Some of you may know that I am a practicing shaman.  What does this mean?  I look for the patterns in the world.  I follow the cycle of the year as a way to make sure I look at all aspects of my life.  I appreciate nature and all she has to offer.  There's more to it than that, but that's a good overview of it.

As part of my everyday practice, I take some time to notice the patterns in my life.  Recently, everyone around me has been doing a great deal of personal growth work.  This is not terribly surprising to me since I have been doing a great deal of that as well.  I'm only about halfway through the process that I started in January to open up and be more available emotionally and authentically to the people around me.  It has been a scary thing to do.  I've been convinced that people wouldn't like me if I told them the whole truth about who I am, and yet that has not been the case.  The more I share with people, the more they share with me and the more loved and appreciated I have felt.  And yet the process has been a hard one. 

Anytime you deal with core, foundational issues, it tends to throw you off balance and make you re-evaluate your life.  As part of this evaluation, I decided to move.  This has been a stressful process and one that is not yet complete.  Like most of the changes I'm working on making, it is taking longer than I had hoped. (I guess I shouldn't be surprised with 6 groundhogs/woodchucks living in my back yard - they are signs that things will take longer than expected). 

Recently, the woman who was running my women's group last month decided that we had all done a lot of work already and, despite the fact that we weren't done yet, she thought it was time to appreciate ourselves and each other for what had been accomplished already.  We all thought that this was a great idea.  So she decorated a high-backed chair with beautiful fabrics and put a pillow on the floor at our feet - making us royalty for the moment.  We each took a turn in the chair.  In that chair we received praise and appreciation from the other members of the group and from ourselves.  There were things that were said to me that I never realized people appreicated about me - things that I thought were often challenges in my life.  And I got to see from other people's eyes how much I had accomplished.  I also got to find more love in my heart for all of the women in the group because I went looking for things to appreciate about them.

So here's your thought for the day.  How much have you accomplished in the last month?  I bet it's a lot.  Before you go to bed tonight, look in the mirror and say out loud all of the things you've accomplished (don't forget that taking much-needed time off is accomplishing the goal of being loving towards yourself).  Tell the person in the mirror what you appreciate about them - what aspects of their personality most impress you.   And then, in the morning when you're feeling well rested and emotionally fed, start practicing this with your friends and family members.  Remind your spouse why you love them.  Tell your kids all the things they do right every day.  Tell your friends what you appreciate about them.  Tell your parents how grateful you are for the life they gave you. 

Opening our hearts is a scary and challenging process.  It takes practice.  But it is one of the best things we can do in care of ourselves.Share your heart with someone today, as I have shared mine with you.  Thanks for reading.  I appreciate all the support you all give me.

I got this post from Joeann Fossland's Blog - I liked the article so much, I just had to repost it here.  If you'd like to visit Joeann's Blog, you can find her at http://joeann.realtownblogs.com/ 

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The World's Most Unusual Therapist

by Dr. Joe Vitale
www.mrfire.com

Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane?

It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more.

I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does. The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility.

His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a therapist. He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous. Psychologists quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant place to live, work, or visit.

Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

"After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely," he told me. "Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed."

I was in awe.

"Not only that," he went on, "but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed."

This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: "What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?"

"I was simply healing the part of me that created them," he said.

I didn't understand.

Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life - simply because it is in your life--is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life.

This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy--anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr. Len, I began to realize that healing for him and in ho 'oponopono means loving yourself. If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone--even a mentally ill criminal--you do it by healing you.

I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?

"I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again," he explained.

That's it?

That's it.

Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, your improve your world. Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who sent the nasty message. This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying, "I'm sorry" and "I love you," I didn't say it to anyone in particular. I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating the outer circumstance.

Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying "I love you," I somehow healed within me what was creating him.

I later attended a ho 'oponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He's now 70 years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat reclusive. He praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve myself, my book's vibration will raise, and everyone will feel it when they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.

