Surfing Your Way Into Creative Real Estate !Written by James A. Gage
Surfing Your Way Into Creative Real Estate !By James A. Gage I have surfed in my life. Yes, quite a few years ago and believe it or not, sometimes people tell me I look like a old surfer. I surfed not really knowing what I was doing, but I did it for fun in Florida with my friends. The true art of Surfing fascinates me to no end. It was about eighteen years ago that I was standing at water's edge with a good friend. He was a surfer who had competed professionally and had hosted a surfing show on TV. We were watching surfers and I was asking questions about waves, boards, techniques, etc. That day I got much more than a lesson on surfing. I got a lesson on life. My friend was telling me how to "catch a wave." He explained that before a wave comes, you must be moving in same direction as wave and at same speed, otherwise, wave will simply pass you by and you will not "catch it." If you are lying on board, on your stomach, and paddling fast enough toward shore, you will be synchronized with wave when it reaches you. You will then be able to ride it, stand up on your board, and surf! Simple stuff, huh? Makes perfect sense. It's one of those things you think about afterward and say, "I probably could have figured that out on my own." It's so simple that I had missed it. When it was explained to me, I instantly understood and it was as if Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump were speaking to me. How many thousands of applications does this have metaphorically in our lives? What about that real estate investing business we want to get started? Are we up to speed? What about dreams we want to attain? Are we "traveling fast enough" to synchronize with them when they come by? Or will they just keep going toward shore as we paddle slowly? So many people want perfect business, perfect mate, perfect life. I'll tell you a little secret...the opportunity for these things comes by EVERY day. In fact, it comes by several times a day. But have we prepared ourselves for it? How fast are YOU paddling? Are you headed for shore? Are you swimming in circles? Are you moving at same speed and in same direction as your goals and dreams? ...or are you expecting vehicle to get you there to suddenly appear before your eyes?
| | 1-2-3 SortWritten by Eve Abbott, the Organizer Extraordinaire
Article excerpted from new book, "How to Do Space Age Work with a Stone Age Brain" by Eve Abbott1 - 2 - 3—SORT! Every time you start to clean up your office so you can work better instead of harder—that big backlog of information is just too overwhelming. Sorting can actually put you into a better working space in very short time. The good news is you don't have to do it all at once. Use first cut to trash, recycle, shred, and archive leaving just items requiring Action on your part. Now do Action sort beginning with your desktop, desk drawers, then, wall mount shelves or cupboards at your desk. You'll have a clean Action zone to put these items back in better working order. Then, it's 1 - 2 - 3—SORT! Sort and only sort—no reading a newsletter or making one quick call. Also, work for two hours or less, take a break, then, finish it off with another two hours at most. Otherwise, our stone age brains overload and start putting things in wrong place. There are three essential Action domains: 1) to Do 2) to Read 3) to File. TO DO: In to-Do domain there are some basic categories: Call, Pay, Sign, Schedule, Correspond, Read, Review, Write, Research, etc. Everyone has unique information categories in their work and lives, but, these will get you going and you can add Actions as your piles take on definition and turn into Action files. When a piece of info is sticking to your fingers, ask yourself: Am I past due date? Trash or if you need other info from it, file it. Will anyone care if I do or don't do this? If not, why spend time on it? Trash Do I really need to do this? If no—trash. If yes, into an Action file and calendar it. TO READ: Set up magazine files to sort your reading material as it arrives. Label these by topic, project or subscription. Do not read anything yet! This time to decide which articles are really worth your time and energy to read.
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