I AM NOT ALONE!

I AM NOT ALONE (Thank God!);
IMAGINE THAT!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 8, 2026

I recently posted the following on a Facebook group page, “What’s Going on In Slidell”, thinking I was doing local restaurants a favor. Judging by some of the comments that were posted in response, you would think I was wrong and that I was complaining and/or bitching. 

“PUBLIC SERVICE REQUEST: Has anyone noticed that when you eat out, the portions on almost every plate have grown larger. Maybe it is my age, but I do not eat as much as I once did and the size of the plates actually "turn me off" rather than make me want to come back. If you look around, you don't see many people who are trim and healthy looking, you see a lot of obese people. The movement of the federal government is to Make America Healthy Again and eating better food and less food is one way to do that. Restaurants have a children's menu, why not a menu for people who prefer to eat less food or at least a senior menu? I was guilty. I have lost over 40 pounds over the past couple of years and all I did was choose to eat less food, and eat less sugar, nothing else has changed.” 

Most of the comments suggested that I request a to go box or bag and take the food home to be eaten later as if I did not understand that I could do that. 

AMERICA IS OBESE!  PERIOD!  END OF STATEMENT!  I have seen reports that a HUGE majority of young men and women could not physically qualify to serve in the military because of their weight.  One only need to observe to see that a great many Americans are overweight! 

Apparently, the following analogy needs to be said.  A gasoline engine requires gasoline to run.  The human body requires food to just stay alive. The gasoline and the food serve the same purpose, it keeps something running. You would not put 20 gallons of gas into a gas tank that only holds 17 gallons yet that is exactly what most people, certainly not you, do their bodies.  They put more food in than they burn off as calories which are required to keep from putting on excess pounds. 

As people grow older, some, if not most, become less active. I know this because I am now 81 years old as I write this.  I do not smoke; I rarely drink alcohol. I once was a runner that ran up to 10 miles at a time, and I played a lot of sports. I kept active until recently by maintaining the yard at our home. A permanently damaged knee, a broken back and age now keep me from doing any of these activities. It is simple math, if you do not burn off calories, you must reduce your consumption of food, or you will become overweight if not obese in your retired years. For the record, I have lost over 40 pounds over the past 2 years.  For the most part that is because I eat less and am careful to reduce the number of things I eat that contain a lot of sugar. 

My post was never intended to be a complaint or a bitch as some suggested. I was merely suggesting that local restaurants do what Middendorf’s of Slidell, LA has done; they offer a senior portion of many of their menu options. 

Habits are hard to break!  My parents taught us in the 1950s to eat everything on our plates.  It was not unusual to be told that there are starving children all over the world and it is our responsibility to eat what is in front of us on our plates. Obviously, that was an overstatement, but when you are taught lessons as a child, those lessons do NOT magically disappear from your unconscious mind, so you clean your plate well into your adulthood. “A happy plate is a clean plate!”  

Because of some health issues, my doctor has explained that your plate should be divided into types of food in relationship to “carbs” and sizes to help regulate your weight AND your blood sugar readings. Over the past several years, I have attempted to do that, and the result has been better blood sugar readings and the loss of 40 pounds; pounds that I put on despite a lot of running, sports and physical activities. I simply was NOT burning off more calories than I was taking in! One doctor joked about the best diet in the world was the “push away” diet plan.  He explained that simply pushing away from the table when you are full is a good plan. 

When I was young and healthy, I did not pay much attention to what or HOW MUCH I ate, and my weight was proof of that statement.  Keep in mind what I said, I do not smoke, I drink very little alcohol, in fact the only alcohol I drink is an occasional draft beer when we eat out. Plus, I was very active. Despite this routine, I managed to have a blocked artery that required open heart surgery.  I developed Type 2 Diabetes, I do not know why or how, but I did.  As I look around, it is impossible not to see grossly overweight people and my only thought is that if they do NOT have heart and blood sugar issues, it is only a matter of time. 

To say I was shocked that people would find fault with my post would be an understatement!  I was in the sales business for over thirty-three years.  The one thing I fully understood was that the customer was always right, even when they were wrong.  When I go to a restaurant, I am a customer.  I was simply stating a fact as to what THIS customer was thinking and would like to see happen as I looked down upon a plate of food that I could not possibly eat in one setting.  Many comments suggested that I eat at home and believe me, I have considered it.  I also have considered that taking my wife out for a night out is more important.  Call me selfish, I would like to have both a night out with my wife and a plate that did not runneth over with food I would never eat. 