"What about the books that are already sold and out there?" I asked.

"They aren't out there," he explained, once again blowing my mind with his mystic wisdom. "They are still in you."

In short, there is no out there.

It would take a whole book to explain this advanced technique with the depth it deserves. Suffice it to say that whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you.

"When you look, do it with love."

This article is from the forthcoming book "Zero Limits" by Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Len

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Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of way too many books to list here. His latest title is "The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) From the Inside Out." Register for his monthly complimentary ezine at http://www.mrfire.com/

His Executive Mentoring Program is described at
http://www.joe-vitale-executive-mentoring.com/info.html
 
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Copyright © 2005 by Joe Vitale. All rights reserved.
You may forward this in its entirety to anyone you wish.

Hypnotic Marketing Inc.
121 Canyon Gap Rd
Wimberley TX 78676

Show Notes – The Care and Feeding of First Time Homebuyers

 

When dealing with First Time Buyers, fear is the catchword of the day.  They are afraid of everything – mostly because they don’t know what to expect.  The key is to give them a sense of control.  And to instill in them a sense of confidence in you and your abilities so that when they don’t know what’s going on, they will have faith that you do. 

 

Want to know more about the topic of this podcast?  Check out Kelle’s book The Consultative Real Estate Agent.  Here’s a recent quote from a reader of Kelle’s blog about her book.

 

Kelle-

I just wanted to drop you a line to say your book is awesome!! How could you have only sold 1600 copies? Every agent should have one!

I do not know how ANY agent, regardless of their experience, could not find your book anything but extremely insightful, and sometimes downright inspirational!

Your candid way of writing, combined with your "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" ideas make it an indispensible part of my reference collection.

As an agent of just over 2 years and some moderate success, your ideas have hit me at the right time, and have changed the way I think about client interaction, all for the better. Keep up the great work!!

posted by: Mike on Tue, 8/22 09:21 PM EDT

Visit Kelle’s Website:  www.spartasuccess.com

I have been searching for a new place to call home recently and it has given me a whole new appreciation for the stress that buyers go through.  The on-again, off-again nature of this process has really caused me to shut down quite effectively, so I apologize if I haven't been too vocal of late on the blog.  I've been overwhelmed. 

When I started this search, I wasn't sure what I wanted, and that has caused much of the challenges along the way.  I knew that I didn't want to live alone.  I am a social person and I will tend to hibernate and be miserable or never be home and be miserable if I live alone.  I have lived in a home with many roommates in the past and really enjoyed the sense of community that came with that environment.  But I may be getting a bit too old to deal with the inevitable drama that comes from living on top of others.  So I have finally weeded it down to the idea that I want no less than one and no more than 3 roommates.  It took me several weeks of looking at places and feeling through the options to come to this decision and that has taken a lot out of me energetically.  Now that I know what I want, I can focus more clearly on accomplishing the goal.

This is going to be true for your buyers as well.  Often times buyers want to look at too many towns (more than three) or too many options (single family, condo, multifamily, etc.).  When you're not comparing apples to apples you end up driving yourself crazy trying to make a decision.  Encourage your buyers instead to choose one set of criteria and look at all the options in that set before moving on to another set.  Have them pic their top choice first and then work down the list.  It will become apparent in the process if this set of criteria will be a good match or not.  That way, if you're going to eliminate something, you're eliminating an entire set, rather than a single property. 

Remember, buyers can't make a decision when there are too many options.  You have to narrow the options before the brain can wrap itself around any one solution.

Now I'm off to go and look at other places that would fit my 1-3 roommate scenario.  Toodles!

I get notices from my publisher every 6 months to let me know how the sales of The Consultative Real Estate Agent are going.  I got my second notice yesterday.  It says that I've sold 1545 books locally and 110 overseas from January to June of this year.  I want to personally thank all of you who have purchased the book.  I hope you found it to be worth your while. 

