Friday, May 14, 2010

Red Day - May 13th 2010

Yesterday, May 13th, 2010, nationwide Keller Williams Realty agents put on ther Red Day T-shirts and band together to reach out and give back to their community. And, small as our office might be in comparison to other KW offices, we stepped up to the challenge and gave from the bottom of our hearts for a worthy cause.
Talitha Koums is a small but vital part of our communities future. They reach out to the smallest members of our city, children who would have been forgotten without them. Without funding these amazing people help feed, clothe, love and educate children under school age who would other wise do without. The staff and volunteers are amazing but they need help so we choose this as our "project" but it became our "mission".
The KW Cares committee met and had a plan of action in place. After meeting with the coordinator of Talitha Koums they designed a plan to address their greatest needs. Supplies for the children were needed but the building was in need of even more attention. The rooms needed paint, doors to secure the building needed to be installed where there were none and others needed to be replaced, 35 feet of unstable shelving needed to be tore down and replaced and the yard outside needed mowing and trimming. What started as a simple project seemed to grow and we began to wonder if we had taken on more than we could accomplish.
As all good projects go, we had a plan but a few days before we were to start things seem to be falling apart. Not enough money, not sure where all the wood was coming from and confusion and worry began to rise. But thats when the magic, the mircle set in, not from just one source but from an entire office. Everyone stepped up and donated time and more money.
The morning we were to begin everyone showed up at the front of our office with cars and trucks and trailers loaded with tools, supplies and most important 'smiles'. We made our way to Talitha Koums and upon arrive we changed from a group of real estate agents to a fine oiled working machine. We split into crews, painting, tearing down shelves, cutting the wood, building frames for the shelving, organizing the supplies. As one crew finished a project they simply started another and helped out with another. By the end of the day we had accomplished every single item they had asked for and we had supplies to spare.
Yes, we were exhausted but you couldn't tell because we still had smiles on our faces and were joking with each other. It was a huge project for such a little group of real estate agents to take on but we all steeped up and stepped out of our comfort zones, never complaining once, which brings me to the point of todays blog.
You never know what you can do until you try. You'll never know how your actions will effect someone else if you don't get involved. Yesterday, we were an office of real estate agents, today we are better friends and made lasting bonds. We had each others back and did whatever was required to accomplish our mission. We did it with open hearts and minds. Though we help our communitee the mircle was within ourselves and our success and success feeds success.
Yesterday everyone of our agents succeeded at their highest level expecting nothing in return but they recieved the admiration and friendship of all who attended. I am proud to call you my family. So as you go through your day today be proud of what you did yesterday, who you are as a wonderful person and were we are going with our carreers together.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Why Do We Choke?

First off, I must give credit for this to my husband and his obsession with golf for if the golf digest magazine hadn’t been lying around I never would have had this to think about and send on to you.

I’m always saying I can teach technique but I can’t teach guts and if you can muster up a little guts you’ll have success and once you have success it’s not called guts anymore, it’s called doing your job, real estate. Why are some people so successful at this and others drowning? Why, when we know what to do and have a chance do we choke?

To quote Homer Simpson: “Stupid brain!” Your mind means well, but it’s hard wired to sabotage you. Blame it on thousands of years of evolution, the reason literally deep in our brains. The human race has survived because of the adrenaline rush you get when danger is near. There is a call to action.

When our caveman ancestors saw a sabor-toothed tiger, a message of “RUN!” shot from his brain stem through his nerves to his muscles. He fled, survived, and we’re here today. That’s great for out species, but bad for your ability to do your business.

Our minds work the same way today, only prospecting is that tiger and it activates the same danger signals: Your heart rate spikes, you sweat, your knees knock and you literally want to run away. It’s a primitive, primal reaction to fear.

The good news is that it is possible to reprogram your mind. The human brain is an amazingly adaptable thing, and it can overcome this fight-or-flight response by using a three step process.

1) Recognize your anxiety. Don’t deny you’re nervous, or it sneaks up on you. It’s there. Deal with it.
2) Paint a positive picture. Visualization is not mental-game snake oil. It works because see the outcome gives your mind something to focus on, which helps your brain stem send calming, business as usual pulses to your muscles.
3) Close the deal. Make a verbal statement to join in on the positive visual like – “I’d love to list my house with you.” What ever keeps you relaxed and not thinking about the fear factor.


Over the years, without realizing it I have been doing these things. I say things like “I’m an adrenaline junkie” but the truth is when I feel that rising I make it into an opportunity to end successful instead of disastrously. I have taught myself that a challenge is entertaining and ends with success. So I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone today using the tools you learn today: 1) recognize your anxiety, don’t make excesses for it. 2) Paint a positive picture in your brain and 3) Close the deal with a positive verbal statement, the statement you want to hear your client say to you, the relax because today you will be successful.