Desperation is (also) a story we tell ourselves.

I grew up in an upper middle-class family in the country. I am one of 4 children (yep you guessed it, a middle child) and my childhood was really great…until it came to a screeching halt in my mid-teens. My father, the breadwinner, lost his job of 20 years and lost his mind too. When you hear the phrase, “going off the deep end”, well that’s exactly what happened to my Dad. The crisis of a father disappearing, a mother filing for bankruptcy and my childhood home going into foreclosure was too much to bear; so at 18 years old, I decided to move to NYC. I spent a year as an indentured servant (Nanny) to a wealthy family and, almost immediately, I knew I wanted to live like them, not be the servant to them. Instead of planning for that kind of success, I spent most of my teens and early 20’s scratching to get by. From the ages of 19-27 I spent a massive amount of time locating my wandering homeless father, going to court to have him committed, taking care of him, and advocating for him too. My early adulthood was void of dreams because when you spend all of your time in a place of fear, you simply don’t have the energy or inspiration to cultivate those plans. Out of the experience of desperation however, I also learned a level of gratitude that I never knew before. The suffering of having little food, little money, little stability and very little guidance caused me to become very self-reflective. It was during these years I first began studying the power of self-control…of attitude control. Now I know differently. I know now that desperation is (also) a story we tell ourselves and that if someone shows you the path, you don’t have to use any unfavorable circumstance as an excuse for not succeeding. I learned of the law of attraction, but I didn’t believe it. Like most people, through the years, I had glimpses of insight of how to go about setting goals and achieving them but did nothing with them. What I didn’t have was a formula. So I continued on with my life in an entrepreneurial way. This means to just go with the flow and do what comes naturally. It’s probably the way most people live ~ in a reactive state instead of a deliberate and purposeful state. It was also during this period of my life that I did the standard thing; I got married, completed college, had children and started a career. My spouse and I were always looking for the next thing, so we moved 16 times in our 27 year union. We’ve lived in 4 states and 2 countries and yet somehow each move didn’t procure the satisfaction we had hoped for. I gained weight and I lost weight and gained it again. He was in education, I was in sales. Each position I took (I told myself) would somehow be that magic career-move (there was even the occasional million dollar sales club designation) but the years rolled on and I always put my kids first telling myself that I was lucky to be able to work a flexible job [which was really underemployment] and when I was downsized from my tiny stable position, I consequently allowed stress to rule my life. From 2003-2008, I was very sick and battling a number of health issues when I decided to take a huge risk. I decided that I must make the mind shift to work for myself. I must learn how to control my own time, my own income and my own destiny. I obtained my real estate license and within a few months of joining a prominent company, I was introduced to The Floyd Wickman Program. I was new and terrified… and now I was going to be held accountable too? In the beginning, I remember resisting it. I remember the mental battles that raged in my head. The fear was huge and the effort felt like such a monumental task. The results however were magical. It was during my 2nd full year in real estate I saw a 500% increase in my business, and then I took the program again and again. Each time, I saw the same gain and the most amazing part was the personal goals I had set for myself were beginning to happen too: • Goal #1 weight loss/health (down 25 lbs, for more than 4 years now – arthritis in remission) • Goal #2 help son through college (graduated in 2012 and is now a PhD candidate in chemistry at W.S.U.) • Goal #3 buy investment property to flip (did so in 2011 with a 45k profit) • Goal #4 buy dream home (did it in 2011, already up 100k in equity!) • Goal #5 make it to our 25th wedding anniversary and throw a huge party for doing so! (did it last July) • Goal #6 build a real estate book of business to sell (sold in 2013 when asked to join Floyd Wickman Co.) • Goal #7 Take dream vacation (Santo Domingo last April!) There are many small goals I’ve reached as well, and I’m achieving them in closer intervals than before. Real estate is a mindset business. 80% creating daily habits, controlling your time (and their expectations) & setting boundaries for your life and career~ The Floyd Wickman Program changes both careers and lives! With Love, Lisa Ekanger Your Floyd Wickman Trainer