It's funny how the markers in our lives affect us.  I am humbled at the thought that over 3500 people have read my book since October.  I am happy that I could be of service in this way.  Thanks.

Requirements of Being a Coach to Your Clients

• Be able to listen – to the text and the subtext of the conversation
• Let go of judgment
• Get out of your head and into theirs (30 Days TV show “In God We Trustâ€?)
• Empathize but NOT sympathize (feel for them, but don’t own their feelings)
• Have tools at your disposal to help them get through their particular change of life issues
• You can’t be attached to being “right� – get out of your ego
• Be in integrity with change – you have to have done your work before people will respect you enough to do   theirs with you

When you expand your ability to understand people and to engage them on a deeper level, you expand your ability to do business.  When you share more about who you are with your clients, you make it easier to refer people you will work well with.  What do you need to learn to be a better person and a better coach for your clients?

The Consultative Real Estate Agent

How do you decide to take the big step of opening your own brokerage?  When is it the right thing to do and when is it not?  In this episode, we explore the details of what it takes to open your own office. 

 

        What services do you need?

        What will they cost?

        Do you want to bring on other agents?

        Do you have the management skills and reputation to bring in other agents?

        What will your company brand and value proposition be – both for clients and for agents?

        Will you have a physical location or be a virtual office?

        What is your marketplace and where will you be located?

        Will your form partnerships with attorneys, mortgage officers, and insurance agents?  If so, will you share your physical location with them?

 

We also interview Nina Udwin of Rosebank Realty about her experience opening her office this year.

 

Show Links

Steps to Success - New Agent Coaching Program

Mastering the Art of Working With Buyers – Worcester, MA

Nina Udwin, Rosebank Realty

You have read all the books, taken all the training, but you just can’t seem to get things going.  This week we talk about how to get started in your business.  We have an interview with GMAC’s national rookie of the year who shares her first year’s journey.

 

Our Steps to Success New Agent Coaching Program is beginning on August 9th - so time is running out to join.  It's a six month program that takes you through a weekly process of building your business.  For more information, click here.

In the past, we have often thought of work and home as being two completely different environments.  We are one person at work and another at home - effectively creating a split personality for ourselves.  Because we treat our lives this way, we don't know how to "be" when we are out relaxing and a business opportunity arises.  Do we stay in relax mode and put off the business for another time?  Or do we turn on the businessperson?  And, if we do turn on the business person, and we do a lot of networking events, then when do we ever get to be just ourselves?

These are the thoughts that have been running through my head of late.  I have been looking at how I can bring me more clearly into my business.  how I can leave behind the "business person" personality and just show up as myself.  Is it possible that I could find a group of clients who would truly appreciate me for who I am - all of me?

I believe that there is.  And in an effort to bring myself more clearly into focus for you, my readers, I have added a page to my website that gives a little more information about me.  I call it my "Random Bits of Kelle Trivia for the Terminally Curious" page.  In it, I share lots of things about myself, from my love of music and singing, to the fun and exciting things I have done in my life.  All in an effort to tell you more about who you are choosing to do business with.

As part of this journey for me (being the teacher that I am), I have also created a new program called "Grow Yourself to Grow Your Business".  This program is a group learning and coaching program.  I'm also expanding my business to work with all types of small business owners, not just real estate agents.  I'm excited about this new process.  I think I've finally found the piece that I have been missing in getting into relationship with all of you.  I'd love to share the concept with you. 

I'm going to be looking for ways to do just that.  I may offer an MP3 files of a coaching class.  I may do a free teleseminar introduction.  I may do something else.  Who knows?  I'm in process on it.  I'll let you know when I figure it out. 

In the meantime, think about this.  What can YOU do in your business to bring your personality more clearly into what you do?  How can you draw people to you who will truly like you and appreciate what you have to offer?  Are you willing to be really seen by your clients for who you are?  How would your life be different if you could just show up as you - all the time?  Think about it.  And then tell me your thoughts.  I'd love to hear them.