CentralFlorida-Living Blog

In my last post, I tried to make the point that we are responsible for the events and people that come into our life. In some mysterious way, we summon them at precisely the correct time for us to learn some critical lesson. Many of us refuse to take responsibility for this and are stuck in an arrested state of development which commonly takes the form of victim-hood. Nevertheless, whatever we focus on is drawn into our life.

When you're getting results you don't want and you're convinced that your attention is on results you desire, you might be tempted to think that the law of attraction is a myth. The problem is that you have conflicting beliefs. You are harbouring beliefs which get in the way of your stated desire. If, for example, you want more money, but you believe that you don't deserve it (and most of us believe that, since we've more or less unconsciously been indoctrinated from childhood to believe that we're not worthy), then that belief of not-deserving will get in the way of our conscious belief and interfere with our desired results.

What we have to do is to learn to release our interfering beliefs and develop a pure intent. Then the summoning process works well.

Let's digress for a moment. Modern quantum physics implies that everything is interconnected. We live in a universe full of energy waves. The quantum principle of entanglement states that particles which were once in touch will remain so, no matter how far apart in distance they become. Take two electrons which are in close proximity and separate them by millions of miles. Each seems to mystically "know" the state of the other. This has been experimentally demonstrated. Humans sometimes seem to show examples of this. In order to cut this short, since I don't want to go on too long, I'm simply going to assert that we are all in touch with each other. Humans are interconnected energetically in some way which modern science does not understand as yet.

When we don't have a scientific explanation for things, we call them mystical or psychic and tend to disparage the people who believe in them. Nevertheless, I'm of the opinion that if you are in sales, you've most likely had experiences which lead you to know that sometimes there is some esoteric force which conspires to make things work. I could go on and give a quasi-scientific explanation or I could give an explanation which is based on religion. I'll leave those discussions for another time. Instead I'm simply going to assert that if you accept responsibility for your life, then you MUST accept responsibility for the people who appear in your life.

If you're summoning people who are difficult and who cause you problems, then your own subconscious beliefs are getting in the way. If you are working in real estate, you know that people are the sole cause of all of the problems that you encounter. A couple of years ago, I ran into an agent who stated that she just wanted to work with nice people. A few months later, she told me that she had made a mistake, not only did she want nice people, but after dealing with a series of difficult clients, she also now wanted to specify that they must be sane.

What if you could work on yourself and clear and clean the energetic connection you have with anyone? When you have a relationship with someone, there is an energetic connection between the two of you. If you are holding a particular opinion of the other person, they will, to a certain extent, be limited and forced to appear to you as consistent with your view of them. If you could clear that view and free them from your expectations, they will be able to behave differently. If your expectations are positive after your cleaning exercises, you'll find that they will tend to live up to them.

If I've made myself clear, you may be saying, "Well, that would be wonderful, but how do I accomplish this so-called clearing?" It's actually very easy. You can use four statements which you say to yourself while thinking about how the person makes you feel. You can even use these four statements before you meet the person, say, for example, when you're going into a listing appointment.

Here's what you say and you can say this in any order: "I love you." "I'm sorry." "Please forgive me." "Thank you." These phrases have an amazing power to change your thinking and thus to change your relationship with another person. You should use them to work on your relationship with anyone who ever caused you a problem; with any guilt feelings you have for problems you've caused others; even with feelings you have about such material things as money and health and so on. The secret to remember is that you're not just speaking to yourself, even if you're simply thinking the phrases. You're actually speaking to the energetic universe, to, if you'll allow me to suggest it, Divine Source.

We've used these words successfully to change relationships and I know they work. Imagine if every human on the planet thought or spoke these words to everyone else! Do you think that the overall energy of the world would change for the better? Even if you simply think them about another person, they will somehow sense the different attitude in you.

Now, from me to each of you: I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you!

Have a great day!

Namaste!

If you'd like to see and feel this in action, here's a short video to watch: http://youtu.be/mqiCa3wpHC8

I was dead.  My brainwaves were flat-lined and my heart was stopped for nearly seven hours.  During this time, a skilled surgeon restructured the delicate leaves of two of the valves in my heart.  Please excuse the dramatic way I started this post, but I've got something important to say to you and I wanted to get your attention.

For several years, my heart had been trying to tell me that it didn't approve of some aspects of how I was living my life, but I'd ignored its attempts.  It wasn't beating regularly.  I had atrial fibrillation due to erratic electrical signals in my left atrium.  This is a common problem.  About 25% of 80 year olds suffer from it.  At my then-age of 60, it was quickly becoming life-threatening. 