I made the post without asking CharGPT if I might be the only person who thought like this.  I later did ask the question and the following is the answer.  In short, I am NOT alone (as many of the response posts would suggest).  I attribute most of the comments to people who are not nearly as old as I am so there is no way they could put themselves in my shoes BEFORE they made such critical comments implying I am too stupid to realize I could take the excess food home.  Dah!  

FROM CHATGPT: NOTE: Sections of the answer emboldened by me were also underlined for emphasis.

Yes, but with an important qualification: I could not find a large U.S. national survey that asks seniors the exact question, “Would you like restaurants to offer a senior-sized portion?” There is, however, fairly good research supporting the idea that many older adults prefer smaller portions and would benefit from having them offered.

One particularly relevant study interviewed older adults about their eating habits. Participants repeatedly described having smaller appetites, wanting smaller meals, disliking food waste, and sometimes ordering children's portions because regular restaurant portions were too large. The researchers specifically recommended that food-service businesses routinely offer smaller portions and noted that these could correspond to “senior menus.”

There is also quantitative evidence that older people actually eat smaller portions. One population study found that for 109 of 126 foods—86%—older adults consumed smaller portions than younger adults.

Restaurant research supports the concept as well. A CDC-published study of restaurant owners found that some restaurants already offered multiple portion sizes, with senior menus specifically cited as an established example of smaller portions. Owners said the reasons included giving customers more choice and allowing lower prices.

And a particularly interesting 2026 restaurant study compared customers ordering meals of 700 calories or less with customers ordering regular portions. The people choosing the smaller portions tended to be older. They consumed substantially fewer calories, reported essentially the same fullness, and most said they would order the smaller portions again.

What we can—and cannot—say

I would not claim something like “75% of seniors want senior menus,” because I haven't found a credible national study establishing a percentage like that.

But there is defensible evidence for saying:

Research indicates that older adults generally consume smaller portions, commonly report reduced appetites and concerns about wasting oversized servings, and can be well served by restaurants offering smaller, lower-priced portions.

There's an interesting business idea hiding in your question, too: rather than a stereotypical “Senior Menu,” restaurants could put a symbol next to entrées indicating “Smaller Portion Available — Reduced Price.” Seniors get what they want without being restricted to a separate menu, and anyone with a smaller appetite could order it.

Conclusion: The conclusion should be obvious.  Restaurants should either include a “senior menu”, mark their existing menus that “senior portions are available.”  Business Rule #2: The Customer is ALWAYS right, even when they are wrong!  What is Business Rule #1 you ask?  Never piss off a potential paying customer, EVER!

The Measure of a Woman

 

Yvette Catoire Sehon

THE MEASURE OF A WOMAN
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 1, 2026

 Measure of a Woman

 Not – how did she die?

But – how did she live?

Not – what did she gain?

But – what did she give?

These are the units

To measure the worth

Of a woman as a woman

Regardless of birth.

 

Not – what was her station?

But – had she a heart?

And how did she play

Her God-given part?

Was she ever ready

With a word of good cheer,

To bring back a smile

To banish a tear?

 

Not – what was her church?

Nor – what was her creed?

But – had she befriended,

Those really in need?

Not – what did the sketch

In the newspaper say?

But – how many were sorry

When she passed away?

 Author unknown

 

Yesterday I received a text message from a number I did not recognize. The message was not signed. It simply said it was a tragedy and gave me a first name. I recognized the name because it was a name you seldom ever heard. Since no one signed their name to the message and I did not recognize the number, I thought it might have been addressed to the wrong person and ignored it. 

Facebook posts began to appear announcing that a REALTOR was found dead. That is where the confusion began. As a former Real Estate Broker, my immediate thought went to foul play. At one point in my real estate career, I was responsible for 105 agents. The one subject that kept me up at night was Agent Safety. We have all seen the horrible aftereffects of a home showing gone wrong with the prospective buyer killing or seriously injuring the agent, usually a woman agent.  It bothered me so much that I brought in a former FBI agent who did a presentation to our team on real estate agent safety. His presentation was magnificent!  

Twenty plus hours after the initial text message, the truth of what happened eventually surfaced but during those 20 plus hours all sorts of comments and “opinions” were posted.  No one really knew for sure what happened, but it appears foul play was NOT involved. 

I had a requirement to go to the Post Office and on the way home I stopped at a real estate office owned by one of my previous agents. I could tell by the look on her face when I entered the office she was torn between being happy to see me and sad at some news, she may have just heard. It was the news she heard that I thought we all would eventually hear and yes, the deceased agent was one of my agents long before I retired in 2012. 

