Gary Woltal's Blog

KFC had this recent story about doing security improvements at their headquarters in Louisville, KY. They had to temporarily remove the yellowed piece of paper in a double locked filing cabinet that had the hand signed in pencil by Harland Sanders the secret recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken. You know the 11 herbs and spices. The filing cabinet was inside a vault with only two people having access to it. The "exact" mix of the herbs along with samples was contained in the cabinet. Believe it or not, an armored car with security guards was going to whisk the formula temporarily away to an undisclosed location.

                                                                                AP Photo / Bruce Shreiner

Is all this really necessary? Don't you think in life secret recipes are passe'? With KFC it is a huge part of their branding. Think at McDonald's. Yes, this ace Realtor used to wear a paper hat in a past life and remembers the Big Mac "secret sauce." What about Coca Cola? Don't think a winning formula is important? Talk to the guy who bombed out with the "New Coke" years ago. Short lived as a bomb of a product, the company soon returned to "Classic Coke."

As professional Realtors, Stagers, Inspectors, Loan Officers and others serving the public, we all can get good training, and practice our craft. But what is your "Secret Recipe?"

Local Professionals Develop their Secret Recipe.

I say, local, because what makes you different with your level of service is in competition with others "locally." Whether you are the short sale specialist, neighborhood expert, Inspector to call on in a zip code, FHA new home buyer loan guy or gal to go to, Feng Shui guru of Long Island, Stager extraordinarire of Danville, California, Farm and Ranch in Texas, second homes in British Columbia or Myrtle Beach, or luxury home lister in the Chicago burbs, figure out why you are so good.

A social network "across the country" allows you to steal (borrow) ideas from others that are not in your marketplace. Don't be a secret agent as they say, but do find what works for you, your secret recipe. And no loose lips in this area. It is what will put you on top for what you do best!!

In visiting a lake front project under development this past weekend it occurred to me how orderly everything was. Ground was leveled, roads took shape with paving, lots were surveyed, marketing signs promoted the new area, and eventually over time you could see a new wonderful living area being fashioned from the ground up. In all our plans in life we have to

    FOCUS ON THE BIG PICTURE.

Begin with the end in mind. Like in chess, you don't get to the end game with a checkmate without seeing multiple steps out.

Why is this important?

By having a vision, of knowing as best possible what the end state looks like, you can plot a roadmap with timelines and steps to get where you want to go. You can prioritize. You can sequence the steps in proper order.

I bring this up because many people in their lives have fuzzy destinations. They want to be rich. They want to be successful. They want to have a loving relationship. In order to achieve these things we need to work on being specific. Success might be like becoming financially independent. Well how much money per month do you need, so you'll know it when you arrive? What does that loving relationship look like? A person or children that love you for being you? Think about "exactly" what the end point looks like.

In golf they say if you can SEE the shot, you can make the shot. Think of where the flag is on that tenth fairway as you hit your ball over the tree to get to the putting green. Imagine it "clearly." You never know. You might surprise yourself and with that last swing of yours it lofts over the tree, hits the green, and rolls right in the cup. Then you'll know there is something to this visualization thing. It's not all fluff. But VERY, VERY REAL. You deserve to be that kind of winner in life!

On a recent mini-vacation to the Florida wilderness I had the pleasure of riding through the marsh and swamp with my driver, Captain Mike. A great time, I would recommend you all doing it some time.

Cap'n Mike was a retired corporate type that took us through open water and into shallow boggy quiet coves full of Cypress trees and calm water loaded with alligators and snakes. Along the way Cap'n Mike imparted his world wisdom to me, or at least I took from him what I thought he was trying to tell me.

I thought I would share it with you all.

This ride will last about an hour. Life is short, realize that, and make the most of it.

Don't mind those grasshoppers hitting you in the face. Accept sorrow and difficulty are part of the journey.

It's a great day today, even if it rains later on. Live in the present. It is the ultimate in being present.