A-fib causes your heart to pump less blood than it should and your heart gradually expands to try and compensate.  This expansion stretches out the valves and I'd reached the point where mine weren't closing completely and my heart action was severely compromised.  All I knew was that I got tired quickly and I had a fluttering feeling in my chest much of the time.  My heart was only pumping about 25% of what it should actually pump.

In case you're wondering, there's nothing that can happen to a heart which can't be fixed with modern medicine.  I'm now better than I have been in years and my heart is pumping as well or better than it did twenty years ago.

In retrospect, I realize that I was being given a huge opportunity to learn some lessons which I'd ignored.  I'm so hard-headed that it took something major to get my attention.  I believe that the lesson is something that we all should learn, although the vast majority of people fail to learn it or ignore it.

All of us start life with a victim mentality.  Being in real estate, we see people every day who have financial problems related to housing issues and many of them refuse to take responsibility for their problems.  They find some other entity to blame.  Perhaps it's their boss; perhaps they just got laid-off; perhaps it's their ex-spouse; perhaps it's their health; or perhaps it's just that the world fails to recognize their value and they just can't find a job which pays enough.  There's an infinite number of possibilities.

The thing is, being a victim means that you're full of self-pity and consequently you can't see your way clear to taking responsibility for the situation.  Taking personal responsibility is absolutely the only way that the situation will begin to clear up. 

If you've studied the law of attraction, you probably already realize that we summon situations into our life.  Generally, these situations are ones which carry a lesson for us.  We have an option of learning the lesson or ignoring it.  When we ignore it, it comes up again and again until we finally get the point.  Then we're ready for the next lesson. 

That's what life is all about: Learning; and there is an infinite number of lessons to learn.  If you feel like a victim (we all do at one point or another), realize that you have a choice.  You can choose to either remain a victim and search for external sources to blame or you can choose to begin the healing process by taking responsibility for your predicament. 

I've met many people who have heart problems and who simply place the whole mess into their doctor's hands and refuse to take any responsibility for their situation.  By so doing, they are pretty much ensuring that the problem will re-occur or become worse.  You've got to take personal responsibility and make changes in your life in order to heal.

The same can be said with relationship problems and financial problems.  They won't get better as long as you're blaming other people.  Only when you accept responsibility and search for the lesson embedded in the situation will you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This post is running a little long, so I'm going to complete it tomorrow.  In that section, I will state a fact which will probably stretch your mental paradigm.  I will also show you how to quickly rectify almost any situation by placing yourself into a mode where you can begin to heal.  This technique can even be used to ease your relationships in real estate.  You might even find that it can make it easier to find clients and establish a good relationship. 

Hope to speak to you tomorrow.
Namaste!

BTW if you're faced with A-Fib and want some encouragement, contact me.

I've been researching on the Internet, looking for a credible set of predictions for the real estate market in 2012. There are plenty of prognosticators willing to promulgate their purview regarding the upcoming days. Unfortunately, a close read of their predictions reveals that almost all of them are biased towards their view of normalcy.

A brief description of the general features of the articles would include the generic statement that the market has reached the bottom and that things are getting better. This would seem to be justified based on the general behavior of the regional markets. Studies such as those published by Case-Shiller give a complete overall view of the statistics in the past months.

Where I get indigestion is when the prediction turns all rosy with assumptions that we'll be back to the glory days in just a few months or maybe a year or so. This statement is usually paired with some politically oriented hogwash that assumes that all we need for the recovery to become a reality is for our government to spend more money or for the right politician(s) to be (re)elected. This kind of statement is obviously self-serving and its validity should be questioned by any reader who is even mildly aware that the economy is unwell.

Our estimable NAR economist usually comes out with cheerful statements, but as far as I'm concerned, he's being paid to pump the consumer's confidence and that consideration moves his predictions from the realm of reliable to some spot in the "hopeful" spectrum. You can also look at nationally known economists who write columns, for example. Some of them may even have Nobel Prizes. Of course, a brief observation of the Nobel Prize awards in recent years might lead you to accidentally come to the conclusion that some of the more politically driven awards are relatively worthless as predictors of real-world (as opposed to academic) knowledge.

