Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Goal Setting 101

Setting A Goal By Mike Pallin, Floyd Wickman Team How do I go about setting an income goal for next year? Each of us begins the year with a hope, or a wish, or a dream, or a desire, or an expectation – but only 5% of the general population actually begins the year with a specific, measurable, written goal. And, if the experts are to be believed, only 5% of that 5% actually track activity and results throughout the year, stay on track, and achieve their goals. So if the odds are that slim, why even bother? Why not just start the year with a dream or wish or hope or expectation and leave it at that? Surely if the goal is vague enough, just ending up close enough will be good enough, won’t it? Here’s why it won’t be. The 2014 Get By Giving Award Winner, John Brown, tells the story of sitting in the front row at his first Master Sales Society event. When Floyd directed everyone in the room, saying, “Open up your workbook and write down your income goal for the next 12 months,” John wrote down $50,000. I will let John continue the story from here. “A year later, sitting in the front row at my next Master Sales Society event, as Floyd directed each of us to write down our goal for the next 12 months, I thought back over the past 12 months, and realized I had earned at least $50,000. That gave me the courage to write down $75,000 for the next 12 months.” “Another year later, sitting in the front row, as Floyd was directing us to write our goal down, I realized I had made at least $75,000 in the past 12 months, and I wrote down $100,000. Then it hit me. Why didn’t I write down $100,000 two years ago?!” Two points from John’s story. One, write it down. It doesn’t exist until it’s written down. A goal isn’t specific until it is written down. Progress can’t me measured until the goal is written down. You won’t even remember it a year later and know whether or not you hit your goal unless you write it down. And two, think bigger. By and large, you won’t achieve more than you believe you can. But once you believe, the sky’s the limit. So, if that’s the case, where do I start? Do I just pull a number out of thin air? Or is there some more scientific way to come up with my goal? Here are five questions that should point the way. Spend some time answering these five questions, and your dreams, hopes, wishes, desires and expectations will propel you to a specific and measurable income goal you can believe and achieve. 1. What do my SMART Numbers from this year tell me? Without numbers, it’s all guesswork, so start with your numbers. How much did I earn this year? How many closings? How many pended? What percentage of my listings sold and closed? What percentage of my buyer sales pended and closed? Just like Floyd teaches us in Session 6 with the 10 Ingredients of Achieving A Long Range Goal, drill it down to activity. How much time do I need to devote to prospecting and lead generation? How many conversations? How many appointments? 2. Where did my business come from this year? Take a look at sources. What percentage of closings come from Book of Business? Expireds? For Sale By Owners? Repeat? Networking? Social Media? Etc. And then take a look at which sources returned the highest commission per closing. When you are able to start connecting income with activity, a goal number will start to become clearer. 3. What marketing dollars that I spent to generate business paid off and what didn’t? This kind of analysis would seem obvious, wouldn’t it? You would think so. But one of our good friends, Don Hobbs, who founded and ran the #1 marketing company in the real estate industry, reminded me again recently of this old truth. “The #1 mistake real estate agents make with marketing is they base their spending decisions on what makes them feel good, instead of what gets results.” Once you know what’s working to get results, and what isn’t getting results, you can make smarter marketing decisions. Do more of this. Do less of that. Now that goal number will begin to get a little clearer. 4. How accurately do I keep track of my expenses? One question you don’t want to end up asking yourself is, “Where did it all go?” There are all kinds of effective systems available for keeping track of expenses. Systems that work automatically, digitally, almost magically, to give you a clear picture of how much it costs to run your business. American Express has a great system. Top Producer includes a great system. If you are still stuck in the shoe-box-full-of-receipts mode, this is definitely one area where technology can make life easier. Once you have a clear picture of how much it costs to run your business, where you can economize and where you can afford to occasionally splurge guilt-free, that goal number will come into focus a little more sharply. 5. How do I allocate my income? Good salespeople are cash generating machines. They are also generally poor money managers. One of the smartest things I see good salespeople do is forced savings. Earmark a percentage or specific amount of each commission check to automatically (AUTOMATICALLY!) go into a forced savings account and not into your pocket. There’s nothing like a cash reserve to take the sting out of commission income ups and downs. Beyond that, take a bird’s eye view of your gross income and estimate percentages that need to be set aside for taxes, business expenses, living expenses, investments, vacations, charity, etc. Once you get a clear picture of where to allocate your gross income, and how to allocate each check, that income number for next year will become a lifestyle you can live comfortably in, a future you can see, and a goal you can believe in. Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Saturday, December 20, 2014

goodbye girl - bread



Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Dear Sugar, It's time to say goodbye...

