In an effort to remind myself to show gratitude/appreciation on a regular basis, I'm going to blog about it. Whenever I find myself in a crappy mood, it doesn't take long to turn things around by thinking about how awesome my life actually is.
Today I was peeved because my stupid blackberry was acting up. It isn't holding a charge; I have it programmed to automatically shut off every night while it charges. Usually, it holds that charge for a couple of days, depending on how much I use the internet. Lately, it's only been holding staying charged for about four hours before being so drained that it shuts down. Whenever it is charged, a little timer keeps popping up....about every 2-3 minutes. As long as that timer is up, the phone won't do anything. It's been getting worse every day. When I woke up this morning, the phone was fully charged. Two hours later it was dead. Then my mind started wandering....wtf am I going to do without my blackberry? Damn, I don't know how to use any other phone and there are tons to choose from...which one am I gonna get? Double damn! Phones are expensive and I haven't even had the blackberry for a year...why is this stupid phone dead already! I can't afford this ish right now! Dang it, I have to pay my electric, gas, water, car...and shoot, rent too...and this #@%$#@ phone is acting up? Just what I need! I realized what I was doing and had to force myself to leave that bad place I was in. I wrote a "Dear John" letter to my blackberry and posted it on facebook. Sounds ridiculous, but it made me feel better. It made me realize that my phone is just a tool and that I don't have to be a slave to it. I realized that it's not the end of the world and that I can get another phone from Verizon even though I'm not eligible for an upgrade. I realized that it was stupid of me to go from a phone acting up to 'my life sucks'.
I am thankful for my ability to be honest with myself. I am thankful that I didn't waste a whole day being upset over something trivial. My day turned out to be a very good one: I found some really good leads on jobs that pay significantly more than what I make where I am now...and the work is EASIER than what I'm doing now! I picked up two warm real estate leads. They're both rentals, but they're both well qualified and can close in the next 30 days. To do both of them will take about 4 hours of my time for a $1000 in commissions. I'll take it! And lastly, I'm thankful that my blackberry mysteriously started working like it used to. I don't know or care how that happened....just that it did!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
I get it!
Last night, my son took my daughters and I to dinner. He wanted to introduce us to his new girlfriend. During dinner, we chatted, nothing major, just getting caught up on events that took place during the past week. My son and I work for the same company, and I had taken the week off for Thanksgiving. My son mentioned that the owners of the company we work for bought the building across from us...I knew they'd been talking about doing it, but wasn't sure if they'd actually do it or not since it makes absolutely NO sense for them to make that purchase even though we need more space. My son went on to mention some other things that came up while I was out, but the purchase of the building wouldn't leave my mind. Probably because "my little voice" kept shouting "NOW do you get it?". Yeah, I get it.
For the last six years, I've been working for myself as a real estate agent. In spite of all the protests and people telling me I'd never succeed and that I was a fool to not have a "real job", I did extremely well. I made more money than I knew what to do with. I never worried about how I was going to pay my bills. I wasn't stressing over writing my yearly review in hopes of getting a 3% raise, which is nothing in my opinion, only to find out my employer felt I was only worth 1.75%. I was proud of my accomplishments and for the first time was happy with what I did to make a living. Even though I was living large, there were haters...always in my ear telling me that I was probably only successful because I slept with my clients. What do YOU have to offer that anyone could possibly want? Everything! I used to be able to let that type of thing roll off my back. When haters would talk ish before, I felt motivated and empowered. What happened to that me? I upgraded my life but didn't upgrade my crowd.
Some of us are raised to believe that we are only worth what someone else thinks we're worth. We're taught that if you think highly of yourself, that you're selfish. You're conceited. You're egotistical. Which can be true if your thoughts of yourself aren't coming from the right place. What I've learned is that if you don't think highly of yourself, neither will anyone else. My life fell apart when I stopped believing in me.
