Austin Property Talk

Quieting the Lizard Brain

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain from 99% on Vimeo.

The Three Foot Putt

I just recently heard someone analogize the steps of goal achievement to the 3 Foot Putt in golf.  For instance, let’s say you know that the best chance you have to improve your golf score is within the “short game.”  Your inability to consistently score from within close range is what is preventing you from taking your game to the next level.  If you a golfer, you know what I mean.  

There are a couple of considerations.  In fact you can probably make a long list, but in most cases, the best place to start is most likely with the 3 foot putt.  Those 36 inches cause golfers more frustration than anything else on the course.  Just imagine if every struggling golfer practiced the three foot putt to the point of extreme confidence, before (and this is key), moving back to six feet and ten feet and so on.  I’d imagine that competence would shave 3-5 strokes off of your average golfer’s game.  Consistency and predictability.  Trouble is, the three foot putt isn’t sexy.  Yet, at the end of the day, the three foot putt counts just the same as the 300 yard drive. One. 

This year my focus is on the three foot putts; a short list of consistent and predictable daily activities put into place over 40 day cycles helping me to form strong habits, ultimately taking me to the next level personally and professionally.  

What are you working on?

The Chinese Bamboo Tree

This is not a story of mine.  It may not even be attributed to the correct author here, I don't know for sure.  I do know this.  I have read this story a handful of times and each time I read it, I am struck by the simplicity of it but also the essential lesson to be learned.  Accordingly, this is the time of the year where most people have either abandoned their resolutions or promises for the New Year or are struggling to sustain them (myself included).  What this story and the greater principles of life tell us is that like the Chinese Bamboo tree, growth is more a by product of purpose than it is of instant gratification.  On a related note, I've started a personal Blog that you can read at www.RyanFrance.com (on passion, on purpose, on becoming the best version of yourself and my journey to do the same).  Check it out.

The Chinese Bamboo Tree  (By Charlie Dexter)

Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, once told the story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree. It seems that this tree when planted, watered, and nurtured for an entire growing season doesn't outwardly grow as much as an inch.

Then, after the second growing season, a season in which the farmer takes extra care to water, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree, the tree still hasn't sprouted. So it goes as the sun rises and sets for four solid years. The farmer and his wife have nothing tangible to show for all of their labor trying to grow the tree.

Then, along comes year five. In the fifth year that Chinese bamboo tree seed finally sprouts and the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet in just one growing season! Or so it seems….

Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth? Or, was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for  outward growth in the fifth year and beyond?

The answer is, of course, obvious. Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation

it could not have sustained its life as it grew. Had the Chinese bamboo farmer dug up his little seed every year to see if it was growing, he would have stunted the tree's growth as surely as a caterpillar is doomed to a life on the ground if it is freed from its struggle inside a cocoon prematurely.The struggle in the cocoon is what gives the future butterfly the wing power to fly.

We live in a quick-fix society. We get frustrated if we have to wait more than 2 minutes for service or a stop light to change. We want instant solutions to every complex problem and every fractured relationship. In short - we want it all now!

Maybe its time to reflect on an old, old poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that is as true today as it was when he wrote it over 100 years ago:

"The heights by great men reached and kept 

Were not attained by sudden flight, 

But they, while their companions slept, 

Toiled ever upward through the night."

Tomorrow

He was going to be all that a mortal could be. . . Tomorrow.
None should be kinder or braver than he. . . Tomorrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who’d be glad of a lift and who needed it, too,
On him he would call to see what he could do. . . Tomorrow. 
Each morning he'd stack up the letters he'd write. . . Tomorrow.
And he thought of the friends he would fill with delight. . . Tomorrow.
It was too bad indeed; he was busy each day, 
And hadn't a minute to stop on his way;
"More time I’ll give to others," he’d say. . ."Tomorrow."
The greatest of workers this man would have been. . . Tomorrow.
The world would have known him, had he ever seen. . . Tomorrow.
But the fact is he died, and faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through 

Was a mountain of things he intended to do. . . Tomorrow.

This is a poem by Edgar Guest about taking advantage of today rather than waiting for "tomorrow."  I'd imagine at this point in the New Year, there are many who are struggling with the discipline needed to either form or sustain new behaviors that will help to achieve goals and objectives set for 2010. 

Believe it or not, this is about as far as most people get with a New Year's resolution.  We do not struggle with our plans, we struggle with taking the action necessary to get the ball rolling.  It's tough - no doubt.  As Don Marquis says, "procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." 

How often have you looked at your list of things to do today and rationalized that "I will do that tomorrow?"  Too often we miss out on the opportunity to do something decisive today.  What one thing can you do today to put yourself on the path to success tomorrow?

