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Thank God It’s Monday!(*)
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, February 20, 2010
(*) The title “Thank God It’s Monday!” was taken from Tommy Newberry’s book, “Success Is Not An Accident” (a wonderful book I might add and I highly recommend it.)
You have all heard the phrase, Thank God It’s Friday. There is a very successful restaurant chain named TGIF meaning the same thing. What is so special about Friday? Why are so many people happy that it is finally Friday?
Most will tell you it is because Friday signals the end of the work week. Others will tell you that it is because they now get to pursue something they really love to do. Some are just tired of working and others can’t wait to have fun. Yet there are some who are tired of working and have no fun scheduled for their time away from work.
What happens on Sunday night or Monday morning? Do these same people move into a feeling of dread as they head back to their JOBS? Do they refer to Monday as TKIM, Thank God It’s Monday!
In sales we tell our probable buyers that we want them to buy what they love and love what they buy. Why would that same advice not be true for what you do? Do you do what you love and love what you do? The actual career field makes no difference; your attitude towards your profession/career does.
If you loved what you do and did what you love do you think it would make a difference in the number of sales you make? Do you think it would make a difference in your family relationships when you came home for the evening or the weekend having just completed a day at work doing what you love? Do you think it would make a difference in your relationships when you come home from working at a job you hate and can’t wait until its Friday to get relief from something you hate?
Take it to another level. I love to play golf. What kind of golfer do you think I would be if all during the week I absolutely loved my job and had a great relationship with my family and now it is Saturday and I am going to play golf? I may not play a great game of golf but it would not be as a result of a horrible attitude. On the other hand, I would be almost guaranteed a horrible game if I carried onto the course all the dislikes of the past week from my profession/career.
If you are not passionate about what you do, it almost assuredly will carry over into other aspects of your life. If you ARE passionate about what you do, you will discover that your attitude and your goals and objectives become contagious amongst those people you surround yourself with.
Now comes the hard part – improving on a good thing. Find your passion; hopefully it’s something you love to do. But what are you doing to get better? How will you maintain the love for what you do? If you are not getting better, it is easy to understand why you would hate what you are doing. The solution is really quite simple:
1. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Avoid the complainers in life as if they had the swine-flu. Find people who stimulate your thought process, who can appreciate what you do and where you want to go and who can help you get there.
2. Become engrossed in your own self-education. Once into the business world there is no one who will take charge of your education. If you fail to assume this role for yourself, you are almost doomed to mediocrity. It is almost impossible to advance without education and while you may think you are improving you are more likely not even standing still, you are instead falling behind those who value their own educational process.
“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” – Charles “Tremendous” Jones. Not one to argue with Mr. Jones, I believe that there is more to this. I believe you will be the same person in five years, ten years, and for the rest of your life unless something intercedes into your life to change the people you “hang” with, the books on improving your life and career you choose to read, the CD’s you choose to listen to, the DVDs you choose to watch and the seminars and conventions you choose to attend.
It has been my experience that the 80/20 rule applies to all of the above; 20% will do it, 80% won’t. With over 75,000 real estate associates in the company, about 8000 attended the 2010 annual family reunion (convention). As good as that number first appears, that’s not even 20%. It was stated that 25% of the attendees were NOT with Keller Williams so that means 6000 were; 2000 were not. The main excuses given, “I can’t afford to attend”, or "I'm too busy to attend." What is really being said is that "I don't see a value in attending." I believe you can’t afford NOT to attend. It is impossible to attend and not learn something that will help you in your business. I contend that it is impossible to attend a convention and not discover at least one technique, one script, one new tool, one new process that will help you close at least one sale you otherwise would not have closed. If that is true, and I believe it is, then the one thing you learn will have more than paid for your attendance at the family reunion (convention) where not only do you learn, you have a lot of fun.
Why do so many people, not you of course, fail to see the value of attending seminars hosted by experts, people who have done what you would like to do? Most say it is a lack of funds. If you thought you would make money by attending, the funds would be there. Some say they don’t like the travel. How much travel is there? If it involves flying and you don’t like to fly, I can understand that so combine it with a family vacation and drive – spend time with your family to and from the event. Plus you can deduct a lot of the expenses as business expenses on your income tax return all while you are learning and having fun with your family.
It has been my experience that money is typically the problem because so few people, at least in real estate, fail to create a business and personal budget and then work their budgets. For those who prepare budgets how much is included for personal development/improvement? If the answer is “0” then without some outside influence, you are more than likely doomed to continue to do what you have always done while expecting to achieve different results – how’s that working for you?
Education is the key to success. It is that simple. Here is a frightening thought. At what point in your life did you learn about money, about savings, about buying a car, about balancing a check book, about buying a home? If you are like me it was much too late in life; it certainly was not during my formal years of high school and college educations. I see nothing changing that process and therefore it is up to parents to make certain that our children/grand children are receiving guidance on the value of having goals, understanding money, interest, taxes, investments and most important – continuing their education – no one is going to do it for them – like so many they will be left to their own devices to discover what should have been taught by either the educational system, parents or both.
TGIM – Thank God It’s Monday! I get to go on stage to demonstrate I can do what I do and that I love doing it. It would be easier to say Oh God, Another Monday! If all things were equal, who would have the better week? If you need help with the answer, please stay off the highways.
