Monday, December 21, 2015

You are Royalty.

You are royalty. A sovereign over the empires of potential within you. The hardships of life may have hypnotized you into forgetfulness of your greatness. The pain of dreams gone bad may have shuttered your passion and smothered your conviction. The arrows of jealous critics may have caused you to imprison the hero within. Please know: this day is a fresh chance. A miracle in waiting. This moment is a vast gift. This minute presents you with a blank canvas of acute possibility and breathtaking opportunity… …to reclaim the royalty you have been born into. To conquer vast new lands of compassion, creativity, audacity and humanity. You being alive today is no accident. There is a reason you are reading this. And a readiness deep within you to shed the shackles of past pain to make your rise to a new way of seeing the rest of your life. Rise up! Own your birthright for your unique form of greatness that we of the world demand from you. Be a light. Spot the gorgeousness of the future you can make, via the right thinking, speaking, behaving and producing. One small step–done in a single minute of glory on this gift of a day–will be the beginning of a new way of being, when done consistently and devotedly. You deserve to remember your highness. To know the privileges of your royal–and finest self. And as you make the leap from your current life to the life that longs for you to know it, I will watch your star blaze. Because that’s what I do. And we all will applaud your bravery. Much love + with boundless belief in the brilliance that you are, - See more at: http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/#sthash.yu4kasO0.dpuf Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Meet Your Team Leader! Lisa Ekanger CEO/TL KWRE

Hi I'm Lisa ~ your new Team Leader at Keller Williams Elite Eden Prairie. My professional story is in line with my D.I.S.C. personality of being a high D (driven) I (influential) personality. I'm a graduate of Blaine Senior High class of 85'. At 19, I moved to New York, and for one year I was employed as an Au pair -- after that, I returned to the Twin Cities to attend college. I'm a graduate of CVA in St. Paul (College of Visual Arts) with a focus on graphic/advertising design and copy writing. I've spent most of my life in various sales/marketing positions where I sharpened the saw of becoming a master communicator. In 2008, during the worst economic downturn of our times, I decided to get my real estate license. I battled the negative mindset that permeated the Detroit area due to nearly 1 million automotive industry job losses (and the same number in consequent departure)s from the state. 100% of the homes I showed in my early days as a buyers agent were foreclosed and vacant. Some day (over drinks) I will share the horror stories about my early days as an agent. I fumbled and suffered until I was recruited to work for Keller Williams (in 2010) where I immediately plugged into ALL of the amazing training offered at both the market center and regionally. I've attended camp 443, Ignite (2x) BOLD (3x) Family Reunion and Regional Leadership summits. I was mentored by an amazing agent who was a Mo Anderson Cultural Award recipient and joined a team. My role on the team was getting listing appointments and by 2012 I was recruited by Floyd Wickman (right out of his class) because I had huge success in applying the coaching provided to me. I leveraged myself and sent my book of business through my existing KW team as I worked on growing my coaching and training career with The Floyd Wickman Team. I spent nearly three years being mentored and coached one on one by Floyd as one of only two trainers that were chosen to represent him during the last ten years. In addition, for the last 4 years, I was coached by Rick Geha, KW University Master Faculty. I'm a two time Speakers Academy Graduate, Belong to The Master Sales Society and recently spent 3 days working at a clinic with Shon Kokoszka (President of MAPS Coaching) and Don Hobbs (co-founder Hobbs/Herder Advertising, an industry interrupter and leader in real estate marketing). I've earned a quarter of a million dollars in revenue from flips and have accomplished every goal on my five year growth plan developed by me through my BOLD coach. I've lived in Minneapolis, New York, Norway, Indianapolis and St. Clair Michigan. My personal story is...I've been married for 27 years and am the mother of 2 biological and 3 adopted kids. My oldest child is a son, Levi lives in Detroit and is graduating from Wayne State University with his PhD in Chemistry; his focus of research is MRI contrast agents for cancer detection. He will be attending Harvard, M.I.T. or Northwestern for his post doc next fall. Levi is married to my daughter-in-law Kelly who is a histotechnician at St. John's Hospital in Ann Arbor. My oldest daughter is Sigourney -- she attends Macomb College and studies Media Arts, and lives in Algonac Michigan. My youngest daughter is Chanda (adopted at 5) she is in 11th grade and lives in Marysville Michigan with my spouse. I have two other children that I spent 7 years parenting (Alex and Margaret) after their mom died of cancer when they were 8 & 11. Since 1998, I have been an advocate for children starting with becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate (C.A.S.A) in Indiana and a foster parent in 2004 in Michigan. I worked as a trainer for the Department of Human Services recruiting potential foster and adoptive families from 2007-2014. My spouse is Norwegian and is the Director of the Technical Center of Engineering & Advanced Technology at Macomb Community College...I also speak Norwegian. What do I do for fun? I am currently working on earning my private pilots license and I love sailing, cooking, traveling and writing. I've been associated with the Department of Homeland Security (as a volunteer first responder C.E.R.T.) National Rifle Association, American Sailing Association and among other real estate organizations, The Women's Council of Realtors. I'm happy to join this amazing group! Together we will have fun growing our market center (and agent wealth too) through our team effort and the tips and techniques I plan to share with you :) Thank you in advance for your commitment and support! Lisa Ekanger