30 Days to Becoming an Early Riser

Needless to say this time of the year there is a lot of talk about resolutions, goals and creating better habits for the new year.  I was actually surprised recently to read that only 14 percent of all people actually set some sort of resolution or goal for the New Year.  I was not surprised, however, to read that typical lifespan on those resolutions that are set is only 3 weeks.   Sad but True.

Ill have to admit that I’ve fallen into that latter category before on many occasions.  Not from lack of ambition, but from lack of follow through.  I always take the time to put together a set of goals for the new year or any part of the year for that matter. Once the excitement subsides and it becomes nothing but honest intention and hard work, sometimes I stray from the path.  Ultimately I end up batting about .500 - probably better than most people but not the standard Id like to set.  

Again, I have a detailed 2010 Personal Success Plan for persistent growth and accomplishment.  However in an effort to get better results this year, I’ve decided to give myself intermittent 30-day focus challenges that coincide with those goals. 

It’s kind of like a 30 day free trial just without the trial part.   I’ve carefully chosen actions that I know will bring huge benefit this year if I take the time to form them into habits.  I’ve made a non-negotiable agreement with myself to stick with each for 30-40 days until they are ingrained in my daily routine.  

My initial challenge for the New Year is to become and Early Riser – to join the 5:00ish club.  So for the first 30 days of the New Year (rain or shine, weekday or weekend), I will set my alarm for 5:15am, allowing myself 15 minutes to shower and be ready to start my day by 5:30.  At 5:30 I will begin my Smart Start Morning ritual (more to come on that later) which will help put me in the right frame of mind for a successful day.  An added benefit is that I might be able to end my day a little bit earlier too (appointments notwithstanding).  I’ve done this previously but left out the non-negotiable concept and wouldn’t you know it, the snooze button got easier and easier to push over time.   

This challenge also comes with bonus challenges.   The first thing that I will do each morning is to read a chapter from The Purpose Driven Life.   I’ve read the book a handful of times before but it’s been a few years.  There are 40 chapters in the book and since these two challenges essentially go hand in hand, perhaps this first challenge of the New Year will be a 40 day challenge.   If I haven’t ingrained the habit after 40 days then it’s going to be a long year ;)

Stay tuned . . .

The Power of a Decade

It’s amazing how much things can change over the course of one year, much less 10 years.  I’ll have to admit , until recently, when I started to see the various countdowns of the decade on TV stations, I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that 2009 was indeed the end of the decade. 

Over this past week Kristin has spent some time chronologically sorting boxes of pictures that have been neglected for a while.   From time to time, she will call me in and ask, “when was this?”   And we will sit there and try to hash it out, basing our rationale on hair-dos or Christmas presents in the pictures etc . . . It’s a real inexact science, but the truth is that some years are just more memorable than others.   That got me to thinking about how my life really did change over the past 10 years.  When you think about the fact that 10 years is a full third of my life to present, it is pretty profound.  I woke up on New Year’s Day 2000 half way through my Sophomore year at the University of Texas.   

Just to give some context of the impact of a decade, can you even remember what was “normal” pre-9/11?  In the year 2000, American Idol was still two years away from debuting.   The New England Patriots were coming off of a 5-11 season having finished 4^th or worse in their own division 3 years in a row.  The Dow Jones closed at 11,497 on 12/31/09 (more than 1000 pts higher than it would 10 years later).  Tim Tebow was in his 3^rd year at Flori . . . ., I mean in Middle School (seems like he’s been at Florida that long).  Google was fresh off of Beta Testing.  Mack Brown was just the guy who followed John Mackovic and National Championships weren’t even a figment of the imagination.  When you reflect on that, you realize just how much can over that period of time.

I’ve been extremely blessed over the past decade, having had the chance to play in the 2000 College World Series and win the National Championship in 2002.  I graduated college in 2003 and was given the chance to chase my dream of playing professional baseball the following spring with the Houston Astros.   The Horns won the National Championship in January of 2006, the same year that I started a new career.  I purchased my first home in 2008 and was engaged a few months later.  I married the love of my life this past year – and only after only a decade’s worth of dating.   Those are just some of the highlights but an amazing 10 years it has been.  

Maybe I’m just getting older but for some reason I woke up this morning with a new appreciation for what the New Year brings.  Not because I’m looking to bury this past year.  In fact, quite the opposite, it was a fabulous year of personal and professional growth.   Its just that I have a peaceful feeling that 2010 is going to be the best year ever and I cannot wait to attack it with passion. 

