts!

You'll find that once you create your calendar around your 'Perfect Average Day' and your 'Core Beliefs' that anything is possible!

I believe that we are led through our lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self and that we're always free to change course in our direction, to change our mind movie and choose to live any future and we can choose a different past.

Simply by choosing how we wish to receive and process information... past, present and future.

Kinda heavy... but hey... this ain't no 'Dress Rehearsal'! You get just one shot at life as we know it here on Earth and you will decide consciously or not what you're going to do! So participate actively in that decision. After all, it's your movie, you're the producer, director, actor, ticket-taker, theater manager, camera operator, distributor and ticket buyer! So take the time NOW to map it out and design it. Remember this truth:

Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours!

You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true... you may have to work for it though!

Any person has the power to decide and have control over those decisions. In fact, right now we are all the sum total of the decisions we've мейд up to this point, wouldn't you agree? Look, I told you this stuff wasn't rocket science to conceive. Putting it to action is the hard part for most folks.

Most people never take the first step which guarantees one thing for sure... they will never take step number two on their personal journey toward their dreams.

Look, this is hard-core stuff and sometimes frustrating... should that mean you shouldn't do it?

Hell no! Learning to walk wasn't easy either but did you quit because you fell down...NO! In fact, we all fall down when we're learning to walk... dozens of times... yet we never give up do we.

We get up and keep trying. We learn through our failures and those failures lead us to our successes.

Onward...

Okay I'm back from my 'Chore Break' and while I was outside working in my back yard I saw a beautiful butterfly. It hit me that our life cycle of learning is something like the life-cycle of the butterfly. The butterfly starts as a caterpillar, crawling around at first. Then as it matures it comes time to morph, so it spins a nest of silk around itself and waits/works and finally emerges as the beautiful butterfly that nature had intended for it to become. Then it is free to fly about, enjoying the nectar along it's journey from flower to flower.

Kind of like we do as humans. We learn to crawl, then walk, then run and then soar, if we choose to! It is a choice and it's one we can choose any day and at any time we decide to.

Are you ready to decide to soar? Have you done the necessary preparation to morph yourself from caterpillar to butterfly?

If not, why not?

Maybe you're stuck in the quagmire of mediocrity or have been struck by one of the following de-motivators:

1. Fear-The fear of change de-motivates a lot of folks, yet change is inevitable, mostly good and is necessary to move forward.

2. Pain-Avoiding pain is always a stronger motivator then seeking pleasure. That is until the pain of staying the same far exceeds the pain of making changes.

3. Self-Doubt-Self-Doubt is paralyzing and difficult for some to overcome. But it can be done, quite effortlessly when you get in the right mind and learn how to get there...on command! That's when Confidence replaces Self-Doubt and you are free to Soar!

There are more and I will tell you that I have found, through my own experiences as well as the experiences of those that I have studied that are soaring, that my thoughts are in my control and my thoughts are who I am at any given moment.

Let's re-cap:

We've covered the importance of designing the 'Perfect Average Day' and mapping out your calendar for maximum results. Now for the third and final tip in this mini report, I call it:

The 'Language Art' of Sales

What I mean by that is that our way of using language, every word, every nuance, every inflection plays a role in our being able to successfully communicate our message to our community.

Too many salespeople that I have met, coached and trained were shooting themselves in the foot with the words they used and/or how they used them. Let me give you an exercise to drive home this point.

Here is a 7 word sentence that can be interpreted 7 different ways depending on which word you place emphasis on when you say it:

"I never said she stole the money."

Try saying this sentence 7 times putting inflection emphasis on each word, starting with I, then never, then said, then she, then stole, then the, and finally the word money.

See how the change of inflection emphasis on each word changes the meaning dramatically! Same holds true in selling. You MUST learn this 'Language Art' if you want to get to the top! Whether we realize it or not we are selling ALL DAY LONG and have been since we were born!

I remember one day many years ago when I was at the grocery store with my daughters. It was a hot summer day and Katie was about 6 or 7 and Alex was 3 or 4. Needless to say they had been with me on many work related activities by then - I was a single dad and so sometimes...okay...many times I dragged them along to open houses and such.

So they had heard me speak to a lot of people and to them, after I had learned this 'Language Art'. So, we're walking down the ice cream aisle when Alex looked up at me and said, "Daddy, it's hot and I'd like some ice cream. What do you think is better, a Popsicle or a fudgesicle?"

