Do you think about this, whether in regard to your own family or just the aging population in general?

As I approach the 60′s, I find myself thinking more about these sorts of things. I also notice that so many of my friends cannot afford these sorts of expenses, some suffering in the tumultuous stock market, some suffering from lack of planning.

What will they do? What will you do when time comes to help your parents? If you haven’t started talking about it yet, you’d best get on with it.

Times a-wastin’.

Are you grateful? Do you invest time everyday, thinking about what you are grateful for? Most people don’t, and that is sad. You have so much to be grateful for, every single one of you who reads this, and 99% of you won’t even give it a second thought.

For years now, I have invested time in thinking about what I am grateful for every day. Sometimes I write these things down; I always say them out loud. There’s power in that. Huge power.

In most classes, I have everyone name three things they are grateful for; it’s a real struggle and challenge for them. Because they don’t think about it? Because they cruise through life, not paying attention to all the things they have, things others would, and have, died for.

Here’s what I am grateful for today:

I am grateful that I have Dione to love and to be loved by. I am grateful that my ma is alive, healthy, and enjoying her retirement. I am grateful for all the opportunities that present themselves to me every day, and that I am tuned-in to recognize them for what they are. I am grateful that my son is a smart, serious young man who is full of compassion, love, empathy and drive.

I am grateful that my daughter is living a life she loves. I am grateful that I get to spend my time following my passions in life. I am grateful that I see some of the wonderful characteristics of my dad coming out in me. I am grateful for the people who occupy the deepest places in me – for the love they share, the lessons they teach me, they way the challenge me and support me. For all of this, and so much more, I am grateful.

If you do this sort of thing, how does it feel?

If you do this, do you tell the people you are grateful for of your gratitude for their presence in your life?

Try it – you’ll like it. And so will they.

A closing thought – a number of years back I learned te four most empowering things you can say to someone:

I’m Sorry

I Love You

Please Forgive Me

Thank You.

What’s your plan for the next 4 months? Do you have one? Have you had one for the past 8 months?

If you started the year with a plan, did you follow it? Every day?

Did you meet

your targets? Surpass them? Fail to meet them? What happens now?

There’s the real question – what happens now?

I read recently of an agent in Washington whose team has closed 302 transactions YTD; he raised his annual goal to 600. Think he’ll get there? I do.

Why do I think he’ll get there? Because success is built on systems, scaleable systems, and once the system is set, it’s a fairly simple step to turn the dial up just a bit. How are your systems doing?

Do you lead generate every day? For how long? How many contacts do you make? How many past clients do you ask for referrals every day? What do you do if you don’t have an appointment on any day? Golf, or lead generate?

What questions do you ask yourself every day about your business?

There’s a reason for the saying ‘Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail’.

Want to talk about where you are at and how to get where you want to go? Email me. No charge for a conversation – we both learn from it.

as clear as mud!

There’s a long-standing tradition in many industries that involve sales, a tradition of changing advertising or marketing too soon. Too soon because of how many impressions are needed for the message to become fixed in the consumer’s mind. The changes are made because the advertiser / marketer gets bored with what they are putting out.

Would it surprise you to learn that there is empirical evidence that when compensation goes up, results go down?

This question is addressed in the closing pages of an awesome book titled ‘Predictably Irrational’, by Dan Ariely. The book is on Behavioural Economics, dealing with why we do the things we do, when we know they are not the best choice for us. It is a book that is highly recommended for anyone in the sales profession, and any parent too.

There are no clear answers for anything in this world, or are there? Why do so many continue to eat at fast-food joints everyday when they know it is killing them? Why do smokers continue to smoke (beyond the addiction part)? Why do people steal a pencil from the office, yet they wouldn’t take a buck from the office petty cash box to go buy one

?

Why is ‘FREE’ no longer the powerful thing it was? So why do people continue to offer ‘FREE’? Why do we buy what we don’t need to take advantage of ‘FREE’?

Why are some of us so smart, yet we continue to do the dumbest things?

This, and so much more, is explained in ‘Predictably Irrational’ in a way that you can understand it and use it to grow your business and get a better handle on your life.  It’s gotten me to understanding a few things about my own life, and helped me better understand some of the people around me.

Give the book a chance, try some of the lessons, and let us know what you learn.

You might well have heard me say that teaching is my passion – it’s what I was put on this earth to do. Well, I’m getting to thinking that I’ve been wrong about that for so very long.

My passion is learning.

When I write my daily gratitudes, one of the things I am always grateful for is having the eyes and ears to absorb the lessons around me, the brain to filter and process them, the moral compass to investigate them, and the heart to feel the duty to share them.

Last night, at the auction we go to on Wednesdays, I learned a ton of things. I learned about cultural differences. I learned about values of items. I learned about basic human kindness. I learned the effect of asking a question the right way. I learned a whole new (to me) way to generate customers. And that was just in the first 30 minutes of our 7 h

ours there!

Do you walk through your day, blinders on, head down, racing from one place to the next, thinking that you might have just run a stop sign without even knowing it? Or do you observe the world just a little bit more?

Observing the world around you doesn’t mean getting any less done, not at all. What it does mean is enjoying life a whole lot more, feeling more rewarded at the end of the day. Seeing the good in things. The list of benefits is endless.

Oh yeah, back to my starting point – my passion is learning. Well, it is, and my passion is fueled by my other passion – teaching. Nobody ever learns more than the teacher (if they are a good teacher).