Positive Connection

On the first Tuesday of each month, I've been attending Positive Connection which is a monthly lunch and fellowship with Lewis Timberlake.  Lewis Timberlake is an author and one of the nation's top motivational speakers as well as a management consultant to many of the nation's largest corporations.

I thoroughly enjoy great speakers - motivational, inspirational, informational - you name it.  I especially enjoy listening to those who have good stories to tell.  Lewis always has some great stories to share.  The topics rotate each month but they usually revolve around goal setting and reaching one's maximum potential.  

This month's topic was When Bad Times are Over for Good.

Interesting stories of note:  RH Macy failed 7 times before he finally built the Macy's Department Store empire.  Milton Hershey went bankrupt 3 times before he built Hershey Candy Company.  And of course, the truest story of persistence is that of Abraham Lincoln - chronicled here.

According to Mr. Timberlake's presentation, there are Four Causes of "Bad Times"

• Cynicism - expecting negative outcomes
• Cowardice - letting fear get in the way
• Compromise - settling for less than your best
• Confusion - lack of clarity, purpose and direction

A good story that he shared about Compromise.  Mickey Mantle is considered by some to be the most dynamic athlete to ever play professional baseball.  Despite having a Hall of Fame career, it is also well known that his lifestyle and lack of work ethic kept him from being the best of all time.  Someone once asked him if could be any other baseball player that ever played the game, who would he be?  His answer: The player that Mickey Mantle could have been.  

3 Ways to kick the Bad Times for Good:

• Decide what you Want (to do or to have)
• Decide you Deserve it
• Decide you are Going to Succeed (success depends largely on how you see yourself)

The "Bad Times" are only temporary and often, unbeknownst to us, prepare us for the good times.  

In closing, a quote that I found interesting:  "On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who at the Dawn of Victory, sat down to wait, and in waiting - died." - George Cecil.

Decide you are Going to Succeed:  Select your Goal.  Unlock your Potential.  Cancel the Past. Change the way you See Yourself.  Expect to be a Winner.  Example for others around you.  Do it Now. 

Are you Protected?

To further elaborate on my last post, here is some information on making sure that your internet passwords are strong enough to discourage tampering.  I've seen recently a handful of email accounts and Twitter profiles get hi-jacked. 

A few months ago 30,000 passwords for Hotmail and Gmail accounts were stolen.  We no longer live in a world where we can use a simple string of numbers or the same password on multiple accounts.  After these passwords were stolen, the security group analyzed the passwords and they found that the most common password was 123456!  Followed closely by 123456789.  Hard to believe isnt it?

The problem is that we have so many passwords these days that most people try to use something simple that they can remember or use the same password on all sites.  Guilty on my end.  When I had to spend some time the other day re-doing all of my passwords, it was difficult to come up with multiple variations.  That being said, my passwords are much stronger now than before the theft. Here are a few ideas to help you avoid the most common password pitfalls . . .

1.  Use a random string of characters.  Avoid sequential letters or numbers.

2. Make it long.  The longer the better - even as much as 10-14 characters if space allows.  Switch things up.  Use a combination of upper and lower case letters, along with a few numbers mixed in the middle or end. 

3. Don't use substitute symbols in common words.  Using "@" for an "a" or "1" for an "I" may look good to you, but most hackers are smart enough to break those substitutes rather quickly when the passwords consists of a common word.  

4.  Avoid easy targets since as words straight out of the dictionary or things likst family names and birthdays.

5.  Dont rotate the same 2-3 passwords on all acounts. All of you accounts will be vulnerable if even one account is compromised. 

6.  Make it unique.  A password is only really unique if you use it for one account and one account only. 

Dont Bother Knocking because Im not Buying

But I might be willing to try it out . . .

I was just remarking the other day that I think we are going to have to change our "No Soliciting" sign on the front porch to "Don't Bother Knocking because I'm not Buying." 

In just the past couple of days, Ive had two people knock on the door trying to sell something.  I'm usually not the type of person to rudely state, "don't even get into it because I'm not going to listen," but in both instances I hesitated to open the door and then immediately I was thrown into a situation that I was trying to avoid. 

The first gentleman was trying to sell an organic concentrated cleaning solution.  I sat there for 10 minutes while he tried to scrub everything from my walkway concrete to my windows and front door in an effort to show me how great the product was.  Funny thing is, the product was pretty damn good.  He said (though did not show) that it could take stains out of the carpet easily.   That one hit home because we have a few that I'd like to knock out.   But then came the inevitable sales close.   He hadn't mentioned the price at all - for good reason.  Not that I was going to buy, but at $37/bottle, the case was closed.  