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

I Promise Myself...

To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person I meet. To make all of my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic of the success of others as I am about my own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet. To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds. To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me. --Christian D Larson Lisa Ekanger

Friday, August 21, 2015

Youre going to be OK.

Pent up, isolated and scared. That's what my life has become. How did I get here? Why did I allow it to happen? I allowed fear, impasse, and apathy be my guides. I allowed my life to become a broken, joyless playground where the equipment is beginning to rust. I never dreamed I would lose control of my happiness; it was replaced with an insidious lack of self confidence. To the outside world, I appeared to have it all--- long standing and solid marriage, 3 beautiful children, a nice career, a wonderful house and tons of friends. After all, isn't this the definition of having it all? Beautiful things, beautiful rings, and I (the beautiful) sings...about the loneliness and complete isolation I feel right now. That was, I felt until I met a friend from first grade who helped me see the light. He said, live, breathe! You're going to be OK. Lisa Ekanger

Friday, August 14, 2015

Receive the moments with open arms...

I wish I could live every day like today. I wish I could start every day with a deep appreciation for the life that surrounds me. Today is a calm and peaceful day for me. I am all alone, in my sisters cozy home sitting quietly while being hypnotized by the soothing sound of the tick tock of her 100 yr old mantle clock. In a perfect world you might think I would wish for this kind of serene morning every day; but that my friends is flawed thinking. I do not wish for this everyday...this day is the savory once a year chocolate covered cherry, only to be fully appreciated because it is so rare. Today I feel very loved. Today my sister picked out my outfit for my 30th class reunion. Today my niece rounded up all the hair care products I could need to look like a million bucks. Today my brother-in-law took time out of his busy work day to text me the wifi password for their house. Today, my beloved Dad is laying in a hospital bed in downtown Minneapolis as he tries to begin (yet again) to heal his weary body. Do I feel compelled to rush back to him? No. Last night I spent two hours caressing his forehead, rubbing his shoulders and squeezing his hand as he worked to get comfortable. Quiet beautiful moments come in all sorts of packaging and love is shown to me through the small simple gestures of family interaction that move perfectly back and forth like the pendulum of that clock. Today I say, "Carpe Diem!" In big ways and in ever so small barely detectable ways ---look for joy, give joy, receive the moments with open arms as you seize the day. Lisa Ekanger

Sunday, July 5, 2015

How to Feel Radiant at Any Age!