Last year I decided to get a "real job". I started believing the hype about the real estate market: 'you have kids, it's irresponsible of you as a parent to try to make it in this market without a REAL JOB'...or 'there are no buyers or sellers out there, how are you going to live?'. In all the years I've been an agent, I never advertised and never had to worry about where work would come from. I believed that as long as I was appreciative for what I had and showed gratitude, more of the good stuff I'd been getting would keep coming to me. Of course, since I hadn't upgraded my crowd, everyone was telling me 'you're crazy/stupid/retarded'. No matter who you are, when you keep the wrong company, eventually they are going to bring you down. I thought I'd learned to love myself enough to not allow myself to believe the bad things "friends" and "family" said to/about me...but I didn't.
So I decided to get a "real job". I found one paying something like $40K a year. Far below what I'm worth but I took it because I was tired of sending out resumes. Huge mistake/step in the wrong direction. My tiny little checks pretty much paid for my gas to get back and forth to work. I had a very nice car...an absolutely beautiful black on black ML500. My "real job" didn't pay me enough to live, so I sold the car to be able to make it through last winter. I lost my house. While looking for a "real job", I stopped doing real estate so I had no income. I lost all of my "stuff"....tons of furniture (I lived in a 5 bedroom fully furnished house), designer handbags, shoes, clothes, art work. I hadn't found a "real job", so I couldn't pay my $350 storage bill. I asked my "friends" and "family" for help. Every single one of them said no. My little voice was telling me, 'dump these zeroes and find you some heroes'. I ignored it.
After I lost all my of my "stuff", I found another "real job". I've been with them for almost a year. The owners of the company saw my resume and know what I'm bringing to the table. They offered me $60K a year under the condition that I stop doing real estate all together. Out of desperation, I took it. I'm absolutely miserable here. I am highly talented and have so much to offer. Instead of using my talents to their benefit, I'm literally hidden in a back office. I'm not allowed to meet clients. I'm often left out of important company communications. Staff are plucked from my team to fill in other areas WITHOUT speaking to me first. Why? I'm a threat. And that's a good thing.
When my son told me the owners bought the new building, I was angry. Not two weeks ago, I approached the owners and told them that I needed more money. I told them that if I hadn't given up real estate, I only had to sell two $250K houses per month to make more than what they're paying me. They asked what it would take for me to stay and not do real estate. I told them at least $75K. When I said that out loud, that's when I realized I am short-changing myself. I am damn good at everything I do and I'm worth significantly more than that. I have created processes that allow this company to make between $25K and $60K per event that we do for a particular client. We do about 24 events per year for this client. Do the math. This company is making bank on my process. Do you know how they thank me? "We'll give you a $7000 per year raise but we can't tell you when that will take effect". Hmmm...I wonder if I tell the electric company that I'll pay my bill as soon as I get my raise, if will they leave my lights on? I get it. Do I have to lose everything AGAIN before I wake the hell up?!? The owners have $250K to buy the building next door but can't tell me when I'll get the raise I was promised? Not only that, they haven't even spoken with HR and payroll about the increase I was promised. I GET IT!
It's never OK to settle. Don't sell yourself short. Don't let anyone else determine your destiny. If your "crowd" is telling you anything that doesn't mesh with what you're "little voice" is telling you, get a new crowd. If you think or treat yourself poorly, don't be surprised when everyone else does it too. Now that I've gotten honest with myself about how poorly my "real job" is actually treating me, I've set a new goal: find and close 3 real estate deals so that I can quit and do what I want and not what someone else wants for me.
For the last six years, I've been working for myself as a real estate agent. In spite of all the protests and people telling me I'd never succeed and that I was a fool to not have a "real job", I did extremely well. I made more money than I knew what to do with. I never worried about how I was going to pay my bills. I wasn't stressing over writing my yearly review in hopes of getting a 3% raise, which is nothing in my opinion, only to find out my employer felt I was only worth 1.75%. I was proud of my accomplishments and for the first time was happy with what I did to make a living. Even though I was living large, there were haters...always in my ear telling me that I was probably only successful because I slept with my clients. What do YOU have to offer that anyone could possibly want? Everything! I used to be able to let that type of thing roll off my back. When haters would talk ish before, I felt motivated and empowered. What happened to that me? I upgraded my life but didn't upgrade my crowd.