The main thing that I try to keep in mind is that the country is simply and obviously deeply in debt. The numbers may change from month to month, the fact remains that our government has grossly overspent and we, as a nation, have promised to continue overspending. Now, I'm a relatively simple guy, so I just like to think of it as similar to a family where the two parents work and bring in $100,000 jointly every year. The family doesn't like to budget, but likes to spend and they have 20 credit cards, all maxed-out. In my imagination, I can see them sitting around the dinner table discussing the situation. The father is saying that all he needs is to qualify for another credit card so he can use that to pay the interest payments on the 20 maxed-out cards. Then the mother interjects that if they can't get that additional card, they might have to do something radical like cancel their Netflix account or perhaps forego their daily latte at Starbucks. Needless to say, this dangerous statement brings a huge outcry from the non-producers in the family. None of the kids wants to miss the latest movies and dad just adores his morning latte.

This is obviously an unsustainable situation and, whether or not the adults or children want to take serious action, reality is just about to smack them in the face. I believe that our nation is in much the same situation. We can only temporize so long before the reality of the situation will force us to take action. Unfortunately, history seems to indicate that this sort of situation will lead to extremely unpleasant events.

Some people argue that it doesn't make any difference if we're in debt, because we can simply print as much money as we need. Once again, I like to look at this in a simple fashion. Despite the commonplace idea that you can, indeed, get something for nothing, the basic fact behind money is that it's supposed to represent work. Let's explore this in this fashion: I've got a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I could have simply purchased the belt and worn it around. If I'd have gotten in a fight, the belt wouldn't have helped much. I actually practiced for 10 years and that practice and work would mean something in a conflict situation. The same can be said for money. Print as much as you want and pass it out to your cronies, Mr. Government. You'll find that there is a certain cushioning effect as it filters down to the general populace and it retains some of its value, but eventually, the idea of it being free will cause a gross failure of confidence in the population and it will become worthless in the real world. History says that this is true.

What does this mean for real estate? Traditionally, in times of economic turmoil, real property has served as a cushion and a store of wealth. This implies that the right property or properties can help you through a tough time. Of course, the lack of liquidity can be a hinderance, but rental property or agricultural property that can generate cash flow is going to be good.

The main thing that occurs to me is that I fully expect to see the real estate market come to an almost complete standstill as we get closer to the upcoming election. This is based on my memory of the last election and the one before that. People became so focused on the results and fearful about what the election portended that they were reluctant to commit their funds. Sure there were still some sales, but things slowed down to a certain extent.

My conclusion is that the first two quarters this year will represent the best time to work and will be a good time to sell property. If you're thinking about investing, you could hardly ask for a better time to get into the market. If you're a Realtor, remember that real estate is like farming; you've got to make hay while the sun shines.

Namaste!

Life is Difficult! Note that I capitalized Difficult. There's a reason for that and it's generally because the problems you face can be quite recalcitrant. If you've read many of my previous posts, you might remember that I seem to be pretty stuck on personal responsibility. I'd like to explore some of the reasons for that in this post.

I've noticed in my time here that events seemingly conspire to continually stretch your comfort level. Whether it's the constant pressure to succeed or to be liked, to convince people to work with you or to negotiate a difficult sale, there's almost always an element of surprise--something that you haven't faced before. That little something poses a challenge and whether you meet it successfully or fail at overcoming it, it provides an opportunity for personal growth. That is, you'll grow as long as you take responsibility for the success or failure.

Failing to accept responsibility is one path that will ensure that your personal abilities don't expand. After all, why should you change if the results you're getting are the fault of someone else? If you view yourself as already perfect (and everyone's ego has exactly that tendency, you'll just develop better ways of blaming others for your failures and you won't learn from them as you should.

The road to success is rocky and it's necessary to use personal discipline in order to make the journey. There are several aspects to discipline which are all elements of what I'll call "adult behavior." These include sacrificing present comfort for future gains, acceptance of responsibility, a strong dedication to honesty in your language, your outlook, and your actions, and the ability to prioritize miscellaneous, conflicting requirements. Developing these tools is critical and as we go through this world, we're quite likely to realize that suffering through problems is the primary way that we develop.

There are people who fail to learn one or more aspects of discipline. Being in real estate is one great way to ensure that you have the opportunity to meet and interact with this type of person. Of course, you'll also inevitably meet and interact with them if you're not in real estate, but you can often just distance yourself from them. A Realtor who is set on making a living cannot afford this luxury. If you're dedicated to helping people in your real estate career, you're more apt to recognize that the person who has failed to learn has some problem which makes the transaction difficult or impossible.