The Key to Feeling Radiant TERRI COLE | JULY 3, 2015 | LIVING 2612046524_9dc379956c_z Print Friendly and PDFPrint Good News to your Inbox GO emailTumblrRedditStumbleUponDiggLinkedIn I sat in the front row of a sold out event, Ageless Mindset, entranced by two glorious women I love. One was ob/gyn physician and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Christiane Northrup and the other Tony Award-winning activist and author of The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler. These ageless Goddesses were sharing their wisdom, insight and experience on female aging. This topic has been on my mind more in recent years for obvious reasons. If you are lucky enough to continue living, you age. Like many women I know, I never thought much about aging until I starting noticing changes in my face and body that I couldn’t attribute to anything but aging. So my interest was peaked when their conversation turned to this question; Is it possible for women’s beliefs about aging to be as powerful or more powerful than their own biology? Dr. Northrup’s answers were fascinating. In her inspiring new book, Goddesses Never Age: The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality and Well-Being, Dr. Northrup shares a revolutionary perspective on aging. Women in American culture have inherited the belief that after a certain age, you can expect to see and feel an inevitable decline in your appearance, health and energy. Society has made billions selling anything they can market, from creams to clothing to surgical procedures, with the promise of restoring youth. Dr. Northrup believes that every woman has the power to transform her own aging process to an empowered experience instead of an inevitable tragedy. Society tells you that “young” is sexy. It tells you to strive to be tight and toned and perky. You are encouraged to do whatever it takes and spend whatever it costs to maintain your youth. Very often the voices around you can be so loud that it becomes difficult to connect to your own thoughts and feelings about what aging actually means to you and what you need to feel and look your best. As you age there is no denying that your body and appearance will change. However, you have more power over how you look and feel than you think. You get to define what thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy and eight feel like. You get to decide what is sexy. You get to create your own radiance and vitality. Remind yourself with age comes wisdom, experience and character. However, before you do any of this it is important to get clear on what “aging” means to you. There is nothing SEXIER than Self-Acceptance & Self-Celebration @Terri_Cole (Click to Tweet!) Notice your thoughts and words when it comes to your own aging and the aging of others, especially women. Think about the way your mother experienced ageing as it has a tremendous impact on your downloaded psychological blueprint about your own process. Do you feel more empowered with each year, acknowledging accomplishments and wisdom gained or do you focus on what you are losing or what you are gaining that you might not want like wrinkles, sagging body parts or a few grey hairs? Do you find yourself harshly critiquing the appearance of other women your age? Or do you celebrate womanhood in its many shapes, forms, ages and sizes? In order to feel like a Goddess, which to me means recognizing your divine nature, you must see yourself that way. I also find it helpful to mourn some of the things that aging impacts. For me that has been a slight change in my memory, among other things, which used to be a readily accessible steel trap of information. I still have a great memory but it is not the same as when I was twenty or thirty so I have learned to become a little more patient. Mourning what has passed creates space to truly embrace what is amazing about being whatever age you are right now. I wouldn’t change anything about my life for a tighter butt or less smile lines. It is up to you to recognize and celebrate the inherent value and beauty of being a woman at every age. You are exquisite, but in order to feel it you must treat yourself and think about yourself in that way. If you feel bad about your skin, body, hair, energy level, sex drive or whatever, it will show. Perhaps not in how you look but in what you say, what you do and the energy you put out into the world. Which impacts what happens. You can shift your perspective and expectations about getting older. You can feel and look better than you used to regardless of how many years have passed. You can reject old paradigms and create your own ideals of ageless living. You just have to decide to do it your way. I am grateful to women like Dr. Northrup and Eve Ensler for leading this movement of empowered living. Now It is up to us to be a part of our own solution instead of being a part of the problem. In the comments below please share with me one old belief about aging that you are willing to transform. Share it for yourself and share it to inspire others. Together we can make a massive shift in how the world responds to women and their age. Keep rocking your inner Goddess and as always, take care of you. Love Love Love, Terri Lisa Ekanger

Sunday, June 28, 2015

To practice neutral thinking is to live in total peace.

