Sometimes I sit down to write a blog post and I think my reader might say back to me, "Well DUH!" Statement of the obvious. But bear with me. The coming out of elections thought, elections have consequences, made me think ALSODecisions Have Consequences.Nothing more foremost in the mind in real estate as Location Location Location!! Affects commute times, schools, nearness of desired amenities, possible appreciation in values, foot traffic for commercial properties like restaurants, distance from family and friends, quiet or noisy environment, etc.Also with business associates or even personal relationships, you ARE a product of who you pickTO BE CLOSE TO YOU in your life.Can you trust them? Are they loyal? Are they just GOOD people? You will learn fairly fast with them if you stick wit... 08/16/2016

08/10/2016

I saw this fun cartoon about electronic devices in our lives and handling "multiple screens" with the information overload. And like you were a "weenie" if you just looked at one and could not multi task with the information overload. It made me think "Who is at the controls here?"Sure we have parts of our day seeing a show on TV or looking at news, playing games, checking email, texting, writing a blog, replying on Facebook, but WHEN do we turn it off?I have found myself putting a smartphone (or two) AWAY in a desk drawer, along with turning all computers and televisions and tablets OFF.Work on your boundaries, time on devices, complete silence with them, complete DISCONNECTION, as it is freeing and PROVES "who is in charge" with tools, devices, screens, "information." It actually give... 08/06/2016

I am a big proponent of critical thinking constantly and evaluating new ideas to incorporate into your business or personal life "if they make sense". Everything NEW and shiny is not necessarily GOOD. In fact,    Sometimes Old Ways Are Better.Granted you can't fight progress and if 95% of your Christmas greetings are going over the web in email cards, your Hallmark one in the mailbox, sending to your list of 200 people might make you look like a dinosaur, but probably an appreciated dinosaur. Those bumpers on cars in the 1950's were DEFINITELY better. Having four social media accounts with their care and feeding each day, I don't know. A walk in the park seems nicer. I know, you can find Pokemon Go characters simultaneously. Before TV more family time, NOW many give up TV to get it back... 07/30/2016

There is that old question, "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: one bite at a time. In real estate deals, large projects, weight loss goals, oftentimes the whole thing at first looks overwhelming and insurmountable. This is when you need to turn it into smaller bite size pieces. You can't do it all in one day, or big gulp. We did not land on the moon from proclamation to footsteps there in one day.ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY.But the point is, lay out a plan, create a proposed timeline.THEN, get busy with you little bites. Keep moving forward. Overwhelming then becomes this "managed thing" and the sense of progress really feels good each day. You get closer to closing with a home, the weight loss pounds melt away week by week, the vision of your ultimate goal gets nearer and nearer as ... 07/27/2016

 ©Photo by Patricia at sunset on 7/26/16 in Flower Mound, Texas   07/26/2016

The craze around the world with the release of the mobile game Pokemon Go since July 6th has been amazing to watch. Soaring Nintendo stock value, players of all ages searching out characters to acquire. Comments that people are acting like zombies in public to meeting new friends at Starbucks. A whole new category of AR (augmented reality) taking off. Even extending it to picking up characters at Open Houses and posting about it on Facebook. The dangers of Pokemon Go. The wonders of it. All remains to be seen, and I will leave the "experts" out there to tell us all more. But whether walking to play the game, or riding a bike, I sometimes think DRIVING might be the fastest way to progress the furthest in the game. Don't Pokemon and drive though. Just drive to GET THERE. 07/20/2016

I love studying the lives of others and quotations they come up with to learn from them. One is from Gilda Radner, great comedienne from SNL, who went through ovarian cancer, with it being misdiagnosed, went into remission, and then came back.She had SO MUCH frustration inside her.BUT she taught us about AMBIGUITY. The fuzziness of life, the not knowing, the coming to acceptance when life's path goes sideways or takes unforeseen detours. I so laugh with mentors and seminars that say to get from point A to point B do this. The zig zag line they omit, or that you MAY NEVER get to point B. God laughs at our plans. We have to shoot for something but not have 100% expectations you will land there.Gilda especially poked fun at what could only be described as incompetent doctors who for 10 mon... 07/15/2016

If we think of artwork we like, great storytellers, screenplays we see well done in movies, great inventions that come along ALL involve superb "creativity." We all don't have to be genius level Leonardo DaVinci types, but we do have good imaginations to take us to new realms, solve problems we are stuck on business or personal "with creativity." It mainly is a think out of the box or NO BOX way of looking at life, even if people call us weird if we point out what we are up to. Some ideas to get your juices flowing better. Travel, Anywhere, local or distant. You will see new sights, talk with different people, it stimulates your brain, gives you complete new perspectives. Try something new all the time stretching your comfort zones. A dance class or anything completely different. I one ... 07/11/2016

One of my favorite holidays of the year, CELEBRATING freedom, and our American core values and way of life. May YOU have a very Happy Fourth of July time this year!!! 07/03/2016

They say an unexamined life is not worth living. From time to time a bit of reflection "looking back" on both our business and personal life is fine. Say for example writing a letter to your "younger self" what you would like to tell them if you could coach them today? I will jot down a few "lessons" that come to mind but feel free to add your own words of wisdom in the comments. We all can learn from each other. There will be heartbreak, failure, and times of empty pockets. You will get through those times and find out what your character is made of by how you deal with it. All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes the end of something takes a lot longer than you think. Doors close, but new ones open up sometimes even better than what you had before. You can never be too kind. ALWAYS be... 07/02/2016