You're going to have so much fun, wait till you see.  Your best days are ahead of you.

I knew some day I would be doing this tourism gig. Believe you can do anything in life.

I start these tours on the half hour every hour.  Do it now. Stop procrastinating with what you're doing.

Sometimes those snakes just drop out of the trees on the women. They shriek!!  Have fun always.

I'm doing this cause I like people and it just gives me great joy.  Know the big WHY in your life.

I LOVE this job.  Enthusiasm is what is the difference in making you a great success.

I came here to this area because I WANTED to.  Travel, and learn where you want to be in life.

My ex- and I still get along but I'm fine now.   Forgiveness is for YOU and have no regrets.

I don't get in arguments with people anymore; it's not worth it.  You cannot judge and love.

I've got three boats now, a six, twelve and eighteen seater.  Have NO LIMITS to your thinking.

I was corporate, I was construction, I was banking.  In life multiple careers are okay.

That's an Indian burial ground over there, 300 years old.  We all die; make the most of life.

With me, success is making people smile each day.  Know what making a difference in life is to YOU.

Those Cypress trees have water ten feet up from the roots from flooding.  In life, this too shall pass.

I just got to a point in life I wanted MORE.  Have NO FEAR, so when called upon,

                     I HOPE YOU DANCE !!!

Imagine you are a Realtor or a Stager at the top of your game. Life is good. Money is flowing in. You've purchased your brand new Hummer and have taken it out to the desert environment and are jumping the sand dunes. Surely it doesn't get much grander than this with you rewarding yourself for your level of business success. Having worked hard to get to this point in your life you are definitely experiencing "abundance." But really, Abundance is a mind set. So is scarcity.

Many think of abundance as just money or prosperity. It really is not.

ABUNDANCE STARTS BETWEEN YOUR EARS.

There are many who have lots of money but live in a state of poverty consciousness. They can pay all their bills but lack in having good friends, they lack confidence in themselves or are not competent in what they were born to do. They also may be miserable.

Study closely this picture of the ocean.

I was called back to the ocean recently on a visit to Florida. The ocean always amazes me, and having lived in the land locked part of the country for so long I can see why many like the coasts.

There is something of the infinite about the ocean. Focus on those waters and you can feel "endless abundance."

This is what we all need to mentally, emotionally, spiritually and perhaps even physically connect with in our lives.

The power for all that you can be lies WITHIN YOU. It is not from money you have. Some who have very little material possessions have hearts filled with love and joy. I have seen it.

Abundance is about "No Limits." The "awareness" or waking up that abundance is right there for the taking. It creates those things you want and need in your life. 

Ask and you shall receive. Give and the universe will give back. Let go of lack. Let go of the words can't or that you don't deserve something. "Be" what you want to be and it will attract more abundance in that area to you. Fake it till you make it. Do something you want, do it again, and again.

Energize your life with unlimited abundance that is right there for you to connect with. Your life will be filled with growth and ever satisfying days ahead for you.

Coming out of the late August and into the September and later months, one's thoughts turn to the winding down of the summer days and heading into the future cooler months of the Fall. One unique thing about summer evenings I always remember from earlier days living in New York and also visiting western North Carolina in the mountains, was the appearance of fireflies in the evening. I have always heard that God surely must want us to laugh. With the creation of these little guys with their pulsating on again off again little lights on their tail end, surely we must need to marvel at creation. I think if any of us ever went to capture fireflies as little kids, you'd see them, then they would disappear into the darkness again and you had to pay attention till they lit up again to grab them. Then you could collect them and put them in your glass jar.

Why do I bring fireflies up? Because in life our passions and those people we need to attract into our lives are often like fireflies. We need to be aware of them. They are like glimpses. The light of what you really like in life is not always turned on. You get clues about it as you go along your pathway. Even with people. The ones that really care for you are not standing in front of you with a sign that says, "I'm the one, 24 hours a day." You pick up on the signals. They care for you. They do things for you. They listen to you.

