Gary Woltal's Blog

In quotation parlance, there is a phrase that says, "the gift that keeps on giving." I tried to search its origin and came up with things like the phonograph device where a recorded voice or music could keep playing over and over again, to venereal diseases, to the gift of a life saving blood donation, to just some bad situation in life that festers and goes on and on and won't go away like an incurable disease.

But thinking about the phrase itself

  THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I think I figured out my own personal favorite version of it, and that is APPRECIATION. I see appreciation for people all the time and it literally "lights them up." Simple thank yous, gift baskets, compliments for something they did or how they are dressed or groomed, a surprise in the mail, a hand written little love note or email that is unexpected, a little ah-ha moment you give someone else that just turns them cheery.

The reason appreciation keeps on giving is because it builds long term good memories. Do you know emotionally rich good memories "stick" with us?

Yes indeed, all those little kindnesses you do for others they remember. You remember all the love  and affection showered on you, don't you?

Never underestimate the power of appreciation you have and its influence on others. Pepper people with thank yous every day until they think you are weird!! Catch them doing something good and compliment them.

In the end it also has a reverse effect. It will make YOU feel good. And who couldn't use a little more feeling good nowadays? Good luck with your practice of appreciation. And my next basket of cookies you give me I'll take a mixture of them. I like them ALL!! : )

Awhile back in tribute to many in the Real Estate industry and outside readers as well to my blogs I observed that I thought I had the smartest readers out there. Mainly I just learned so much from reading what everyone else was telling me. I often forgot myself what the subject was I wrote about initially because I became so engrossed in the lovely, humorous, detailed, and new perspective that the comments provided me.

If nothing else, I am the great observer of life. Outside in the world. Inside in the home. You. Me. Us. Them.

Lately, particularly on what I currently write in blogging, I notice that I seem to

            Plant a Blogging Garden.

I have always tried to be helpful to new ones to blogging where they ask where do you get a thought, a picture, or what focus should you have? But I have seen in planting a blogging garden, the tip for newbies as well as veterans if they haven't picked up on it, is to set the stage for discussion. Overall blogging is community conversation. It is between the lead writer and commenters as well as between commenters. If you set the stage properly it is like inviting everyone to a banquet. We all are honored guests to each other. The table is set with a thought to share. And then lo and behold discussion ensues.

I think the key for all of us to get more comments and promote more lively and meaningful discussion is to write blogs that make people think. Hmmmm, I never thought of it that way before. That is a new idea I too need to explore. I feel just like that or I don't feel like that in a dissenting opinion.

There are many forms of blogging from informational to core knowledge. But when we blog from our soul and provide some depth and feeling to the discussion, little seeds are planted and you will be amazed what they blossom into. At that dinner table all of a sudden you have 20 voices all clamoring to get their two cents in. It is fascinating to watch. You feel like you threw a spark out there and now you have a forest fire going.

So, make people think. We all want to know we are important in this world. We all want to share. Respect others and above all enjoy the love we have in us with each other.

Carnac has an answer to pose to you today.

That would be the "Great Carnac" to you Ed McMahon.

Friend, neighbor, former agent, relative, and referral?

Envelope please Ed.

That would be the question:

Where do most buyers find their agents?

Point is, don't put all your eggs in that Internet basket. Sure, home search is big on "everyone's" web site. But face it - Real Estate is a "contact" sport. Look at the old chart which varies very little from year to year.

Does it surprise you? SEO is overrated maybe.

In case anyone needed a reminder these are the beings that buy, sell, and invest in real estate.

They are called

     PEOPLE.

They don't bite. They may be trying or cantankerous at times, but they really are lovely inside.

Touch them often with your magic ways.

Watch your business grow. Get out from behind the computer.

Just a reminder that when you get back to the basics of customer care and service and constant contact, good things happen.

Would The Great Carnac ever lead you astray?

Ed McMahon: Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.

