Take time to gather up the past so that you will be able to draw from your experiences and invest them in the future.
Don’t let the learning from your own experiences take too long. If you have been doing it wrong for the last ten years, I would suggest that’s long enough!
Life is not just the passing of time. Life is the collection of experiences and their intensity.
It’s easy to carry the past as a burden instead of a school. It’s easy to let it overwhelm you instead of educate you.
Be like a sponge when it comes to each new experience. If you want to be able to express it well, you must first be able to absorb it well.
“Vitamins for the Mind” is a weekly sampling of original quotes on a specific topic taken from The Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn. The burgundy hardbound book with gold-foil lettering is a collection of more than 365 quotes on 60 topics gathered from Jim’s personal journals, seminars and books and spanning more than 40 years. Click here to order The Treasury of Quotes.
The first week of May I was off to Arizona Biltmore for the Mortgage Technology Conference in Arizona. The conference which centers around technology innovations in Mortgage Banking was well attended and the major players in the mortgage technology industry were there to talk about innovation, technology and the the future of the mortgage industry.
The 3 day conference was totally packed with meetings and I spent literally all day and night going from place to place, meeting to meeting and person to person getting information, taking notes and learning from the best in the industry.
Themes of the conference:
1. Automation – Companies are sick of paper, sick on data entry and sick of doing low level tasks, the mortgage industry right now is such at a stand still due to all the compliance reasons it becomes a requirement for things to be automated to stay in business. Lenders and companies are looking to streamline end to end business process and automate as much as possible.
2. Cloud – Everything’s “Cloud” now, we released “Cloud Control” and there was about 20 or so other companies talking about the “cloud” the reality is the cloud is not new but a trend, I think “Social enterprise” may be next.
3. Integrations – Lenders want everything integrated and “one-click” away and really an end to end solution. The old days or order title from one company, appraisal from an appraisal management company , AVM from another and review from another are over, they want one click end to end integrations and vendors are going to have to step up to offer solutions to mortgage companies.
Its going to be very interesting how things work out over the next few years and I think that mortgage technology will increase at a much higher rate then ever before.
I’d like for us to take a look at the power of influence in our lives and how it is possible to be nudged off course a little at a time until finally, we find ourselves asking, “How did I get here?”
We should ask ourselves three key questions:
1) “Who am I around?” You’ve got to evaluate everybody who is able to influence you in any way.
2) “What are these associations doing to me?” That’s a major question to ask. “What have they got me doing, listening to, reading, thinking and feeling?” You’ve got to make a serious study of how others are influencing you, both negatively and positively.
3) “Is that okay?” Maybe everyone you associate with has been a positive, energizing influence. Then again, maybe there are some bad apples in the bunch. All I’m suggesting here is that you take a close and objective look. Everything is worth a second look, especially the power of influence. Both will take you somewhere, but only one will take you in the direction you need to go.
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week I spent my day speaking to several great Realtor groups in Charlotte on how to review, understand, interrupt and deal with the current appraisal process. I spoke to about a total of 200 people in 3 different groups and it was an eye opening experience for both.
Questions were good and engaging and in some cases things got heated in a very positive way.
Here’s what I learned from the experience:
1. Appraisers know alot more the most people think – Most good Realtors do know the local market area and how to sell a house but the in and house about financing, adjustments, valuation, comparison and the technical side of things they haven’t been taught how to do.
2. There’s a huge disconnect on what the appraiser is supposed to do vs. what Realtors think the appraiser is suppose to do – Most Realtors don’t understand the appraisal is for the lender, to evaluate the property for financing, thats it. So the report is not exactly suppose to be written to there satisfaction or the homeowners, this is for a loan.
3. Most Realtors want to know more – Most Realtors want to know about the appraisal process and what appraisers are thinking there’s alot of confusion about what appraisers are looking for and Realtors are eager for education and understand of what to do to help push there deals through and be a better overall professional. The support for understanding and education was huge.
4. Appraisers need to do a better job about communicating with Realtors – Realtors are frustrated that appraisers aren’t communicating and setting expectations for what they really need for an inspection, this includes plat maps, sketchs, surveys and other important information that they need to complete the appraisal in a timely manner.
Overall, it was a great experience and I would do it again!
We are not born with courage, but neither are we born with fear. Maybe some of our fears are brought on by your own experiences, by what someone has told you, by what you’ve read in the papers. Some fears are valid, like walking alone in a bad part of town at two o’clock in the morning. But once you learn to avoid that situation, you won’t need to live in fear of it.
Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy our ambitions. Fear can destroy fortunes. Fear can destroy relationships. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside us.
Let me tell you about five of the other enemies we face from within. The first enemy that you’ve got to destroy before it destroys you is indifference. What a tragic disease this is. “Ho-hum, let it slide. I’ll just drift along.” Here’s one problem with drifting: you can’t drift your way to the top of the mountain.
The second enemy we face is indecision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity and enterprise. It will steal your chances for a better future. Take a sword to this enemy.