I'm not saying that you can't help such a person. We do it all of the time, but most experienced agents I'm familiar with have developed a fine sense that allows them to recognize that some people will be more of a problem to assist than others. This type of person seems to me to be mostly self-absorbed and driven by something that you might call self-pity. What I mean is that they are consistently self-deceiving so that they can maintain their self image. They will not hesitate to lie to others in order to maintain their ego's image of self-perfection. They may engage in egregious behavior towards others, since, in their mind, they are the only ones who actually count as as "person." They believe that other people are simply objects to manipulate. Love is something that they reserve for themselves.

On the other hand, love as demonstrated by those people who don't focus on themselves is an investment in another person's well-being and development which leads to personal and spiritual growth. It begins with physical attraction and matures into a deep caring for the other person's well-being. The development of the ability to feel this way is part of the lesson of life. It's part of the reason why we're here on this Earth at this moment.

My hope for you is that you prosper and develop in the year that is ahead of us. It's certain that we're going to meet many difficult problems and the only way to make sure that we overcome them is to accept self-responsibility. The more people who do, the better our community, country and world will be.

Namaste!

I've been reading that the US Post Office isn't doing too well (an understatement) and now even worse news has come down from the North Pole. Santa's contract has been re-negotiated.

We regret to inform you that Santa will no longer be able to serve the Southern United States. Due to the growing population, his contract was re-negotiated by North American Elves Local 243. He now only serves certain areas of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. He also gets longer breaks for milk and cookies, paid vacation time, retirement benefits, health insurance, and workmen's comp.

However, we are certain that your children will be in good hands with whatever local replacement happens to be in your region of the USA.  For example, Santa's third cousin, Bubba Claus will be covering the southeastern part of the country. Bubba Claus has signed the corporate goal statement and has fully bought into the goal of delivering toys to all good boys and girls; however, there are a few differences that you might notice, so don't be surprised:

1. There is no danger of anyone stealing your presents from Bubba.  His sleigh has a bumper sticker that reads "This sleigh insured by Colt!"

2. Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers children to leave RC cola and pork rinds on the fireplace. And Bubba don't smoke a pipe. He dips snuff, so please have an empty spit can by the side of the fireplace if you don't want a mess on the carpet.

3. Bubba's sleigh is pulled by coon dogs instead of reindeer. The issue of Blitzen going missing after Bubba visited the North Pole has been solved with the discovery of Blitzen's head hanging over Bubba's fireplace.

4. You won't hear the traditional reindeer names when Bubba Claus arrives. Instead you will hear "On Earnhardt, on Wallace, on Martin and Labonte. On Rudd, on Jarrett, on Elliot and Petty."

5. "Ho, Ho, Ho!" has been replaced by "Yee Haw!" Bubba has also been heard hollering, "Hey, Y'all! Watch this!" when taking off from a particularly steep roof. He's also been known to steal Christmas lights and wear them around his neck after imbibing in too much eggnog, so don't leave any out for him.

6. Bubba Claus' sleigh has Yosemite Sam mud flaps with the words "Back Off". His sleigh has other decorations as well. He has a Ford logo with lights that race through the letters and a caricature of Santa Claus going wee-wee on the Tooth Fairy.  Featured prominently on the upper back of the sleigh are both the Browning Buck logo and a large-mouth bass leaping.

7. The usual Christmas movie classics such as "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" will not be shown in your viewing area. Instead you will see "Ernest Saves Christmas" and "Smoky and the Bandit IV" featuring Burt Reynolds as Bubba Claus.

8. Bubba don't wear a belt on his work jeans. Please ensure that the wife and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put the presents under the tree.  They might not be able to go to sleep after that.

9. Stocking stuffers have been changed. Instead of chocolates, candy canes and such like, children in his service area can expect to get hot-peppered jerky, Vienna sausages, and a fishing lure. Adults may find a can of beer or a sample of Bubba's best moonshine (don't drink this unless you want to miss Christmas with a hang-over.)

10. All toys delivered in the South have been painstakingly assembled by Bubba Claus's elves in his Freedom Homes doublewide workshop.

11. Christmas songs such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" will be replaced in his service area. "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" will now be the rule.

Living in Florida makes me qualified, I believe, to poke fun at some of our southern stereotypes. I particularly like the reference to Earnest Saves Christmas, since both my children can be seen for about seven seconds in the library scene. It was their one and only movie performance. The scene was supposed to be during the afternoon and we'd dutifully arrived at about noon. When the crew finally got around to shooting it, it was 3:00 AM and the kids were just wiped out, not to mention the parents. They got $45 each and we missed a lot of sleep. It wasn't an experience that I'd want to repeat.