The longer I live, the more I realize the true neutrality of life. The micro nature (the world you see all around you) is neutral, this means the macro nature (the huge expanse of it all)...our earth and universe are too. Out there, is only the possibility or projection of what will and will not be based on our perceptions and then our actions. When I say what will and will not be, I'm referring to human creation, human invention and human reaction, not naturally occurring phenomena. I'm convinced that 100% of human emotions and feelings are a product of evolution. We, the smartest species with the biggest brain and the softest hide. A body of raw exposed skin with millions of nerve endings; skin the largest organ in our body. To be this smart and this vulnerable (at the same time) would require us to have a very sophisticated set of thoughts which are in fact our emotions. Doubt (self protection to keep us from making a decision that could lead to our demise) Fear (self protection from threats that could lead to our demise) Love (a way to make sure we create offspring and then protect those offspring so they live to also reproduce and to protect them from their demise)--we were duped into believing that any of this is real. It is CREATED, and you believe its real, but it is manufactured in your head through evolution and you have no defense against it. Your tendencies are already printed in your DNA well before you are ever born. The splitting of cells, the fusing of tissue, it summons evolution to protect you before you ever breathe in your first breath! Take a look at a cemetery with thousands of headstones, now think of each of those people who owned ALL the same emotions you currently have. Can you visualize thousands of tiny dandelion puffs floating above them? They represent the feelings of those below and when they passed, where did those feelings go? Thousands of individual stories of love and loss, strife and success...good times and bad. Just like you, they spent a lifetime assembling, disassembling and reassembling their thoughts and beliefs about their own experiences. We are constantly trying to make sense of our experiences and assign them meaning so we can keep living day after day in complete uncertainty. Because, life after all is 100% uncertain to us, and yet, we are 100% certain it will go on. Self protection is the theme of it all because we are wired to live and reproduce, but we are also equipped to manage our inevitable demise too. Where did all those 'real' feelings go? They passed with the individual and they were neutralized and absorbed and returned back to their beginnings. For they were never real, but imagined. The definition of real is: actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed. Knowing this, should empower us to keep our emotions between the lines, right? Knowing this should make us aware of the amazing power of our minds, right? To practice neutral thinking is to live in total peace. Life is 1% what happens to me, and 99% how I react to it. Isn't it time to start living free from the stress of allowing your thoughts to define your happiness? Think about it. Lisa Ekanger

Monday, June 22, 2015

The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha 1972)

To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe Tp bear the unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star This is my quest To follow that star No matter how hopeless No matter how far To fight for the right Without question or pause To be willing to march into hell For a heavenly cause And I know if I'll only be true To this glorious quest That my heart will lie peaceful and calm When Im laid to rest And the world will be better for this That one person. scorned and covered with scars Still strove with his last ounce of courage To reach the unreachable star! Lisa Ekanger