The next gentleman knocks on the door well into the evening, he's crowding the front window and its dark outside.  I really hesitated to answer but begrudgingly gave in.  He was really nice, from the Aamco body shop near by, trying to drum up new business by offering 5 oil changes for $79.   That in and of itself is a pretty good offer (much less than I would normally pay for 5), but I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to write that check on my front porch.  We usually get our oil changed somewhere that they also throw in a free car wash and that makes a difference.  Besides, I don't get my oil changed more than 3-4 times a year and would I even remember Id bought that coupon the next time it was needed?  The poor guy looked at me like I was crazy not to buy I had to almost slam the door in his face to get my point across.  

The analyst in me often thinks about what they could have done differently to actually get me to make the decision to buy something.   I respect that job (door to door sales) as being extremely difficult.  Seth Godin calls it interruption marketing.  

I believe there is a way that both of them could have made a sale without forcing me to make a choice right there on my doorstep.  After exhausting all efforts, If the guy selling the cleaning solution would have pulled out a small trial bottle for free or $2-3, told me to give it a try this time and given me a web address to re-order with free shipping if I were pleased, I would have done it. 

After I declined to buy his promo card, if the guy selling the oil changes would have given me a $5 off coupon to try our their service.  Then once I redeemed that coupon, followed that up with a free car wash near by and another offer to buy that same package after Id been pleased with their service, they just might have a new satisfied customer.  

But, neither gave me that option and both went away empty handed.  

Does that make sense?

I like to think that I'm the type of guy that is very patient in explaining things.  In fact, I pride myself on being able to relate information to others in a way that it makes sense.  Education is one of the cornerstones of my business.  

Outside of my real estate business, I'm often asked to use my experience and background in baseball to help instruct others.  Ive coached teams three out of the past four summers and from time to time will have one or two kids I work with on a personal basis.  

Currently I'm working with a sixteen year old kid who has some talent and is very receptive to instruction - the type of kids I enjoy working with.  Ive been providing him with some pitching instruction for the past month or so.   

It was easily to diagnose a couple of minor flaws in his throwing motion that are preventing him from reaching his maximum potential.  But, finding the issue is usually the simple part of the equation.  Figuring out the cause and how to correct it - not as easy.   So we immediately went to work breaking his mechanics down into separate segments to try and form better muscle memory.  Anyone who has formed a habit, especially a long standing physical one knows how difficult this can be.

The way that I learn best is that I try to break things into segments (pieces of the puzzle), work on them individually and then put them back together.  So that is predominantly how I teach.  I break things down into bite size pieces and we work on them repetitively until we've reached a point where they are all working well enough to put them back together.  The goal is steady progress.

In this particular case I could tell that he was experiencing some frustration in grasping everything we were working on, but he is/was eager to understand.  I also know there is always some discomfort with growth - so we trudged on.  

Finally this week (our 5th time together) he stopped me and said, "I think I understand what you are trying to teach me but I'm just having a lot of trouble putting it all together. I don't think that my brain processes things the way that your does."  

My first reaction was, "Hmm, interesting.  What is not to understand?  I thought I was being very clear."  But then before saying anything, I thought to myself, that is a very unfair assumption for me to make.  Obviously I'm not doing a good enough job of helping him understand something. 

After a minute of reflection and after some clarification, I realized that I'd failed to paint a vivid enough picture of what the finished product is supposed to look like.  What are we ultimately aiming for?  What does the picture on the box of the puzzle look like?  Imagine trying to put a 1000 piece puzzle or a 100 piece puzzle for that matter together without the picture on the box.  Focusing on the individual pieces without the vision is futile.  

So I said, "You know, I really appreciate you telling me that.  Thank you for being honest.  Let me try to figure out a better way to paint the picture for you."  We went a different direction and had a very productive back half of the lesson.  

On my way home and over the past day or two the experience has stayed with me.  Ive thought to myself, there is a very important lesson here. One that needs to be shared, or at least documented for the next time.

I'd suppose that you, like me, have something that you are very passionate about and well versed in.  It just clicks for you because you've already been through that trial and error.  But we must patiently understand that the person we are trying to help does not have that same background (database) to draw upon.  

Lesson to be learned:  Clarification doesn't always mean connection.  Sometimes you have to dig deeper.  

Insights

I wanted to share a thought this morning from my daily devotional.  I thought it was quite interesting and insightful.

This is an excerpt from a lady named Anne Ortlund about change, transformation and trust.

"Do you feel as nothing is happening . . .?

I guess so does the lobster, encased in that ridiculous armor. As he grows, it gets more crowded inside. But, he sheds it fourteen times during the first year of his life. Each shedding takes ten days, and each time in the period between shells - when he's naked, exposed, vulnerable - he grows about seven percent.

