Consequences…are you ready to pay the price?

Life is full of choices. These choices impact those around us and those we encounter. It is important to think and understand the consequences of our actions and how they ultimately impact you. Areas to consider are you interactions with others, your attitude, your daily activities, your planning, your education and your business.

When we look at our actions, we must understand Newton’s law of motion – for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you are rude and nasty to others, others will be rude and nasty back to you. If you treat people with respect and kindness, more often than not, they will respond in kind. We see this in all aspects of our lives from the checkout counters at airports to our everyday dealings with our children, clients as well as other agents. Too many times we see and hear others speak and respond without thinking first. Take the time to reflect upon how you will respond to others in every situation and how it will affect your relationship. How you will be perceived by the other person and will your actions help you or hurt you in obtaining your objective? Will you be the better person and take the high road or will you be antagonistic and delay the process and cause the situation to escalate beyond repair? Too often, people don’t consider the elementary law of the “golden rule” - treat others how you want to be treated. Think in terms of killing them with kindness and keep in mind, you attract more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. When approaching others keep these thoughts in mind and you will build bridges, not burn them.

This leads us down the all important road of attitude. It is critical to be on top of your game with a positive outlook, upbeat approach, and optimism in every situation you face. It gives you more energy and creates more encouragement from within yourself to accomplish what you set out to do. One simple way to begin acting this way is to smile. Be genuine and do it often. When you portray a positive, solution oriented, helpful attitude with a smile, you will progress faster down the road in obtaining your objectives whether it is dealing with others, doing daily tasks or achieving your goals. Remember, you create your environment – make it enjoyable, as much as possible. Remove negative, pessimistic thoughts and your stress levels will decrease. Keep in mind that your attitude inspires you to achieve all that is possible in your life…don’t let yourself down – start with the right attitude – daily!

Your attitude also motivates you to accomplish the daily tasks you need to complete to reach your goals in both your personal and professional life. In business, it is taking the time to schedule your prospecting time of attending networking events, making your calls, writing your notes and visiting with your clients. Take the time to do one more of each (some daily, some weekly) and the results will follow. Make a daily “to do” lists, check off the items as you complete them and see your results soar. The consequences are, tremendous success or a mediocre career at best – what will you realize? Pay the price of making the right choice and do just a little bit more to reap the rewards you and your family deserve.

In order to know what to do daily, you must have a plan. What is your “big picture”? What do you want to achieve and why? If you don’t know what, when, where or why how will you be able to achieve anything? Take the time necessary to plan out what you want to accomplish so you know where you need to begin and it will help you determine how to get there. The consequences of not having a plan will be frustration, lack of fulfillment and diminished results – avoid this negative trap. Set you plan, open your sails and cruise to success in every aspect of your life.

One significant area to focus your planning on is your education. Continuous learning helps you grow and will take you further, faster. By understanding the business, trends, mortgages, contracts, and the numbers you can become better equipped to give the right advice to your clients and help you build your referral base. You can accomplish this by attending conventions, seminars, trainings, speaking with industry experts, and reading books, newsletters, magazines and articles on our business. Taking this small step can result in substantial gains in all aspects of your business. Understand the consequences of being educated!

I challenge you to focus on these few areas of your life and you will see your business grow to new heights. Be intentional in your dealings with others, your attitude, your actions, your plans and your education and your business will prosper in any market. Avoid these steps and the consequences of your actions may cause you to experience unsatisfactory results. Get it? Got it? Good!