Dear Sugar, First of all, I love you. You’ve been there for me during some of the hardest times of my life. You were there for me when I decided to come off of self pity and live a happier life. You helped me feel okay in the middle of my dark night of the Soul. You were there for me when I tore my rotator cuff in Jr. High School and I would never be able to play my favorite game of Baseball ever again. You were there for me every Halloween as I celebrated finding you at the houses of all the kind strangers. You were there for me growing up as I watched TV with my family. We all shared in your yumminess together. We even learned to connect around tables of your sweetness because you made us feel better. It took me a long time to realize how much I loved you. I could be a real jerk when you weren’t around. All I could think about was having more and more of you. The more of you I had, the more of you I wanted. And it started to turn from a relationship, into a craving and from a craving into an addiction. You were jealous because you didn’t want me seeing anyone else. You hated it when I would hang out with cucumbers, or kale or lean meats. You objected when I wanted to give you up every January 1st. You told me that next time it would be different. You kept promising that you were good for me. And I believed you when you told me that I deserved you after a hard day’s work. Even though you were there for me during the dark times, you never wanted me to be the real, authentic healthy me. We could only be good together when I put you first and myself second. I know that you helped me during some of my saddest days and for that I will forever be grateful. But after taking some space to myself and getting clear on my needs for the first time in my life, I’ve realized that it’s time for us to break up. Look – it’s not you – it’s me. And I know you know I would say that. And it’s such a cliché thing to say. But the truth is, I am sick of feeling like I need you. I’m sick of always being tired in the afternoon and then craving you at night. And honestly I’m sick of my waistline and how you like to expand it. When we first got together, you told me that fat would make me fat, but I realized that was just your manipulation to keep me around. And I fell for it. I thought for the longest time that life would cease to exist without you. I made you my Higher Power and you told me that if I obeyed your cravings that everything would be okay. But that only lead down a darker and darker path. The more I abandoned myself to make you happy; the worse my life got. It wasn’t until I hit a rock bottom and saw the truth of what you really are that I decided to do something about it. You are not a friend to me. The truth is, your promise of being my best friend is a lie. Best friends don’t hijack my brain, so it’s almost impossible to make up my own mind about what I want to eat. Best friends don’t cause me to get sick, tired and deplete my body of its important life force. Best friends don’t complain when it’s time to move on and make it almost impossible to live without them. Best friends want me to be healthy, alive, full of life and able to make my own decisions. That’s why it’s come to this letter. I’m saying goodbye. And, yes, I had to write this letter to you because I couldn’t do it in person. Just being around you makes me want to come back for more. You might feel like you deserve to have this conversation with me in person, given our over three decade relationship and – under normal circumstances, you would be right. But – I’m not strong enough, so I’m sending you this letter instead. Maybe one day when I’m a little stronger, a littler wiser and have found someone new to fall in love with, then I can meet you face to face. Sugar, I still do love you, but I love myself more. And so I’m choosing me. Know that you will always have a special place in my heart and that I will think of your often (probably more often than I would like, because you really are that yummy). I wish you nothing but the best in this life, and I hope you wish the same for me. I’m sending you all my love from a distance… Your pal, Lisa Ekanger

Monday, December 15, 2014

Nicki Minaj - Your Love





Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Your days of constant chasing with little reward are over!

Don’t Settle Don’t settle because you’re afraid you won’t find something better. Don’t compromise because you don’t want to be alone. Give your perfect life, lover and job, time and space to grow into your life. Don’t rush, don’t hurry. Take your time, be easy, have patience. Allow everything to come to you with your subtle guiding and intending. Your days of constant chasing with little reward are over. Everything you’ve ever wanted and more are coming to you, you just have to let it in with love, receptivity and non-judgment. Letting it in is how you become it. Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Hold the belief that it’s the perfect storm for you...

Faith This is when the magic happens: right when you feel like everything is going wrong, shift your attitude to accept that it’s actually going right. Our judgments of how we think our life should be are preventing us from reaching our highest potential. If you’re going through a storm, hold the belief that it’s the perfect storm for you to be going through and that you’ve been given everything you need to weather the storm. When the chaos subsides you will experience the truth that is forever true; you are always taken care of, exactly where you need to be and your efforts are rewarded exactly when they need to be. Remember this truth the next time a storm is on the horizon and you will grow wings and be able to fly right over it and towards the calm waters of trust and universal love. Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Get messy for a change!