Some of us are raised to believe that we are only worth what someone else thinks we're worth. We're taught that if you think highly of yourself, that you're selfish. You're conceited. You're egotistical. Which can be true if your thoughts of yourself aren't coming from the right place. What I've learned is that if you don't think highly of yourself, neither will anyone else. My life fell apart when I stopped believing in me.
Last year I decided to get a "real job". I started believing the hype about the real estate market: 'you have kids, it's irresponsible of you as a parent to try to make it in this market without a REAL JOB'...or 'there are no buyers or sellers out there, how are you going to live?'. In all the years I've been an agent, I never advertised and never had to worry about where work would come from. I believed that as long as I was appreciative for what I had and showed gratitude, more of the good stuff I'd been getting would keep coming to me. Of course, since I hadn't upgraded my crowd, everyone was telling me 'you're crazy/stupid/retarded'. No matter who you are, when you keep the wrong company, eventually they are going to bring you down. I thought I'd learned to love myself enough to not allow myself to believe the bad things "friends" and "family" said to/about me...but I didn't.
So I decided to get a "real job". I found one paying something like $40K a year. Far below what I'm worth but I took it because I was tired of sending out resumes. Huge mistake/step in the wrong direction. My tiny little checks pretty much paid for my gas to get back and forth to work. I had a very nice car...an absolutely beautiful black on black ML500. My "real job" didn't pay me enough to live, so I sold the car to be able to make it through last winter. I lost my house. While looking for a "real job", I stopped doing real estate so I had no income. I lost all of my "stuff"....tons of furniture (I lived in a 5 bedroom fully furnished house), designer handbags, shoes, clothes, art work. I hadn't found a "real job", so I couldn't pay my $350 storage bill. I asked my "friends" and "family" for help. Every single one of them said no. My little voice was telling me, 'dump these zeroes and find you some heroes'. I ignored it.
After I lost all my of my "stuff", I found another "real job". I've been with them for almost a year. The owners of the company saw my resume and know what I'm bringing to the table. They offered me $60K a year under the condition that I stop doing real estate all together. Out of desperation, I took it. I'm absolutely miserable here. I am highly talented and have so much to offer. Instead of using my talents to their benefit, I'm literally hidden in a back office. I'm not allowed to meet clients. I'm often left out of important company communications. Staff are plucked from my team to fill in other areas WITHOUT speaking to me first. Why? I'm a threat. And that's a good thing.
When my son told me the owners bought the new building, I was angry. Not two weeks ago, I approached the owners and told them that I needed more money. I told them that if I hadn't given up real estate, I only had to sell two $250K houses per month to make more than what they're paying me. They asked what it would take for me to stay and not do real estate. I told them at least $75K. When I said that out loud, that's when I realized I am short-changing myself. I am damn good at everything I do and I'm worth significantly more than that. I have created processes that allow this company to make between $25K and $60K per event that we do for a particular client. We do about 24 events per year for this client. Do the math. This company is making bank on my process. Do you know how they thank me? "We'll give you a $7000 per year raise but we can't tell you when that will take effect". Hmmm...I wonder if I tell the electric company that I'll pay my bill as soon as I get my raise, if will they leave my lights on? I get it. Do I have to lose everything AGAIN before I wake the hell up?!? The owners have $250K to buy the building next door but can't tell me when I'll get the raise I was promised? Not only that, they haven't even spoken with HR and payroll about the increase I was promised. I GET IT!
It's never OK to settle. Don't sell yourself short. Don't let anyone else determine your destiny. If your "crowd" is telling you anything that doesn't mesh with what you're "little voice" is telling you, get a new crowd. If you think or treat yourself poorly, don't be surprised when everyone else does it too. Now that I've gotten honest with myself about how poorly my "real job" is actually treating me, I've set a new goal: find and close 3 real estate deals so that I can quit and do what I want and not what someone else wants for me.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Random Thought Inspired by a Tweet
I consider myself to be an expert people watcher...and my people watching experience has taught me that most people WILL NOT do the right thing when they think no one is watching. Ultimately, we are very ego driven....more motivated to do things when there's something in it for us. I've tested my theory many times by simply paying someone a compliment. Many people look around to see if I'm really talking to them...some tell me 'I don't have any money'....some actually think I'm making fun of them. It's sad that so many of us can't even take a compliment.