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Monday, April 13, 2015

10 Little Habits That Steal Your Happiness!

Mark & Angel Hack Life 1.)Focusing on everyone’s story except your own. Don’t be so satisfied with the success stories of others and how things have gone for them that you forget to write your own. Unfold your own tale and bring it to life. You have everything you need to become what you are capable of becoming. Incredible change happens when you decide to take control. This means consuming less and creating more. It means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and deciding for you. It means learning to respect and use your own ideas and instincts to write your passage. If you want your life story to soar to new heights, you’ve got to clear a path, reduce the time-sinks and burdens weighing you down, and pick up the things that give you wings. Keep your best wishes and your biggest goals close to your heart and dedicate time to them every day. If you truly care about what you do and you work diligently at it, there’s almost nothing you can’t accomplish. 2. Waiting for the perfect moment. Don’t buy into the myth of the perfect moment. Moments aren’t perfect; they’re what you make them. So many people wait around for the stars to align to do what they’re here to do. The perfect moment, the perfect opportunity, the perfect state of being, etc. Wake up! These states of perfection are myths. They do not exist. Your ability to grow to your highest potential is directly related to your willingness to act in the face of imperfection. You will come to succeed not by finding a perfect moment, but by learning to see and use life’s imperfections perfectly. Read The Power of Now. 3. Working for nothing more than a paycheck. Work without interest is imprisonment. Even if you aren’t super-passionate about your work, you’ve got to at least be interested in it. When you design a lifestyle in which your work is something you suffer through daily strictly to pay your bills, you end up spending your entire life wishing you had someone else’s. Think about it. This is your life; your work will fill a large percentage of it. It’s not all about the money; it’s about you. Ignore the propaganda, especially from people who say, “Don’t let your work define you.” Reverse this message and mediate on it: “I will do work that defines me.” When the essence of who you are defines at least some slice of the work you do for a living, that work generates fulfillment. Bottom line: Interest in your work puts quality in your output and happiness in your mind. Don’t settle for a paycheck. Shuffle around until you find work that interests you. 4. Harboring feelings of hate. As Martin Luther King Jr. so profoundly said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Truth be told, when we harbor feelings of hate, it eventually gets the best of us. It takes control of us. We forget why we hate, what we hate, and whom we hate – we simply hate for the sake of hating. And then, naturally, we begin to hate ourselves too. Everything and everyone you hate rents permanent space in both your head and heart. So if you want to eliminate something or someone from your mind, don’t hate. Instead, disconnect yourself, move on, and don’t look back. Read The Mastery of Love. 5. Holding tight to worries and fears. Someday when you look back over your life you’ll realize that nearly all of your worries and anxious fears never came to fruition – they were completely unfounded. So why not wake up and realize this right now. When you look back over the last few years, how many opportunities for joy did you destroy with needless worry and negativity? Although there’s nothing you can do about these lost joys, there’s plenty you can do about the ones that are still to come. You will find that it’s necessary to let some things go simply for the reason that they’re heavy on your heart and soul. Let go of them. Don’t clamp shackles to your own ankles. It’s incredibly easy to enjoy more of your life right now, no matter what the situation. It’s just a matter of letting go of the layers of nonsense that are weighing you down. Let go of your worries and fears, of your rage and jealousy, of your need to always be right and control others. Let go of your pretentiousness and your need to have everything your way. Underneath all these layers of nonsense there is a happy, productive person. When you start peeling them off and simply appreciating everything for what it is, life can be wonderfully fulfilling. 6. Dwelling on difficulties. A bad day is just a bad day. Choose not to make it anything more. Times of adversity will inevitably affect the conditions in which you live and work; yet you don’t have to let it affect who you are and where you’re headed. Take note of the setbacks and adjust to them, but don’t expand on them by making them a bigger part of your life. Every day brings new lessons and new possibilities. There is always a way to take the next step forward on the path you’ve chosen. Events may be terrible and inescapable at times, but you always have choice – if not when, then how, you may endure and proceed onward. 7. Constantly seeking fleeting contentment. There are two variations of contentment in life – fleeting and enduring. The fleeting type is derived from instants of material comfort, while the enduring type is attained through the gradual growth of your mind. At a glimpse it might be difficult to decipher one from the other, but as time rolls on it becomes vividly obvious that the latter is far superior. Enduring contentment sustains itself through life’s ups and downs, because through them your mind remains confident and at peace. On the other hand, when life’s fleeting changes have the ability to ruffle your mind into a frenzy, even the most elaborate physical comforts won’t make you any happier for very long. Read Stumbling on Happiness. 8. Trying to make a big difference all at once. If you want to make a difference in the world, start with the world around you. Making a big difference all at once is usually impossible, and the process of trying is extremely stressful. However, instantly making a difference in a few lives is entirely possible and usually fairly easy. You just have to focus on one person at a time and start with the one closest to you. Work to make a bunch of small splashes, and let the ripples spread naturally. If you want to change a person’s mind or mood, sometimes you have to change the minds or moods of the people around them first. For instance, if you make one person smile, their smile just might make others smile too. In this subtle way, you can touch the masses with your thoughtfulness without stressing yourself out. 9. Holding on to someone who hurts you. Sometimes you have to walk away from people, not because you don’t care, but because they don’t. When someone hurts you time and time again, accept the fact that they don’t care about you. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s necessary medicine. Do NOT strive to impress them any further. Waste not another second of your time trying to prove something to them. Nothing needs to be proven. Do not act with any thought of them ever again. Read 1,000 Little Things. 10. Over-amplifying the importance of physical attractiveness. Infatuating yourself with someone simply for what they look like on the outside is like choosing your favorite food based on color instead of taste. It makes no sense. It’s innate, invisible, unquantifiable characteristics that create lasting attraction. Just as some people enjoy the smell of mint, while others prefer the scent of cinnamon, there is an undeniable, magnetic draw that attracts you to the qualities of certain people, places, and things. Sometimes it’s even the scars your soul shares with them that reels you in and creates the very hinges that hold you together in the long run. Lisa

Tuesday, March 24, 2015