In growing our professional business network outward in our career look for THIS specific trait in your colleagues:    SHARING.The art of cooperation amongst various parties goes a long way to getting deals done smoothly. Sharing ideas, time, dividing tasks to save energy, promoting helpful tips and short cuts. All good.Nothing worse than obstructionist partners.Often as a listing agent you may be STUCK with who comes along on the buyers side. But initiate cooperation on your part and most likely you will not be immediately seen as an adversary.Too often agents even in their OWN office view you as the competition but the pie really is big enough or the feeding tray wide enough for everyone to have his fill.Be a proactive share person of news, ideas, helpfulness and set a standard of fri... 06/30/2016

In today's fast paced internet world, we can get frustrated with our achievements that WE ARE NOT THERE NOW. We can look around, and many that perhaps started something earlier than us are already done with it. Or we set some kind of unrealistic time deadline for accomplishment. A fun fact you may not be aware of often things take LONGER than you think and even can COST more than you think at the outset.Our pace can be hampered by unforeseen circumstances, poor planning, even over confidence.The REAL thing to remember EACH DAY is this: Keep moving FORWARD. Sure some days seem like a snail pace , but it is YOUR PACE. Quit worrying about YOU. Other days maybe you will zoom zoom and surprise yourself with what progress you made.Advance STEADILY in the direction of your goals and you will g... 06/27/2016

As we proceed into summer, a seasonally high month of "vacations" for many people, I think there is a rhythm of life reminder for us to SCHEDULE relaxation on our calendar in smaller doses even, I say daily or weekly. We should not have to WAIT for a one week or two week block in July. An aphorism I have always liked,"Design a life you don't need a vacation from."I do know in the "employer" world that can seem unrealistic especially if people hate their jobs, but daily for a small amount of time, or one day out of seven in the week, PLAN something "playful" for you. Meditate, read, do your hobby, be with people, take a walk, KNOW what is fun to you, AND DO IT.Planned relaxation is renewal, rejuvenation of the soul and spirit, recharging, something invigorating. Some say turn off the ele... 06/26/2016

Father's Day as an observance I think gets a little more minor play in society than Mother's Day with its flowers given, taken out to breakfast, maybe more greeting cards, etc. My Dad passed away in August 2006 and like many of the meaningful dads all around us, brothers, our own dads, friend's dads, LOTS of them just go about being great to their kids supporting them along the way. All are not perfect of course and we honor them while alive and they have a special place in our heart when they are gone. My Dad had that belief in me, and gave me kindness, humor, and guidance. Some Dads from talking to others, a small minority, were not responsible, but as all humans, we have our flaws, so pull SOMETHING good out of them.I do think the day really should be called an UNSUNG HERO day cause ... 06/19/2016

We can all surmise that in today's one on one communication in business and in our personal lives, it is important to HOLD the other person's interest and attention, and minimize if not eliminate distraction. Surely being to the point and brief with our words assists in this area, but also there is a technique in effective verbal communication called 'hanger words'. These are phrases that pique the ears of the other party to closely see what you will say in your follow on. I have listed examples for you to practice and memorize, and incorporate into your speech.Pause ever so slightly between your phrase, and then what you explain. The question I always ask myself ... Here's the best part ... Let me ask you this ... Here's my suggestion ... The secret is ... Think of it this way ... Here... 06/18/2016

There is no question cybercrime is on the upswing. WHY these people who either try to hack our various accounts, steal our credit card or personal information, or install malware or spyware on our devices for nefarious purposes it is either deviousness or just robbery for money. Anyway make passwords ten characters or longer with numbers and symbols and capital letters, change them often, put them everywhere including your phone to avoid theft problems.But as an FYI here are nine internet scams to keep you top of mind of these people trying to irritate your daily life: Fake prizes, sweepstakes, gifts, lottery scams. There is no free pizza. Think if something is too good to be true, and you are not even a customer of the business or wanted to be on their email list, just hit delete. Phis... 06/15/2016

06/05/2016

From time to time I like to comment on various Social Media and how it is affecting our lives, just to make you think, and you make your own judgments and choices. In the early days of television it was called the vast wasteland and the boob tube. With seemingly 1,000 channels now on satellite and streaming video like Netflix and Hulu Plus, the wasteland seems endless now. But is Facebook the real new television?Crossing believe it or not now 1.65 billion users of a planet of 7 billion people, that is some reach. News feeds are now looked at more on Facebook than news sites like CNN.Much family and friends "check in" on you so often during the day and use the built in Messenger to contact you on the side beyond something traditional like phone texting or the WhatsApp app.The question fo... 05/30/2016

On this Memorial Day it is often hard than perhaps a passing acknowledgement, to actually FEEL the tremendous pain of a family member, a loved one in the military, LOST due to a conflict. But we can all relate to a close death. So in honoring the fallen on this day of remembrance MAYBE, just maybe, a few photos can reach inside our core, to pause if ever so briefly, sharing that deep, deep pain. To remember, there are among us once living, now passed, real live persons, that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Real life bravehearts.They are gone yes. BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN!!   05/29/2016