(That little rascal was using the alternate-of-choice close that she had heard me use so many times!)

I said, "I think a Popsicle is better for you." She said, "Great! What flavor should I get, strawberry or lime?" I said, "Either one." She saw a bag with several flavors and said, "Daddy, why don't we get the bag that has all the different flavors in it, just in case I want to try a different one later?"

At this point... I'm totally hosed! I had to buy the whole bag! And she мейд me happy to do it!

What if she had said, "Daddy, I want ice cream!" I wouldn't have likely bought any at all!

One other time we were at an open house on a Sunday. The kids were coloring when we had our first visitors come in. They were a young family with two children about the same age as my daughters.

Immediately, as I was introducing myself to the couple, my daughters got all excited and said to the other kids, "Follow us and we'll show you your rooms!" How Bold of Them!

So as the couple was finishing their inspection of the home readying to leave, my youngest looked up at the parents and blurted out, "Are you going to buy this house?" They said, "We're not sure but we'll think about it."

Alex, my youngest, retorted with, "What's there to think about? Your kids love their new rooms?"

Good lord!

Talk about no fear of rejection! I don't remember if that couple ended up buying that home but I learned a valuable lesson. That is we should never let the fear of rejection get in the way of asking questions.

So, learn to ask great questions. Learn to replace words that repel sales with words that attract them.

1. Replace the word buy with the word own.

2. Instead of asking someone to sign the contract ask them to approve, okay, authorize or endorse the paperwork.

3. Replace sold with happily involved.

4. Replace price with total investment.

5. Replace monthly payment with monthly investment.

6. Replace down payment with initial investment.

7. Replace commission with brokerage fee.

And the list goes on. You see, once I learned that I was using my words wrong and мейд the decision to take action and change my way of communicating my sales sky- rocketed! Closing for a decision became a non-event. I learned how to lead my clients to the right decision to own.

Why was it the right decision?

Because they decided... not me. I just helped them get there by asking great questions.

Tally Ho!

I have a love-hate relationship with all the new technology and social media that seems to enable us to get more done and reach more folks.

I love the stuff but hate that it takes away from true human interaction. There is no way, that I know, to fully understand someone or to be fully understood via texting, emailing, blogging, Face Book, tweeting, etc.

The only way I believe that you can truly serve your community at the highest level is to meet them face-to-face.

Studies have proven that most communication occurs through our body language and how we say what we say. If that's true, and I certainly believe that it is, then why aren't we spending less time computing and much more time meeting folks?

Makes no sense.

Sure it's cool to be able to utilize these tools but what's happening to our social skills? Are we all turning in to robots? Sheesh... sometimes I'm so happy that I'm old enough to have lived in a time when there were no cell phones, computers, fax machines, internet and such.

At the time I started my real estate career none of these tools existed. We had to actually talk either face-to-face or on a land line with prospects, family, friends and colleagues.

Ah, the good old days! When I had to have a bunch of change for the phone booth and knocked on doors every day until I met and chatted with at least 20 people face-to-face.

My belief is that we all need to get back to the basics and make it a part of our every day routine. However you want to do it. Door knock, phone calls, pop-by...just do it! You'll not only enjoy it but so will the people you talk to AND your business will flourish.

Implement the famous GOYA method. Get Off Your Ass! People buy on emotion and justify their purchases with logic. Not the other way around. And as Tony Robbins has said, "There is no emotion without motion!"

But what does he know, right?

Well, it's getting late, I'm hungry and you're probably ready to get moving on with your day so let me conclude by saying Thank You. Thank You for spending some time from your day to read this report and my hope is that you got a nugget or two that will get you moving down the yellow brick road. This information may be right for you and it may not. You may be ready to take action and you may not. Either way... it's okay with me.

I'm going to keep on delivering the golden nuggets I've learned because I know that they мейд a huge difference in my life and career and I know they can make a huge difference for anyone who's ready to receive and implement the stuff I share. And it has a ripple effect when it makes a difference for someone. Because those people begin to deliver, exponentially, more value to their community then whatever the cost of their service is.

We then can collectively change the world for the betterment of all, one thought at a time! Go out and make a difference TODAY!

I Believe in all that is possible for you in life and in business! Go for it... what have you got to lose?

Michael

P.S. Are you utilizing video with your marketing? If not, why not? If so, how so? Next time I'll cover off on a killer strategy to promote your listings via video. It's not what you might think and may come as a complete surprise! Stay tuned.