Gary Woltal - Associate Broker REALTOR® Dallas Ft. Worth

I don't know if growing up as a skinny kid who ended up being tall ( 6 ft 4 in) who maintained his leaness through the years, made me naturally gravitate toward basketball as a fun activity but much of what basketball is all about, applies to a REALTOR or others in the real estate industry.

Keep it simple - basketball can be played with one person or ten. One ball. Don't have convoluted thoughts. Make your client's life easy. Say, "I'll take of that."

Be lean - Watch your costs closely.

Indoor or outdoors - Be on the phone and the computer, but get belly to belly with people "out" in the world as well.

Get skilled - Practice, practice, practice your craft. Three pointers, contracts, foul shots, knowledge of market, passing, prospecting your target clients.

Teamwork - You don't win five on five by yourself. Pass, strategize, know your strengths and capitalize on them.

Defense - prevent bad things from happening by looking ahead, and stopping them.

Competitive - love your sport, love the game and the thrill of victory.

Fun - THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. If you are not having fun, go back and FIND IT!! There is some reason you have selected this endeavor. It shows in all you do. I LOVE BASKETBALL. I LOVE REAL ESTATE. I LOVE PEOPLE. Find what makes you passionate. The motivation ALWAYS comes from within.

Listening to many people complain about their bad habits I also hear people pump up themselves about their good habits.

The bad habits we all know like procrastination, smoking, over eating, drinking too much, not caring for people, working too much, blah, blah, blah.

Good habits are like exercising regularly, eating right, showing up to appointments on time, touching people in special ways or even just staying in touch, being generous, on and on.

Habits are very important in life. They are sequences of choices that we set on auto pilot. They become routine. If we can ditch the bad habits and stick with the good habits or new habits we would be so much better off.

Two quickie rules I have learned along the way to move better in the direction of the good habits:

The Rule of 48: You MUST decide in 48 hours of the thought of the new habit so it will become REAL. We can think about good things to do all our life. But unless we COMMIT to that new thought within 2 days, it almost always just vaporizes and blows away like the wind.

The Rule of 21: You must "stick" with working the new habit into your life for 21 days. It takes that long to become ingrained in your life. By doing it any less than three weeks you can forget it becoming a habit. Discipline takes three weeks, THEN it is a habit.

And don't be too hard with your habits.

Have fun with them.

You don't have to be a saint. I'm sticking with my sweet tooth and still enjoy snow cones and ice cream in moderation !!!

In assessing someone practicing their craft look around you as well as make note of yourself. For real estate purposes, think Realtor, Stager, Inspector, Loan Originator, Title Officer, or Appraiser for example. What do you see in THEM and YOU?

DO YOU HAVE TALENT, SKILL, OR MAGIC?

Talent, is the raw form. Yes you are in the right industry. Say like you are good at numbers doing CPA work. Your background is interior design and you are trying Staging. You like people, come from teaching, and this is your first year in Real Estate. But you haven't proven anything to your clients or yourself (YET).

Skill, you are practicing. Some doctors are like this for years. In real estate you have more transactions. You pick up designations. You do not cringe with every question. You love your work. You are competent. You know how to climb up in the attic as an inspector. With Stagers you know where to buy the matching pieces and from which discount stores. As a lender you know you know which brokers to work with.

Then there are the "Magical", people. This is where you want to ultimately be. You are the Master. You may even have pink hair and be thought of as a sorcerer in your office.

Those that are Magic are the professional's professional. Even your peers come to you for answers. You have more referrals than you need. A key term to describe for either YOU or those wanting to hire you are that you are someone who is THRIVING in what they are doing. You are the brain surgeon, the Dr. House, among mere mortal physicians.

There really is no magic in being the Magic one. Yes you do need to go through stages of growth with talent and skill, but your love for what you do, your persistence in doing the hard work and focus and systems and people you have built around you pays off. You are smart, have high integrity, and have great respect for everyone. I'm probably describing you, no??

If not, don't worry, you can get there. Trust me, people will remember you, because you will stand out. Pink haired ones always do!!

This time of year as we enter Fall, there are categories of potential home sellers who are already looking ahead to the next peak home selling season starting around March. They are assessing putting their house on the market, but are essentially moseying their way into it. It might be a dated house.They are thinking of doing some home improvements to maintain or enhance their home value in the market. This may be taking down old wall paper or updating kitchens and baths to bring the latest amenities to bear. Repairs may be cleaning rain gutters, and fresh paint and carpet. We can learn the basis for our own self-improvement in life by watching the home improvement process. Think about these tips:

Set The Stage - Get ready to improve your life with goals you set physcially, with relationships, with your business, with more fun and meaningful activities socially and emotionally, and your spiritual development.

Use a Glass Jar - Like Honey Do little items you write on a slip of paper, use slips of paper for ideas for your own improvement. Start that exercise program, read that book, call up that friend, visit someone, take that class. Insert the slips of paper with the ideas into the glass jar, and take one out every now and then.

Discipline - To get somewhere it takes work. You don't run a marathon tomorrow. You train for it. You don't lose 30 pounds in a week. You focus on it. Like a home improvement task some things are projects with steps.

Know the end - Visualize where you will be in one week or a month or three months with your self-improvement. Don't make the time horizon too long or you may think you are never accomplishing ANYTHING.

If home improvements inevitably add to your house value, think how much more valuable self-improvements add to the quality of life. Working in this area, day by day, you will build a better YOU. And that for YOU and the world you come in contact with each day is priceless!! Good luck.

I got to thinking again today. Always dangerous on my part when I should be reading a good book or helping someone else.

So many people work so hard on Internet search optimization and making themselves appear on Google page 1 and so forth.

But what about those one on one times with clients that want to hire you. Why do they want to hire you? What makes you any different than the next Realtor?

Without making it any more complicated than it has to be, clients are just simply trying to put the puzzle pieces together about you.

What I mean by that is they want a winner.

They want someone who is committed to their interests and sticks up for them. Yes we all can tout our experience, and track record but what about your demeanor, your character, your sense of hard work, your reponsiveness? All these are your soft skills that you bring to the table.

Think of yourself as the first place thoroughbred who is coming barreling down the track at Churchill Downs. Who "wouldn't" want to work with you as their buyers agent or listing agent? It's because you have

THE CHAMPION WITHIN.

So much of being the best in "anything" in life is your mindset. Do you believe in you? You need to, to project confidence. Fake it to you make it if you have to.

You are Big Brown at the Kentucky derby. You are a winner.

Believe in yourself. Others will follow. You will sometimes amaze yourself when others pick up on your enthusiasm and love for your work.

It is the true mark of a champion.