BTW, in this little fantasy story, these are your appreciative clients that you have made such a boatload of money with them you are taking them all on a charter flight to Fiji. Hey, one can dream!! : )

Something to work toward in 2009. I'll save a drink with the little umbrella in it and meet you on the beach.

With many in the housing sector working harder and harder each day for seemingly less results than years back, it does seem someone has to give them permission every once in a while to cut back a little and take a break.

You know why?

     We All Deserve A Lazy Day !!

That being said, I am the official permission grantor if you needed one. Think of it like a message washed up in a bottle on the shore and lo and behold, what is that paper inside? Well lookey here. It is a note with YOUR name on it all rolled up nice and neat with a message written in fine penmanship and the bluest of blue inks. Funny how those things travel thousands of miles across the ocean from some tropical paradise straight to YOU. Just to deliver a message about rest.

I can't think of a better symbol for taking a Lazy Day off than the hammock. I know the cooler weather is near upon us in many parts of the country but the image is still the same.

Catch your breath every once in awhile and stop being so intense about everything. If it means going for a stroll around the block and trying to capture the season changing in the fall then do that. If it means blowing off the afternoon and seeing a movie by yourself, or with children, or with friends do that.

Just remember, whatever it is, we all deserve a lazy day now and then.

I always thought it was fascinating as the Internet developed that the spammers came out of the woodwork and developers had to devise anti-Spam checkers of who a user was for blogs and also form entry.

It seems in life we all want people's character to be what it appears to be. How many times in life do we find people that break their promises? You know, professionals you work with or even clients say one thing and do something else. They are often inconsistent or terribly unpredictable. It can be very eye opening to you at times. Maybe they should fill out some cryptic letters and numbers before you deal with them.

What's funny in the world of "watching you" there just seems to be cameras everywhere these days. Why is this? We have red light cameras, and in large cities all sorts of security monitoring cameras. Yes the world has terrorism to be concerned about, but don't you sometimes feel a camera is just following you everywhere these days? The cameras are built into cell phones too.

There is an old phrase that says true character is what you do when "no one is watching." While we can't be perfect or saints and never do anything wrong or have poor judgment at times in our lives, shouldn't it be something we strive to be to be an integrated self, showing the same person when people are watching as when people are not? I think when people work with us in business and also in our relationships that is the ideal.

When it comes to making the BIG IMPACT in life with those around you, allow your REAL McCOY self to shine through.

Listening to ongoing grumbling about how things are bad from many Realtors and also buyers and sellers of homes I am reminded of what I have always thought

    Rearview Mirrors Are NOT Your Friend!!

What I mean by that is you can't ably drive your car of life forward while always looking in the rear view mirror. The rearview mirror of course representing any regrets, your baggage from some past life or past lives you may have had, and nowadays reminiscing about "the good old days." How do you know your best "good old days" are not just around the corner in the near future?

In reality you don't. But we all have to stop looking backward as a point of reference so often. For someone like me that remembers the NASDAQ at 5,000 not all that long ago I don't "dwell" on it where it is now. It is what it is.

I think we all ought to ditch our rear view mirrors in our lives that we are driving so fast and hurtling ourselves into the future. We ought to replace them with things of hope and fun.

How about some fuzzy dice??

How about we replace our rear view mirrors with dangling chickens? That would keep your mind off the past and put a smile on your face.

My favorite comes from the lady in the picture below who obviously knows how to live life fully and going forward. Obviously had SO much fun at the disco she brought the Mirror Ball home with her. Maybe a Cowboy too. She's smiling.

You don't need no stinkin' rear view mirrors!! Remember that when the pity parties start and don't be a part of it. Remember you want to hang with the Mirror Ball crowd and live your life with your eyes forward. Stayin' alive.... Stayin' alive.....

In working with real estate clients, particularly the buyer side category you always see in their eyes that they are

IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING PIECE.

That last component to make the selected house a perfect match.