Lighten up and take a chance, let go, say what’s on your mind and shake things up. It’s okay to ruffle some feathers, and if you get a negative reaction out of someone it’s only exposing their own opportunities to grow. Get messy for a change. ∞ Don’t play small. Stand up. Take charge. You are doing yourself and others a disservice by catering your actions towards how you think others will react. Instead, just be yourself, exactly as you are. When you are simply being yourself you will attract everything that is in alignment with who you truly are. You will be shocked to see who drops away. Their absence will leave a space for new and amazing relationships to enter your life. Just be you, and let everyone else do what they may. You are not what others believe you to be, you are what you know you are and nothing else. Just be. You will be rewarded for your courage with a life that reflects your true essence instead of an invented identity created to please others. Ahhhh, doesn’t it feel good to just be? Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Monday, December 8, 2014

It takes a little bit of time to go from fear to joy...

Do not worry about how you will make it all work. Just focus on how you feel and go towards those things that bring forth joy. When you are living in your joy, the universe is living joyfully through you. When you are living a life of fear, the universe is dying and becoming smaller. Remember you are a child of the universe and everything the universe provides is abundant. The sun shines rays of joy, the bird sings a song of joy, the tree joyfully grows to provide shade and keep the air clean. Everything has a purpose and when we are living in our joyful purpose we will be supported because the universe loves joy. It takes a little bit of time to go from fear to joy, but if you stay steady and keep the course you will at last come to see that your joy can be your reality. Trust in promise of joy, it is your birthright. Lisa Ekanger

What we do: Make salespeople’s lives better.

I Make salespeople’s lives better. That’s my passion. Helping you get the most from your career, your life, your relationships — that’s what I do — and what we’ve done for hundreds of thousands of sales professionals for more than forty years. And by making lives better we mean…more balance, less stress. More income, more security. Better customer relationships, more referrals. Stronger ties to your community, a resource people turn to. I’ve been eating, drinking and sleeping sales for what seems like all my life, and I can tell you to go from good to great, from better to best and from “all work and no play” to a balanced and healthy life starts by getting back to the basics — and into the habit of lifelong learning. My programs change lives by giving you the strong skills, tools, techniques, dialogues and mindsets you need to achieve everything you’ve ever imagined — and even a little more. ~Floyd Wickman www.floydwickman.com Lisa Ekanger

Sunday, December 7, 2014

I prayed for change, so I changed my mind.

“Do not try to change someone, when you do this you deny the Love inside you by choosing to deny what is Now. Love can only exist now, when you try to change someone into an idea of what you want them to be you have decided to be in a relationship with your projection of a possible potential of someone else. You are fooling yourself if you think trying to change someone will make you happy. Instead, change in yourself the things you think the other person should change. This is why you are not happy and fulfilled now.” “If today was it, would you die knowing you did your best? If tomorrow never came, would you be proud of the last thing you said to each person you love? If someday was only now, would you do everything you’ve always put off? If you knew you had a choice about what kind of life you could be living, would you choose different? If you knew failure is impossible, what would you do? If it were true that everyone you meet is you in another body, how would you treat them? If love was the true currency of the Universe and the more you gave away the more you received, how would you spend it? If fear were the biggest illusion and the greatest lie of all time, how would you choose to live your life? If the Universe always supported a life lived towards achieving dreams, how big would you dream?” “I prayed for change, so I changed my mind. I prayed for guidance and learned to trust myself. I prayed for happiness and realized I am not my ego. I prayed for peace and learned to accept others unconditionally. I prayed for abundance and realized my doubt kept it out. I prayed for wealth and realized it is my health. I prayed for a miracle and realized I am the miracle. I prayed for a soul mate and realized I am the one. I prayed for love and realized it’s always knocking, but I have to allow it in.” Lisa Ekanger for Jackson Kiddard

Patience child...

Patience child, patience. Remember, life is a journey. If you got everything you wanted all at once there'd be no point to living. Enjoy the ride, and in the end you'll see these "setbacks" as giant leaps forward, only you couldn't see the bigger picture in the moment. Remain calm, all is within reach; all you have to do is show up every day, stay true to your path and you will surely find the treasure you seek. -J Kiddard

Friday, December 5, 2014

Taylor Swift 1989 - Wildest Dreams (Cover)



Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Welcome to La La!

Many times I've been accused of living in La La Land. I used to be defensive about it, but now I own it. I've come to the realization that just because I have an innate ability to live exactly in this moment...to seek the connections that charge my billion cells...to exchange positive energy and feel amazingly alive, doesn't mean I'm not grounded. It doesn't mean I'm not authentic and now I really understand that it's about others inability to see what I see, not about my ability to stay in their reality. Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

If your nerve deny you, go above your nerve.

If your Nerve, deny you— Go above your Nerve— He can lean against the Grave, If he fear to swerve— That's a steady posture— Never any bend Held of those Brass arms— Best Giant made— If your Soul seesaw— Lift the Flesh door— The Poltroon wants Oxygen— Nothing more— Emily Dickenson Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!