You Snooze, You Lose! Who Moved My Cheese! Am I in Oz?

You Snooze, You Lose! Don't Ever Fall Asleep! You may wake up in Oz! I recently had an unexpected shut down and was flat on my back with bed rest for several days! I did not access ActiveRain for five days! That hurt! I had faithfully posted my 10 posts each week and commented 10 or more times every day since October 2010!

I did not access the Internet at all during those five days! Again, a first in many years! I did not read any real estate related news. I was basically MIA!

What in the heck happened? I am trying to get back in the fast lane again and feel I have been dropped on another planet! I feel like I am out of step with everything, everyone, the entire universe!

Who moved my cheese?

• ActiveRain is not the same! I have been stumbling around all week and feel like I am in someone else's home rather than mine.
• Local MLS - changes galore!
• New contract forms!
• Picnik is going away!
• Google changes!
• Facebook changes, not to mention them about to go public!
• Etc. Etc Etc. - Did the world shift in those five days?

Be afraid! Be very afraid! These are just a few of the changes that happened in the five days I was flat on my back with bed rest and out of step with the world! We can not afford to be out of step with the marketplace. This brief five day period is an example of how quickly you can slip away if you are not vigilant.

Change waits for no one! I am reminded of the many people in our industry who have not changed with the times, some for many years. Many top producers of years gone by are waiting around, wondering when the market will change back!

Here's the 411, People! The market will never, never, never be the same. Technology changes moves at lightening speed striking many thousand times an hour. There are agents who say that the Internet has ruined our business! Say what? Yes, they believe that.

Keeping ahead of the real estate market requires daily action, lots of research and just plain hard work! There are people in the business, well perhaps NOT really in the business, who are saying they are taking a little break until the market turns around. Well, good luck getting back in the business if you do not keep up with the business on a daily basis. Today's success will soon be only a memory unless you stay ahead of the curve!

You Snooze, You Lose! Don't doubt it for a minute, we have to stay in the game or be left sitting in the dust! Being out of step those unexpected five days made me realize again just how fast paced this real estate business really is. We can come back from a five day or ten day departure, BUT we have to work hard at staying on top of our game every day, every month or we can become one of those "has beens" and it can happen in what feels like the blink of an eye in these fast paced times.

You Snooze, you may as well pack your bags for Oz!