Anyway, have a Merry Christmas to those of you who appreciate that idea. Happy Holidays to those who do not. And, just have a nice day to everyone else. Take your pick.

Namaste!

Here's another post in my series of quotes from Uncle Joe. If you haven't read the previous ones, I'll need to explain. Almost all of us have an "Uncle Joe," although he may have another name in your family. He's the family member who has carefully studied life and has enough experience to codify it into a series of pithy nuggets of wisdom.

I asked Uncle Joe why every picture taken of him shows him waving his right hand. He responded that he was waving to himself, so that when he saw the picture, he'd be happy knowing that he was still here to see the wave. After thinking about that for awhile, I came to the conclusion that he really isn't egotistical, he's just got a weird idea of how time works. But, on the other hand, perhaps he knows more about it than I thought. He certainly always has plenty of time to relax.

Here's what he has to say on a variety of topics which relate to having a good life:

• It's said that money can't buy happiness or love, but the average man can impress women more in a Bentley than on a bicycle.
• If you help someone who has a really bad problem, not only will they remember you the next time they have a bad problem, but they'll tell their friends and they'll come to you with their problems too.
• Trying to drink your cares away with booze doesn't work, but it's a lot more fun than trying to drink them away with milk.
• If it were legal to shoot rude people, life would be a lot more pleasant and polite.
• They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but why give them a chance to stick a knife in your back?
• If I were able to exchange all of the money I've wasted in my life by giving back all of the wisdom I'd gained by wasting it, I'd just blow the money again.
• Some people wish they could start all over. I just want a younger body, but I'd like to keep my knowledge.
• People who inherited their money are sometimes referred to as someone who was born with a silver spoon in their mouth. That's nice, but those people will never have the satisfaction of putting a silver spoon in their own mouth for the first time and knowing that it's entirely due to their own efforts.
• If you depend on the good will of others to survive, then you'd be better off practicing making yourself agreeable and pleasant.
• If you depend on the government's force to take money from others to give to you, then you'd better work at making those others feel guilty. It keeps them busy and then they don't resent having their funds taken from them so much.
• Retirement is horrible! I've seen what happens to retired people. They usually waste away and die within a few, short years. I think it's the contrast between working every day and then doing nothing. To avoid this fate, I've made it my policy to be semi-retired my whole life.

Perhaps it would be a good thing if we'd all take some time to think about life in some of these ways. Uncle Joe is usually pretty happy and my observation of people leads me to believe that happiness isn't very common. People are usually over-worked and over-stressed and cranky. Within certain limits more possessions don't help us. Maybe it would be a good idea to go fishing and relax rather than working on that project of dubious value.

That's our problem. Most of us don't work at things that we love to do. If you can find a job that you really love, the stress that comes with it is seen as just a little spice to add interest.

My wish for you is that you enjoy real estate. It has its challenges, but it is certainly interesting and rewarding if you enjoy helping people.

Namaste!

Yesterday, I talked about the fact that the human brain is far more complex than the fastest of today's computers. Today, I'm going to talk about what might be called the Operating System's functions if the brain were actually a computer. To do this, we're going to use common terms about which everyone has some general knowledge.

The first thing which is apparent to us as we turn our vision inward to the workings of our mind is the conscious part. This is the part that thinks and reasons. You might say that your free will lies here. It is very limited in processing power and can only deal with about 4096 bits of information per second. That's actually pretty slow in terms of computer speed.

The important thing about our conscious mind is that it can accept or reject any idea. No person or circumstance can cause you to think about ideas or thoughts if you do not choose to do so. This is important since the thoughts you choose eventually determine the results in your life.

All pleasure, pain, and limitation is either originated in the conscious mind OR accepted uncritically from an outside source.

As a child, you lack the ability to reject thoughts which are inserted into this part of your mind. Careless remarks that a child overhears may later be incorporated into his life as beliefs. Parenting becomes very important. Day-care, poor quality education, music and TV can easily create beliefs in a child which may lead to self-limiting behavior.

The mind has more than just this conscious part. There is also a part of us which has historically been called the sub-conscious. I'd prefer to think of it as that part of your mind which is normally not focused upon. You can be aware of it, if you want to, however.