You get better with this firefly watching as you get older. Your glass jar collects more and more of them as you bring into your life the interests, the passions and the people that are right for you.

Do not rush through the field of life ignoring the fireflies all around you.

                               PAY ATTENTION TO THE FIREFLIES IN YOUR LIFE.

It is by understanding what gets you excited for the day, that makes life truly sweet. Afterall, that is what life should be all about. Your happiness and sharing it with others.

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Very similar to the physical world like if you took a stretching class, stretching your mind in business and in your personal life, yields HUGE benefits.

I so often think as we move through life we become a prisoner of our mind. Limiting beliefs. Holding on to what didn't work in the past. Thinking scarcity instead of abundance. You need to break the rules. Make up new rules. For example if wanted to take six weeks vacation each year, can you make that happen? If you want to take your business to a new level, can your mind envision it? If you are moving to a new field like law or becoming a broker, what does that look like, and what steps get you there? Pose questions to yourself about what that new dream looks like?

What time do you get up in the morning?What are you doing during the day? To think that you have to do things a certain way, is a "self-limiting" belief. You also don't have to work with all customers. That's a huge belief people have a hard time grasping. Some never do rentals. Some never work out certain geographical boundaries.

BE A RUBBER BAND HEAD. Expand your mind and allow yourself to think new directions. Be flexible.

Remember, there IS NOT just one way to build your life. There's a whole world out there that is waiting precisely for you to build the blocks together one at a time till you reach the mountaintop.

I've paid close attention to retirement communities lately and have visited many. One large billboard outside one of them caught my eye. I thought it was a bit morbid. It was for a funeral home and they were saying that their services were $900 cheaper than the #1 funeral home in town. Appropriate? Targeted marketing for the right audience? Perhaps. But although we all age throughout life, I have never been a fan of the word: retirement. Seems to imply dying. Moving to another phase may be more appropriate. Transitional lifestyle. But you know,

BIRTHDAYS DON'T MEAN YOU'VE REACHED GEEZERHOOD.

I believe age is truly a state of mind. So what that you've made another trip around the sun with your body. That is just a number to remind you of your orbits.

It is absolutely important to live each day with a song in your heart. Connect with those you love. Laugh. Cry when need be. You should be having way too much fun. I know I am. Seek out all the emotional richness you can from every moment. Live in the day, not the future. Create your "Bucket List" of dreams. Live like today is all you have.

The life lesson on this topic is:

These reminders are good. Cherish them.

Be addicted to ice cream.

(and birthday cakes too.)

I dedicate this blog to close friends who know I love them (who I know have birthdays). Stop thinking so much and have some more ice cream and cake!!!

Sellers in Real Estate are always teaching me about life. They are relocating, they are changing family mixes. They are starting somewhere fresh with a new road to travel. Changes in life are like drawing on a whiteboard.

    THE GREAT WHITEBOARD OF LIFE.

Just think of it as a marker version or electronic version. You leave your teenage years and start drawing. You configure your life one way or another. From your tools menu you select people, you select places, you select your work or multiple different careers as you go along. You color in some unforeseen circumstances. Some people you X out along the way, voluntary or involuntary.

Your life may get compartmentalized with some doors absolutely shut to the past with new doors open in front of you. Many will tell me where they are at NOW, with a "MESS" on their whiteboard, they wish they just had a big eraser to start all over again. Well, erasers work in sections, you erase and re-write selectively as you go along.

Hopefully with age comes wisdom and you create a very pretty picture for yourself and others and the places on your whiteboard. Don't forget to use the color markers as well. These are the ones with the emotional richness we all need so very much in our lives ~ love, laughter, light, and good living in every sense of the world.

Remember, YOU are the artist of your life. Don't give others YOUR marker. It is YOUR life. Give those important choices thought as you go along down the path of life. Do not beat yourself up too bad from those smudges and misdrawn spots of the past. Just work around them with your new artwork. Create for yourself a life that ends up being a masterpiece.