I’m inviting my fellow Skirts to join me in a fun pool for the Dancing With The Stars TV show on ABC. Click here to join. Choose the blue box on the right-hand side of the page and set up an account for yourself.

After your account is set up, select the box JOIN POOL.

Be sure to watch Dancing With The Stars each week. Then login to your account and make your Weekly Picks by clicking on that link in the left navigation. You’ll want to put your points on the person(s) that you think will be eliminated for that week.

Then, log back in to see how you and everyone else did. It’s just that easy. I think we’ll have a lot of fun with this. Please feel free to pass the link along to your other Skirts friends and invite them to join us too. The more the merrier. Good luck.

Charlie

“Spring or not, it is time for some spring cleaning of your values. Time has past, you have grown, changed, etc., and yet you probably have kept many of the same values, ideas, etc. that you always had. Take some time to think about what really matters to you now, and compare it to what you thought 5 years ago. Chances are you will find some areas you have new opinions on, and yet you may still be acting in ways that do not match these new values.”
– Edward W. Smith, Sixty Seconds To Success

It’s almost spring time! And spring represents a time of re-birth, a new beginning, and a chance to get organized and focused. In some ways, it is an opportunity to start anew! For those of you who live up north, spring time also means the weather finally gets warmer and you just naturally feel better when you can get outside and enjoy! Flowers are blooming, the grass is getting green again, and the days last a little longer…it is enough to get ANYONE feeling better!

It is also a tradition for many people that when spring time rolls around it’s time to do a little ‘Spring Cleaning’ in the house. This is when people go through their homes, room by room, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning and examining their items to determine what stays and what gets tossed. This is one of the primary reasons you see so many folks holding garage sales this time of year.

Well, spring is not only an excellent time to clean your *external* house, but it’s also a good time to clean your “internal* house as well! Basically, we all have two houses, our external house – which is the physical structure in which we live; and our internal house – which is our mind, body and soul. There is a direct correlation between these two houses! If our external houses feel cluttered and disorganized, then our internal house is probably feeling a little discombobulated as well!

In order to have focus, motivation and joy in your life, you must take the action steps required to create a balance between your two houses! Have you noticed that when your external house is cluttered and disorganized that you tend to feel anxious and overwhelmed?

So, why not use this time to take a good look at yourself and examine all areas of your life. Go through each *room* of your life and determine what is working – what isn’t, what things you want to keep and what things you want to toss. An easy way to get started with this task is to refer back to the Five key Areas of your life (your life palette).

Those five areas include:

• Health/Emotion
• Physical Environment
• Financial
• Relationships
• Spirituality

So, let’s take charge of our lives and do some ‘spring cleaning’ for both our houses!

Guest Blogger: Leah Turner
email: Leah@CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
website: CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
407.709.6816

The business has also become much more emotional. As real estate professionals, we are continually navigating our clients through some pretty unclear waters these days. We are standing on the sidelines as people are struggling with being upside down in their mortgage payments, anxiously awaiting news from the banks about offers being accepted, being forced to sell their homes, and in some cases losing their homes. Crazy stuff!

All of this can add to our stress levels. In fact, it can make us feel as though we have no control over any of the circumstances and situations in our business. Feeling like we have no control can leave us feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed and even depressed.

These are the times I encourage my coaching clients to take a deep breath, step back from the situation for a moment and look at the things we do have control over. We can’t control the national economy, the health care situation, or even the number of short sales on the market…..but, what we can control is our *internal* economy. By this I mean we can control our thoughts, our words and our actions.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. I am on a diet and am working with a weight loss coach to insure my success. Each week I go into the weight loss center and get on the scales to determine my progress from the previous week. Last week I had a triumphant week. I lost 3 lbs! I was so excited that I told the doctor that next week I was going to lose 4 lbs! While she was proud of my enthusiasm, she said to me: “Leah, you can’t control the numbers on the scale. What you can control are the actions you take to decrease the numbers. So instead of making your goal to lose 4 lbs (which you can’t control), your goal should focus on what you do have control over…..watching the calories and carbs you intake, drinking more water, and exercising every day.”

WOW. This simple statement made me look at things in a different way and really embrace the importance of letting go of the outcomes that I cannot control. Instead I am focusing on the action steps that I can control.

I challenge you to look at your business from this perspective and clearly set goals and action steps that will propel you towards the outcome you would like to achieve, and to let go of those things that you have no control over. Remember, you are in total control of your *internal* economy!

Guest Blogger: Leah Turner
email: Leah@CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
website: CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
407.709.6816

It is a Saturday afternoon, and I am stressed! Yes, even life coaches get stressed out occasionally. Why am I stressed, you ask? Well, I am looking at my calendar for next week and it is pretty crazy. I will be in Ft. Myers for two days giving a presentation to a large group of Realtors and then I will be in Atlanta on Thursday and Friday of that same week presenting to the Atlanta Homebuilders Association Sales & Marketing Council. Whew….So, I am diligently trying to pre-plan, pre-pack, and pre-anticipate any last minute challenges that might arise.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I am a BIG proponent of being PROACTVE rather than REACITVE in all areas of my life. My husband would probably tell you that I can be quite anal about doing so, but that’s a topic for another blog. Anyway, that is why I am spending some extra time this weekend working to insure that all flows smoothly next week.