This part is the power center of your existence, since it expresses itself through your physical body in feelings and action. The critical aspect of this part of your mind is that it has no ability to evaluate ideas. Every thought that your conscious mind chooses to accept, this part MUST accept. It has no power to reject and it does not understand the word: "Not." It can easily incorporate negative beliefs into it's structure, since it ignores the conscious thought that, "I do not want that." It only hears, "I want that."

Have you ever told a child not to do something and then watched them immediately try to do exactly what you told them not to try? This cycle in a child is often more easily visible than in an adult, since a lot of their behavior is dictated by the sub-conscious alone.

If you choose to repeatedly think a thought, it will become fixed in this part of your mind. Such fixed ideas will continue to express themselves without any conscious assistence until they are replaced. You could call these ideas, "Habits." It requires a considerable amount of repetition in order to firmly implant such an idea. It's commonly thought that it takes 21 days to establish a habit, but there are other factors which make some habits easier to establish and some more difficult.

This part of our existence doesn't like change. People believe that it's difficult to re-write this part of your mind. In fact, it’s no more difficult than changing an error in a document in your computer. You open the document, make the change and then store it away again. It’s just that we often let other problems interfere with this operation. When we go back to focusing on unwanted results, it undoes the change.

This part of your mind is also concerned with survival and processes about a million times more information than your conscious mind. This is we can know more about a new person in a few seconds than we often realize. The information is absorbed below the level of consciousness and is often referred to as, "Intuition."

Let's finish our simplistic view of the human organism with the observation that we also have a body. Your body is, of course, the most obvious part of you. The fact is that there’s no part of a human body that isn’t in a dog or a pig. The critical difference is that your body is the instrument of your mind. Your body is the vehicle that our mind normally travels in during our life in the material world.

Here's the important part of all of this: The beliefs that are caused by the thoughts that your conscious mind fixes upon are impressed upon your sub-conscious which then forces your body to live out those beliefs.

This cycle may be expressed as: "Focus on your goal -> conscious thought of achieving -> subconscious accepts -> body works toward result -> get the results you want."

It may also be expressed as: "Focus on avoiding an unwanted result -> conscious thought of not having that result -> subconscious ignores the "Not" -> body works toward result -> get the results you dreaded."

This is the law: When you devote your attention to something and it becomes part of your belief system, you will eventually receive it in some form. If you're thinking that you've heard this before and it was called the law of attraction, you're correct.

Here are some general implications of this concept: If you don't think that you're getting the results you want, first start by looking around to see where the results are – they’re there, but they may not be in the form you expected. It's been said that when you pray, the results are given to you instantly, you just have to get your mind into a state where it recognizes them. Don't focus on your pre-thought out solution, instead allow your mind to think of alternative solutions and to recognize them when they pop up.

The problem everyone has is that we have the most dedicated focus on the unwanted results which we get and this insures that we just get more of the same via the same process. It takes a lot of work to develop the habit of always focusing on a worthy goal. The negative results do pop up in our lives, seemingly by accident, and they're so compelling that we are easily seduced into focusing on them. Just remember, everything is energy, everything vibrates. You attract the same vibrations that you emit.

Applying this to real estate, the rule is to set a goal and only focus on that goal. Don't focus on how far you missed it this month. That's a "Not." Realize that there is a lag time between your focus and when you receive the goal. If we received what we wanted instantly, the world would be a mess, because we don't control our thoughts that consistently.

With that in mind, remember positive people attract positive results. Negative ones attract negative results. (Hint: It's a lot easier to be positive if you only hang out with the positive people.) As you sow, so shall you reap.  By focusing on our poor results, we learn not to trust our ability to attract the good results we want and this leads us to hold onto old ideas and old things because we lack faith in our ability to obtain new ideas and new things. We thus limit ourselves.

Remember that our primary problem is that we are so full of our ideas about how the world works that we haven’t created mental space for the beautiful image that we were born to create.

Namaste!

What's the difference between your brain and a computer? We know that the advanced computers of today are pretty amazing in their ability to calculate. They can usually out-perform humans in tasks which require logic, such as playing chess or finding the square root of some huge number. They can even figuratively have one hand tied behind them and still whup the best players of Jeopardy. However there are some tasks they are not wired to accomplish; tasks at which the human brain excels.

We know that computers deal with ones and zeros and use logic gates to manipulate them. These logic gates are the function of transistors and the number of transistors on a computer chip is subject to Moore's Law. This law states that the ability of a computer will double every 18 months and the increased computing power will cost about the same amount. We've seen the truth of this idea in the development of microcomputers from the desktop to the laptop to the tablet and smart phone. Forty years ago the most complex chip could hold slightly more than 2,000 transistors. The chips of today hold over 2 billion transistors.