The third enemy inside is doubt. Sure, there’s room for healthy skepticism. You can’t believe everything. But you also can’t let doubt take over. Many people doubt the past, doubt the future, doubt each other, doubt the government, doubt the possibilities and doubt the opportunities. Worst of all, they doubt themselves. I’m telling you, doubt will destroy your life and your chances of success. It will empty both your bank account and your heart. Doubt is an enemy. Go after it. Get rid of it.
The fourth enemy within is worry. We’ve all got to worry some. Just don’t let it conquer you. Instead, let it alarm you. Worry can be useful. If you step off the curb in New York City and a taxi is coming, you’ve got to worry. But you can’t let worry loose like a mad dog that drives you into a small corner. Here’s what you’ve got to do with your worries: drive them into a small corner. Whatever is out to get you, you’ve got to get it. Whatever is pushing on you, you’ve got to push back.
The fifth interior enemy is over-caution. It is the timid approach to life. Timidity is not a virtue; it’s an illness. If you let it go, it’ll conquer you. Timid people don’t get promoted. They don’t advance and grow and become powerful in the marketplace. You’ve got to avoid over-caution.
Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what’s holding you back, what’s keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.
So last week, after literally a week on the road visiting clients and attending the NRMLA New York conference, I was planned to go back and see my old friend Tony Robbins event “Unleash the Power Within” for the 3rd time. Now Tony Robbins for anyone who hasn’t been is not your typical motivational speaker. If you have ever been to Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn or John Maxwell and put Tony in the same class you have to go and see the difference. In all honesty the best way to explain going to a Tony Robbins event is like going to a MMA fight to just watch and then finding out as you try to take your seat that your not going to watch that you’re the main event and they whisk you in the ring unprepared and put you in.
Its insane, his energy, his vitality, his strength, his commitment, he literally was on stage for 12 hours non-stop and kept it going the entire time at level 25 MILLION!!!
Now the event is not the most the important thing, its getting what you got from the event and putting it into your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly agenda. The biggest thing I have been able to do with the event is take what he says, the notes, the strategies and then build these adjustments into my daily agenda, it starts with literally just something as simple as the questions you ask yourself when you wake up to the food you eat and your daily habits and agenda.
Here are the adjustments I’ve made:
1. Making working out a daily priority – I’ve always been a big fitness buff, but haven’t made it a DAILY commitment, now rain, shine, busy or not I’m hitting the gym and working out somehow 7 days a week.
2. Being very careful about my thoughts and self talk – The Zen saying “Not even your worst enemies can harm you as much as an unguarded careless thought” is very true, thoughts are like seeds that grow and shape your entire world, be ver careful with what you let enter your brain and self talk.
3. Changing my Mantra – This is too personal to share but its changed for the better.
4. Changing my values – Used to be about Growth and Significance, which at the time when the company was more so just me made sense, but now with as large as we have gotten the “significance” doesn’t really cut it, this has been changed to Growth and Connection which makes a huge difference is my daily agenda, focus as well as communication style. Imagine if your goal as a sales person or leader went from “Here I am” as you walk into a room which is about significance to “there you are” which is about connection, either way two people in a room, either way you walk in, TOTALLY DIFFERENT outcome.
5. Habits – They say the first 30 years you make your habits and the next 30 years your habits make you, this couldn’t be more true as well as be more frightening as you think about your habits as your “operating system” it allows you to be on auto-pilot and so your brain doesn’t have to work to do basic functions. Some people have habits that are “successful” habits and others have habits that are “self destructive” , either way your habits determine what you do everyday and they ultimately make you who you are and all your results. The issue with changing habits is that it takes a very DELIBERATE efforts for about a month to build a new habit and rewire your brain to perform the once totally manual task , automated. I have a list of 6 habits that im developing everyday and its been fun to try and a challenge which i’m always up to.
If you ever are blessed with the opportunity to go be able to attend an Anthony Robbins event, it would be the biggest mistake of your life not to go, not only will Tony show you and entire new side to life but also enable you to break through barriers you never thought possible. In all honesty the first time you go, you will be a little overwhelmed, the second you will have your bearing and be prepared, the 3rd will be the best by far and it will all come together.
Time is an artificial concept that we ourselves have created to make the limitlessness of eternity and the universe more bearable, more human. Since we have constructed the concept of time, we are also able to mold it to some degree, to play tricks with it. The time of a child is long and slow, with vast expanses; the time of an adult whizzes by frighteningly fast. Time, then, depends on perception, which, we know, can be willfully altered. This is the first thing to understand in mastering the art of timing. If the inner turmoil caused by our emotions tends to make time move faster, it follows that once we control our emotional responses to events, time will move much more slowly. This altered way of dealing with things tends to lengthen our perception of future time, opens up possibilities that fear and anger close off, and allows us the patience that is the principal requirement in the art of timing.
Greene, Robert (2000-09-01). The 48 Laws of Power (Kindle Locations 6773-6780). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.
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 the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me,
and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely 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 all great men.
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 work with all the precision of a machine.
Plus, the intelligence of a man.
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 put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