However, I am also a huge proponent of creating balance in all areas of my life, and part of that means scheduling time for fun and relaxation. I am very selfish and selective about my “relaxation” time. We ALL need to have that special “downtime” in our lives. You know, when we can figuratively and literally “unplug” from the chaos, stress, and non-stop activities that make up our busy lives.

Have you ever been driving in your car, and you look down and notice the gas light is on EMPTY? All of a sudden you get panicky and anxious! You can’t concentrate. All you want to do is find the nearest gas station so you can fill up and NOT run out of gas, right? I like to use this example with clients when I am talking about the importance of “downtime and relaxing”.

If we are in a constant state of “doing” all the time, it’s like driving your car non-stop, and not ever stopping for gas. Obviously this isn’t good for your car, and it is even worse for you!

Believe it or not, a lot of people (especially women) feel GUILTY about taking time out just for themselves. We are MASTER TASKERS, and often feel that if we are not actually “doing something productive” we are wasting our time. Do you know what I say to that? STOP THE MADNESS!

So, in your busy week, remember to take some time just for you….and relax! Maybe that means spending 30 minutes alone reading a book you have been meaning to get around to, or perhaps it means treating yourself to a manicure/pedicure. Whatever it is, just do it.

I know for me, I will be boarding a cruise ship next Saturday with several of my dearest friends from high school, and we will be heading out to sea for five glorious days of rest and relaxation, and a lot of fun! Bon voyage!

Guest Blogger: Leah Turner
email: Leah@CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
website: CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
407.709.6816

Conquer Procrastination Now (Not Later).

I confess that I’ve had a long-running love affair with “to-do” lists. I probably created my first list in elementary school – most likely in pink or orange crayon.

Most people believe they’re either a “list person” or not. The non-listers are often unimpressed with the static nature of a list, or they see it as another demand on their busy schedule. In the years since I wrote my first list, I’ve become more and more aware of that static nature the non-listers complain about. When we’re trying to reach a goal, the first task we take on is to break the goal up into manageable tasks and make a list to complete the tasks. So far that sounds pretty reasonable.

But…. Somewhere along the way there is a breakdown between the list of tasks needed to complete the goal, and actually reaching the goal itself. The to-do list sits there with its boxes unchecked, or its tasks still not crossed off. This is a problem if your goal is going to be reached, or if you’re struggling with procrastination.

Now, some of us have elevated our list-making by jumping into calendar applications on the computer, or using our Blackberry or iPhones to track our progress. So, how many of you have upgraded your list-making technology, but are still not hitting those goals? The problem is not in the technology, or even in your desire to complete the tasks. The disconnect between writing things down and getting them done lies somewhere in your list.

Though my lists have evolved from the crayon days, and into the technology days, I wanted to create a more dynamic approach to reaching goals through list-making. One day when looking at tasks I had meant to complete that were being moved from one day’s list to the next (undone), I began thinking about how to stop my procrastination now. The things I had to do, even if they were attached in my mind to an important goal, had little personal connection for me as written, and had zero motivational value attached to them.

I looked at the first item on my list that day: “Make appointment to get car serviced.” Not exactly a dynamic task, nor did it seem to have any relevance to an obvious goal. I thought about the rewards and consequences of the task, and re-framed the task. By doing that, I suddenly saw the interconnectedness of the task, to a larger goal. That realization led me to create a different kind of to-do list. I created a simple new form for my list, and tried it out for two weeks. The difference was measurable — I found myself getting more done, and reaching goals that had sat stagnant for too long.

I created a STIC-list for my own use. What is STIC? “So That I Can…”

For every item I want to complete, I write a simple benefit to completing that task. Let’s take the easy task (and easier to put off) of scheduling service for my car. What would that look like on my new to-do list?

Make appointment to get car serviced STIC (so that I can) stop worrying when I have to drive home late at night that I’ll get stranded.

Guess what? I made that call right away. How about a few more to get you started?

Make 5 cold calls today STIC bring in new clients and increase my revenue.

Keep appointment with personal trainer STIC feel confident on our trip to Hawaii.

What are a few things on your list today that would benefit from getting on the STIC-list?

The secret to STIC is to attach a simple and meaningful result to the seemingly mundane task at hand. Every little task we do is related to a bigger and more important goal or outcome. The choices we make every day impact everything in our lives, and that includes choosing to tackle or ignore even simple tasks. Using a STIC-list and attaching a benefit to the things we need to accomplish, allows us to stay in “big picture” thinking, and create the life we really want.

Guest Blogger: Diana Hathaway-Timmons
email: Diana@KeepYourZen.com
website: KeepYourZen.com
253.514.8892