You might think that our brains are far inferior, but that is incorrect. It's not that we're inferior, it's just that we're programmed to accomplish different tasks. For example, we have the ability to look at a field of tall, brown grass and instantly recognize that the tiny patch of yellow fur which showed for a second means that there is a lion stalking us. We inherited that bit of programming from our ancestors. Likewise, we can instantly recognize a friend even if they've had plastic surgery.

No one knows how many neurons are in the average brain, but estimates range around 100 billion, far outstripping the computer chip. This number becomes even more astounding when you realize that each nerve cell has somewhere around 12,000 interconnections with other nerve cells. These connections are both electrical and chemical and they can transmit information in fractions of milliseconds from one neuron to the next. Add an additional level of complexity in that the neurons can modify themselves and move. That would be like a computer rewiring itself. Then to make the human system even more complex there are approximately as many additional neurons outside the brain ranging throughout our bodies. Additionally, there are things called microtubules inside each nerve cell and these actually perform their own sort of processing. The sum total of calculations that the human system can perform per second far outstrips the world's fastest supercomputers (at this time.)

It's been predicted that computers will have the same capabilities of the brain in about another 12 to 20 years from today. That may or may not happen. We're so far from understanding exactly how the human organism acts, though, that it will probably be far longer before a computer could double as a human. It might be able to instantly analyze and mimic our reactions, but it is another thing to think that it would have the same reactions without having a human to analyze.

Why am I spending all of this time writing about this topic? Here's the point I'm working towards. We have this incredible ability within us and yet most of us haven't the slightest idea of how to use it to effectively better ourselves. In the worst case, we simply go from day to day, reacting to the world. This is a terrible waste, since we have the ability to manipulate our world in ways that are effective and which will lead to far better results than simply reacting to external stimuli.

I've run on a little too long for today. My next post will be part two of this concept and in it we'll examine how our internal software works. I'll give a simple explanation of how our mind functions and show that there are some basic principles which lead us along the pathway to success in our lives.

Meanwhile, to give you a feel for how amazing and complex we are, here's a great video on the development that goes on from conception to birth. It takes about 9 minutes and I believe that you'll find yourself watching it again, referring it to your friends and especially your children, it's that amazing.

Namaste!

The news during the last week has been pretty grim. Every headline seems to be about either some really stupid government action which will adversely impact the economy or about some really stupid government action which adversely impacts the personal freedom of the populace. Yesterday just about topped the charts when I read that NAR had admitted that the home sales statistics for resales had been roughly doubled due to miscounting and also counting new home sales.

I don't know about you, but I've been suspicious of home sales statistics for a long time. When the NAR economist makes some rosy statement about how the market is better, I just shake my head in wonder, laugh and say, "It must be in some other market than mine." We've each got a great view of our local market and every agent out there knows what their personal production looks like. We get paid on the basis of how well we do and the condition of the local market impacts that to a great extent.

I know many of my fellow agents pretty well and I also know that most of them will always say they're having a great year regardless of how well they're actually doing. This is partly due to reluctance to tell another agent that you personally aren't doing so well and also due to the notion that the public doesn't appreciate an agent who has bad news. There is some truth to this concept also. People don't like to hang around with someone who always has negative statements to make. However, always saying things are just GREAT!!! when they're obviously not so good, won't make you very popular either. You loose credibility, if nothing else.

Now, markets are markets and I study both the housing market and the stock market. Years ago, I realized that the housing market was just a fraction of our economy and that the stock market moves far more quickly and often gives a more timely indication of where the economy is going. It's easy to get confused, of course, otherwise everyone who put money into stocks would always make more money. That isn't what happens (at least not to me.)

Before I continue, here is a brief list of rather cynical, but funny statements about the stock market and brokers:

• A long term investment is a short term investment that failed.
• A stockbroker is someone who invests your money till it's all gone!
• It was so cold today I saw a stockbroker with his hands in his own pockets.
• A market analyst is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today!
• Momentum Investing is the fine art of buying high and selling low and Value Investing is tth art of buying low and selling lower.
• Apparently God created stock analysts solely in order to make weather forecasters look good.
• My stock broker and I are working on a retirement plan. Unfortunately, it's his!