This role of matchmaking and finding what "fits" applies to all areas of our lives. Finding the perfect love relationship, a job that matches what you want to do, finding treatment for overall good health, finding what is missing in your life spiritually, finding where you want to live for this particular phase in your life.

Assembling the "complete" jigsaw puzzle in your life is indeed a lifelong struggle. Much of it is trial and error with some forethought. But when the pieces fit together in whatever facet you are trying to make a best fit, oh what a thing of beauty you have assembled. It feels so right.

                          May You Have The Perfect Fit With Your Relationships

In the area of Global Positioning Systems I consider myself a late adopter. I still prefer my printed out Google maps. I guess when the next phone I purchase includes this I'll move into this realm.

That being said, plans and maps of where you want to go are important in life. Even if you are not 100% sure of your destination, a map or a plan is very worthwhile in launching you on your journey. Don't you just wish life's plans were as easy to create and use as a GPS map tool? Plan for detours and side roads to explore. Plan for rest stops. Plan for it to take longer than you originally thought.

Life is a journey. Enjoy the ride.

But

Map Your Way To Somewhere.

I thought while driving with the setting sun today how the sun gets lower and lower in the sky as we approach the shortest daylight of the year at around Dec. 21st. Then when most of us switch to standard time weekend after this weekend the evening daylight hours will have melted away (AGAIN).

It was a stark metaphor for me for the idea if the daylight hours are your time to get things done, what truly are you getting done? Or,

                   ARE YOU JUST BURNING DAYLIGHT???

The preciousness of time comes to us when we are robbed of it or the sand left in our hourglass is forecast to be very limited. It is true we all have finite time. Most of us just don't know how long that candle will burn.

Face it, we all waste time. Probably gobs of time. We know when we waste time when we look back on what we did and apply that judgment call. But how can we STOP wasting so much time that we do?

We have to learn from our mistakes. Think of all the time wasters: Traffic, lines in stores, selling houses for unmotivated sellers, other people wasting our time, meetings, dumb classes you take that don't amount to a hill of beans or are not useful, on an on. Surely in life there also is sacrifice for others which could be considered a waste of OUR time but we choose the sacrifice. How about too much TV, too much Internet?? 

The reason we should stop wasting time is they are not making any more of it. We do not manage time, we spend it. Spending it doing what we want to do with it is what we should be striving for. Do we have to spend it working in areas that are not optimum for our life? Sure. But there are areas of your time that are very much under your control.

I have no time for telemarketers anymore. I use the word No so liberally nowadays it takes people back in surprise that it only took a nanosecond to hear that word.

You must get a handle on what is working and not working with your time and best as you can "stop wasting it." I think from cancer survivors and even just getting older, people finally figure this one out.

Good luck with keeping that sun up high in the sky longer each day you live. It can be done. But you have to be aware of it that it is YOUR life. Not someone elses.

As I enjoyed my last bowl of cereal for the day and conked out for my mid afternoon nap in my high chair I got to thinking about Real Estate blogging and Social networking in general. I have been at it myself in addition to my work for awhile so I know quite a lot about it.

I also am a heavy reader of many blogs with topics ranging from core real estate to the day's weather. Some of the topics get pretty far off real estate industry related sometimes but that's ok, as there are only so many days and ways to write about how to do that perfect open house.

In today's technology world we are so well connected particularly in the wireless world with voice, data, video, and text. Think of sending and reading blogs, email, photos, and videos over your cell phone.

Yet I read out there in the blogosphere of burn out. Boredom. I want to get away from this. I want to unplug. It indicates addiction to the medium, obsessiveness, compulsiveness, and lack of balance.

I'm here to remind everyone there is a life OUTSIDE of blogging. You remember that don't you? Back there in the past before you started blogging.

It is the offline world. Some call it the real world.

Keep your life in balance always. Communicate, entertain, grow your business sure. But use your precious time wisely. It is one of your most valuable resources.