I just have been at Brian Buffini's Turning Point Retreat in Toronto. Everytime I hear him, there is always something that I take away. To those of you who do not know of Brian he is an awesome speaker and motivator, who presents his points for having a balanced life as realtors, with a good dose of humour, like the heading above. Buffini and Company's motto is "Work By Referral. Live the Good Life". I will focus on "Working By Referral" in later blogs, but will focus in this blog on what it means to me to be "Living The Good Life".
Since I have started being coached by Buffini and Company, I now have a keen awareness of having to run my real estate business as a "business" and having balance in the other circles of my life-I will expand on this shortly. Now, it might sound funny to those reading this, of how I have realised about how to be running a business and about having "balance". I have been in the business for ten(10) years, and unfortunately one can easily be running and running taking "care" of sellers and buyers and the "business" AND be putting off giving thought to the positives and negatives in the business, the ROI and the bottom-line of what I am putting in my pocket at the end of the day? Not to mention, asking oneself, "How are the other areas of my life doing? Have they been sacrificed?" Unfortunately, the cost for alot of realtors has been divorce, but that can change...it's about making the right choices.
Brian emphasizes that the following are linked and DO impact each other (Buffini and Company's logo represents these five(5) circles): your FAMILY, BUSINESS, SPIRITUAL, PERSONAL (your emotional and physical) and FINANCIAL circles. I used to think that if I worked the 70 to 85 hours, and was earning what I needed to earn, that everything else would fall into place. Boy was I wrong, BUT it is something how long one can continue working away, thinking that things will eventually get better. Well...I can tell you that they WILL NOT!! I fortunately have an amazing wife, who has been so understanding with my "lessons of life".
If are you reading this...and you are a realtor or individual that has your goals in each area written out, and that you are applying them each day, great job!! I can say that it is not easy getting goals even written out (only 3% of the population have goals), but if you make the effort, you will notice a major weight being lifted (and you will be accomplishing things that you maybe would not have, if you had not put them down). I think it was Zig Ziglar who said,"If you do not have a target to aim for, you will hit it every time!!" In essense, try writing down some goals-it won't hurt if you miss doing some of them. Even start with writing down your six(6) most important things to do in your day with keeping some of your goals in mind.
Remember to take just bite-size pieces. As Brian reminds us,"How do you eat an elephant "of a task"?...answer: One bite at a time." Why fear doing the next step of writing goals down? Remember to think of how you will feel accomplishing your goals and look at what needs to change to start accomplishing them. "I WOULD RATHER BE FEARFUL AND ATTEMPT THAN FEAR THAT I DIDN'T ATTEMPT DOING SOMETHING IN/WITH MY LIFE!" Wow, I like this quote that I just came up with!! Speaking of having goals...and not being fearful-as I have attempted to work at the various circles of my life, I definitely have noticed change.
It has only been a few months, BUT there has been change-my family has even noticed. I DO still have a long way to go, but when I first looked at preparing my family budget and business budget, this was a significant step in communicating with my wife what I had kept to myself. I even thought that everything was looking great in a month, when my income to expense ratio was actually way out!!...oh yes, and I still had to look at the providing for the personal budget!! Oh, yes...and then there are taxes to allow for, and investments to plan for!!
We can get so wrapped up, as Brian says, trying to make a good impression on people that we don't even know...or that care about us...and at what expense?! So, I end on this note...start thinking about what you want your life goals to be...and firstly look at a your budgets (personal and business) and stick to them. There will then be "Romance (and peace of mind) with the finances in order...AND NO AMBULANCE!!" I will continue on with some additional thoughts in upcoming blogs.
Oh, by the way, if you or anyone you know are thinking of buying, and or selling, in York Region, I am never too busy to take care of their real estate needs. I can be reached at 1-888-362-3677 (Direct) or you can email me at john@fullhouseteam.ca. My website is www.yorkregion4sale.com .
Great Post. Brian Buffini is a great speaker. It is almost impossible not to walk away with sometime from one of his classes.