Anyway, I woke up in the middle of the night with a rather simple insight. It's things like this that make me feel really smart and also completely stupid at the same time. When can you definitely tell that a market has bottomed? The answer is based on the fact that people are heavily influenced by other people and tend to act in a group. Individuals may make mistakes, but there is a certain amount of safety in going along with the group.

You can tell that a market has bottomed when everyone hates the investment. When it's common knowledge that the market is no good, it's a pretty safe bet that it's at the bottom or near that point. Now, if you pair that observation with the elementary philosophy that, in order to get rich, you have to buy low and sell high, you'll quickly come to the conclusion that you should buy at the market's bottom.

Well, my friends, we're pretty near that point! Many years ago before I started selling real estate, I had a man tell me that in order to become rich, you should buy a house a year for twenty years. Unfortunately, I didn't follow his advice very closely and my results show it. On the other hand, at last count he owned close to a hundred properties and is doing just fine, despite the poor market. The reason is that he bought his properties well. He either bought when the market was down, or he bought distressed properties at a great discount. That's the secret. Make your profit on the buy side of the transaction.

There are a lot of investors out there today buying distressed houses and this is because they recognize that you can often pick up a property for less than replacement cost. You have to be careful, of course, since it's easy to get in too deep. I always laugh at the TV shows about flipping property, since their calculations go somewhat like: Buy it for $80,000. Put in $20,000 for repairs. Sell for $125,000. You make $25,000. These shows always leave me wondering if the producers live in another universe. Don't they have taxes, HOA fees, insurance and closing costs where they live? Despite this sort of oversight, they've kind of got the right idea. Buy low, sell high.

If you are a professional real estate agent, now is the time to start looking for great buys. If you're not in a position to pick up properties and hold them, you can probably find some investors who will appreciate your knowledge of the market. Make enough sales to investors and you'll earn enough to buy a property or two for yourself. And, don't tell me that you don't believe that real estate is a good investment, because the market crashed. All markets crash and they inevitably rebound also.  Now is the time to buy at the bottom.

Namaste!

Several times recently, I've had people tell me that working in Real Estate must be wonderful. Perhaps they see something that I don't. I don't know. They usually come up with some platitude about the freedom to set your own schedule or to drive around looking at expensive real estate. Sometimes they say, "I just really like to look at houses" in an envious tone of voice.

Despite their enthusiasm for what they imagine real estate work to be like, the reality is that it has its drawbacks also. Here's a brief comparison of ---

Prison Vs. Working in Real Estate Sales

IN PRISON...you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell reading or playing cards or sleeping.
AT WORK ... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 cubicle calling FSBOs who don't want to be called.

IN PRISON...you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you pay for it and it's likely to be some nauseating fast food.

IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior
AT WORK...you get more work for good behavior - and you really hope for this result!

IN PRISON...the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK...you must carry around a multilock key and open all the doors for yourself.

IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...when you watch TV or play games you don't eat.

IN PRISON...you get your own toilet.
AT WORK...you have to share the nearest filling station restroom with some idiot who most likely has left a mess on the seat.

IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK...you can't even take time speak to your family unless you don't care if you locate that next prospect.

IN PRISON...the taxpayers pay all expenses with no work required.
AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON...you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out.
AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON...you must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK...they are called office managers!　

So, you can see that the similarities are rather striking, but don't get me wrong. I'm too addicted to being able to pay my bills. Of course, my business expenses might be lower, if I quit, but I just don't think that would work out well.

The real point is, regardless of whether you work for yourself or someone else, you must take the responsibility to do the job and that means do whatever it takes. If you find that whatever it takes is too tough for you, either get tougher or find another job. People think that their security lies in the job they have or in the government being willing to give them assistance. It doesn't. The only security that can never be taken away from you lies within your knowledge of your abilities. If you've never taken the responsibility to develop your ability to accomplish things, then I guess you'd better hope that there is some kind of free money out there.

I ran onto a quote by Thucydides which applies. He was a Greek who lived about 400 BC and who is, perhaps, best known for writing about war. He said, in part, "Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave...." The way I read this is that if you think you're going to get away with being happy without being brave enough to take responsibility for yourself, you're in line for a wake-up call.

I'm pretty happy with real estate. When things are tight and there isn't much income, I can only blame myself. When things are easy and our bank account is ahead, well, I'm happy to take responsibility for that too. It's for sure that no one is going to give us anything. We have to work for everything we get and I've noticed that there is an unfortunate correlation between how hard and smart you work and how much you make. It's all up to you.

Namaste!