You feel stifled, unfulfilled? You dont know when you'll break out into change?

Wait for God
Wait on God
Wait with God.

Life is not fixed. Let it happen; don't rush it."

I thought this was a great message for the start of the day - especially for anyone who feels "stifled." We experience the most growth when we feel the most vulnerable.

Wish you all the best for today,

Ryan

Do you suffer from "I Get it"?

Some food for thought. 

Im in the midst of a twelve week program on increasing my productivity taught through one of the professional organizations that Im a member of.  This program is just fantastic and I wanted to share one of the recent lessons.  

Peter Ouspensky wrote a book called The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution.  At the beginning of the book, he says that one of the "biggest challenges we face is convincing ourselves that what we are about to learn is new."  If you dont think that something is new when you hear it, you typically use the muscle in your brain called I get it - the "I Get it" reflex.  

Joe Stumpf, the gentleman putting on the Power Producivity program for real estate agents and lenders, said that he was recently on a plane coming home, and the man sitting next to him asked, "So, what do you do?"  Its a common polite conversation that we have all been in before, when we dont really know what else to say. 

Joe responded, "I teach real estate and mortgage consultants how to build a referral business."  He said that the man immediately retorted, "oh yeah, yeah I know about working referrals, I do that too."  Joe said he thought to himself, "Wow, there is nothing that I could possibly say right now that would open him to the possibility that he may not actually get it and that there could be much more to it than, yeah I get it, I've heard that before."

That got me to thinking that like most people, I probably fall into that trap more than I should.  In conversing with people I dont know or in observing their initial behavior, the tendency is to quickly form a perception, to 'get it.'  The truth is that once I do that, I assume that I understand who they are, what they are doing or where the conversation might be headed.  

So Im going to be more conscious of my "I Get it" reflex.  Im going to stay present and invested in what Im doing and choose to stay open to a much bigger possibility that maybe there is more for me to "Get."

The Most Important Skill of Achievers

Here is an awesome video by Tony Robbins, Frank Kern & John Reese about THE most important skill of Achievers. 

Watch it Here

What could you do with an extra 2 months a Year?

Imagine what you could do with 9 weeks of vacation a year?  How much more productive could you be if you could fit 14 months of work into a 12 month schedule?  I imagine these are questions that you've probably never stopped to ponder.

Starting the first of this month and for the next 12 weeks, I've become a member of a weekly "Power Productivity" group aimed at increasing awareness, efficiency and focus in all areas of my life.  The chief aim of this past week has been to become aware of what I do in the first couple of hours of my day.  The goal is to have a definitive routine each morning to get the day off on the right foot.  Its called a Smart Start Ritual. 

As an integral part of my smart start routine, Ive decided to focus intently on establishing a set time that I get up in the morning.  This will allow me to fit the things into my schedule that I know would be of significant benefit to my well being but that I usually reserve for later "if I have time."  For me this includes, a regular predictable exercise regimen, daily stretching, journaling and spending quality time with my goals, promises and mediations. 

So for the next 30 days, 5:30am is the time that I will condition myself to roll out of bed.  That is essentially an hour earlier than I am used to getting up on a regular basis.

Why an hour?  I was doing some poking around about conditioning myself to become an early riser, and I came across this article by Steve Pavlina. (read the article here)   Upon reading this article I was awestruck by how much extra time over the course of the year one simple hour would amount to.  Its common sense really, one simple hour each day equals 365 a year which is the equivalent to roughly nine 40-hour work weeks.  Nine. Think about that, an extra 2 months of work weeks.  Obviously the time doesnt have to be spent on work.  It can just as easily be spent with family, fitness, reading, writing, being creative, or like me, a combination of all of the above.  When I think about how much more productive I can be with that extra time, it brings a smile to my face. 

That revelation alone is enough to give me the willpower to commit to rolling out of the rack one hour earlier each day. It can only get easier over time. 

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion

I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.

Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them
 - quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed - you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons
I will do it automatically. 

I am the servant of great people
and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great
Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine though I do work
with the precision of a machine
plus the intelligence of a person.

You may run me for profit or run me for ruin
it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.

Be easy with me and I will destroy you. 

Who am I?

I am Habit

Side note:  During yesterday's broadcast of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Tiger won dramatically on the 72nd hole) they discussed Tiger Woods' daily regimen.  Starting at 6:00am daily with 90 minutes of weight lifting and ending at 6pm after almost 10 hours of practice.  Name anothe player on tour that works that hard - and this is perhaps the best play of all time.  Hmm . . . I wonder how he got that way?