There was this guy that I had the biggest crush on a couple years ago. I told him that I was attracted to him and wanted to spend time with him outside of work (yes, we worked together)....and I didn't tell him in "Womanese"...I told him straight up 'I like you and I want to spend time with you outside of work'. He thought I was kidding. Eventually he realized I was serious and it went from him thinking I was messing with his head to him putting himself down whenever we talked because he genuinely could not figure out why I would be interested in him...even though I told him many times.
Since I couldn't find my "happy space" and kept focusing on what's wrong, I decided to take a nap. Before I went down for my nap, I noticed my blackberry was flashing red. I checked it. It was a tweet from a new follower. She wanted me to know that she's following me and that she read my blog and "gets me". Very short and simple message but that's all I needed to 'snap out of it' and get back to my happy space. Now all the things I was so ticked about earlier seem trivial (except living in VA lol).
There was this guy that I had the biggest crush on a couple years ago. I told him that I was attracted to him and wanted to spend time with him outside of work (yes, we worked together)....and I didn't tell him in "Womanese"...I told him straight up 'I like you and I want to spend time with you outside of work'. He thought I was kidding. Eventually he realized I was serious and it went from him thinking I was messing with his head to him putting himself down whenever we talked because he genuinely could not figure out why I would be interested in him...even though I told him many times.
It makes me sad that we are so quick to criticize each other but ridiculously slow to share praise and love. Something I learned during my 31 Day Reset and watching Oprah's Life Class is that ultimately what we think of ourselves is our responsibility but getting to the point where we feel good about ourselves comes from affirmation that we get from others. This is something that should have taken place when we were being raised, but all of us don't get that. I never knew why I felt an uncontrollable urge to tell people good things about themselves until the 31 Day Reset/Oprah's Life Class. I can remember being a teen and giving random compliments. Even my friends thought I was making fun of people and not being genuine. I do it because it's the right thing to do. I do it because it feels so good inside to make others feel good. You never know what people are really thinking or going through, a lot of us are conditioned to keep the truth to ourselves and tell people what they want to hear. Some of us want to hear the truth, not the fluff that we were taught to give. You never know how a simple word of kindness can totally turn someone's day or even life, around.
Before I made this post, I was in a bad mood. I spent the week up in NYC with my family (Dad's side) having the time of my life. I left early this morning to come back home to VA. I strongly dislike living in VA....and it's been that way since I was a kid. After my parents divorced, my mother decided she needed a change and that VA was the place for her change to happen. About an hour into the drive home, my son called me. He stayed the night in Alexandria and someone broke both windows out of his car (he drives a coupe) and stole his radio. I made sure he called the police and his insurance company, then continued driving. About 30 minutes later, Stanlee (my Yorkie) starts whining, NOW he wants to go pee. He couldn't do it when I walked him BEFORE we got on the road, he has to do it NOW. I get off the highway to find a place for Stan to pee and he won't go! I make the most of my "wasted" stop and put gas in my car. I gave Stan one more chance to pee, thank goodness he did this time. I get back on the road and make it back to VA. I get home and there are random lights on in my house. Damn landlord is snooping around my house again. He keeps saying he never comes in the house, but I keep finding things out of place and random lights on. He's the only one with a key besides me. He still uses my mailbox to get his mail and comes by every month and a half or so to get his mail. It HAS to be him coming in here. I got something for his behind...I ordered a wireless home monitoring system that allows me to see what's going on inside my house from anywhere that I have internet access. Verizon delivered it and it was sitting on my porch when I pulled up in front of my house!
Since I couldn't find my "happy space" and kept focusing on what's wrong, I decided to take a nap. Before I went down for my nap, I noticed my blackberry was flashing red. I checked it. It was a tweet from a new follower. She wanted me to know that she's following me and that she read my blog and "gets me". Very short and simple message but that's all I needed to 'snap out of it' and get back to my happy space. Now all the things I was so ticked about earlier seem trivial (except living in VA lol).
Anyway, I would like to see everyone be kind to people just because they're fellow human beings. Anybody can be a jackass and say something hurtful. Challenge yourself. Do something different. Be a stand up kind of person and say or do something nice instead.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Why?!?
What is it about some people that they just won't take no for an answer?
I met this guy and after talking on the phone a bit, I decided I'm not interested in keeping in touch with him, even as friends. He wants a relationship, I don't. He asked me about keeping some time open so we could do something together. I told him I wasn't willing to do that; I have my own needs/wants/desires to focus on and that I'm not willing to change anything in my life in order to accommodate him. It would hurt my feelings if someone said that to me. Not this guy. Ever since I told him that, he's texting me every day multiple times during the day (even though I asked him not to bother me at work) and multiple times after he gets off of work. It doesn't matter that I ignore his texts for days at a time, he just keeps at it. He's not going to grow on me, if anything, he'll be blocked from calling/texting me. I'm not going to think he's so sweet that I'll rethink what I told him and change my mind, if anything, I'll think he's an even bigger stalker than I originally thought. I shouldn't have to give him a reason for not being interested in him....the fact that I told him I'm not interested in having a relationship with him should be enough. Guess that's another difference in our levels of maturity....this guy is almost 10 years younger than I am.
He's not as confident as I like a man to be...he needs a lot of reassurance and often fishes for compliments. I think he's boring. I would rather sit and watch dust accumulate on my furniture than go out with this guy. He's very inexperienced and I just don't have the patience to work with him. I'm not interested in carrying EVERY conversation we have...when I do actually talk to him, he just sits there saying nothing or is over the top with compliments. I'm not 10....complimenting me on every little thing I do does nothing for my ego. He offers to change into what he thinks will be more attractive to me. I don't want a mini-me or a puppet. Be who you are! Most importantly, I'm not looking for a doormat. If you find yourself offering to cut someone's grass just to be around, you're being a doormat. If you're offering money or other materialistic items to get someone's attention, you're being a doormat. You should think better of yourself than that. Anyway, why can't you just take the no instead of pushing me to tell you you're boring, inexperienced, fake with all the compliments and things you like?
I met this guy and after talking on the phone a bit, I decided I'm not interested in keeping in touch with him, even as friends. He wants a relationship, I don't. He asked me about keeping some time open so we could do something together. I told him I wasn't willing to do that; I have my own needs/wants/desires to focus on and that I'm not willing to change anything in my life in order to accommodate him. It would hurt my feelings if someone said that to me. Not this guy. Ever since I told him that, he's texting me every day multiple times during the day (even though I asked him not to bother me at work) and multiple times after he gets off of work. It doesn't matter that I ignore his texts for days at a time, he just keeps at it. He's not going to grow on me, if anything, he'll be blocked from calling/texting me. I'm not going to think he's so sweet that I'll rethink what I told him and change my mind, if anything, I'll think he's an even bigger stalker than I originally thought. I shouldn't have to give him a reason for not being interested in him....the fact that I told him I'm not interested in having a relationship with him should be enough. Guess that's another difference in our levels of maturity....this guy is almost 10 years younger than I am.
He's not as confident as I like a man to be...he needs a lot of reassurance and often fishes for compliments. I think he's boring. I would rather sit and watch dust accumulate on my furniture than go out with this guy. He's very inexperienced and I just don't have the patience to work with him. I'm not interested in carrying EVERY conversation we have...when I do actually talk to him, he just sits there saying nothing or is over the top with compliments. I'm not 10....complimenting me on every little thing I do does nothing for my ego. He offers to change into what he thinks will be more attractive to me. I don't want a mini-me or a puppet. Be who you are! Most importantly, I'm not looking for a doormat. If you find yourself offering to cut someone's grass just to be around, you're being a doormat. If you're offering money or other materialistic items to get someone's attention, you're being a doormat. You should think better of yourself than that. Anyway, why can't you just take the no instead of pushing me to tell you you're boring, inexperienced, fake with all the compliments and things you like?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)