On my way home, I played the car radio with my playlist a little bit louder. Okay, a lot louder!  I  was saddened to remember the good times we all had together in my former agency that included the deceased agent. My mind raced through 20-plus years of history recalling various sales, seminars, classes, conventions, and office parties; it was a different time for sure! 

The most important emotion I experienced on learning of her death is in the last two lines of the poem above:  

But – how many were sorry
When she passed away? 

I am definitely sorry!  Unfortunately, too many people will focus on the first line of that poem: 

Not – how did she die? 

For me, I truly am saddened that she passed away. I am also saddened that since I retired in 2012, I failed to stay connected with her as much as I should have. Failing to maintain contact is on me. As usual, there is “life lesson” involved, no one knows what is happening in another person’s life unless you talk to them and they talk to you. She needed someone to talk to, someone who would listen without judgement. Someone who cares what happens next. Someone who would speak with caution as to what they say to her when she was most vulnerable. Who is that someone in your life? To whom are YOU that someone for? You can be competitive and you can at the same time be friends; you tell me which relationship is the most valuable? 

It is time for good thoughts.  Mahatma Gandhi has it right! 

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.  
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." 

Become that person with the positive attitude that others may seek out during their time of need.  Eventually we all enter that period in our lives when we cannot do it by ourselves! 

Rest in peace Buddy!

All I Know About Open Houses 2007/2026

 

All I Know About Open Houses
Article by: Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, 2/22/2007

TAKE NOTE, the original Nugget was written in 2007.  Due to a recent incident in our area I thought it would be good to post it again in 2026.  

“Open Houses” do not work the old pro said to the new agent. “They are just a waste of time!”

There is some truth that statement if you conduct your open houses like 80% or more of the industry does. The 80/20 principle is alive and well in everything we do but especially in conducting open houses. If you want to achieve what 80% of the industry achieves, then do what the 80% do. If, on the other hand, you want to make open houses work for you, then find out what the 20% do that do 80% of the production and then do what they do. 

What have I learned about conducting open houses? The most important thing is that if no one knows you are holding a home open, no one will come. Imagine that. You must tell people you are holding a home(s) open for them to show up. It is NOT a case of “build it and they will come” as Kevin Costner was told in Field of Dreams. If you do not promote your open house, imagining people attending will be a dream. 

The location of a home being selected for an Open House is critical. If you are holding a very rural country style property open, you should expect a low turnout only because of its location and the fact that there are fewer buyers interested in rural properties. But even these can be fruitful if you plan. 

The question you need to ask is “Why am I considering holding a home open?”  Appeasing the seller is not a valid reason to conduct an open house. Meeting prospects is. You can do nothing to promote your open house and still meet a prospect or two by accident. You can meet more probable buyers and sellers by creating an open house plan and then working the plan. If you feel you need to appease your owners by holding an open house, you failed to teach them during the listing presentation. You are either in favor of holding homes open or you are not. It has been my experience that a lot of agents choose not to hold open houses because they had a bad experience in the past or were taught to believe they do not work. 

I can tell you from experience that they do work if your objective is to meet people and put them into your database. If you think you are going to sell the home you are holding open, the odds are not in your favor. Personally, I liked to hold open houses because it put me in touch with a lot of people who will eventually sell their present home. Any time you can get face-to-face with a probable buyer or seller you are in a win-win situation. 

PROMOTION: 

How will you promote the event? Here are some suggestions: 

·     Most MLS systems can list the open house on the service; do so.

·     Most web pages can post upcoming open houses; do so.

·     Most newspapers have special sections to promote open houses; use them.

·     Promote the open house within your own office.

·   Check to see which agents have recently shown the property and send them an email announcing that the home will be open.

·    Notifying the neighbors is a must. If you are holding the home open on a Sunday, walk the neighborhood with door hangers and flyers. Knock on at least twenty doors to the right, twenty to the left and forty across the street (figuratively speaking). Be prepared to spend a couple of hours knocking on doors. When someone is home, introduce yourself, hand them an open house flyer and personally invite them to your open house. Get their name if possible and make sure you do two things:  (1) write them a handwritten thank you note for taking the time to talk with you; and, (2) enter them into your database and start your 8x8 touch program that leads to your 33 touch program.  If no one is home, use the door hanger to invite the owners to your open house.

·  An often overlooked is notifying your personal sphere of influence that you are holding a home open. Let your sphere know what you do and how often you do it. And do not forget to ask them for a referral when you do.

·   Consider hiring someone to pass out flyers at a local shopping center.

·    If there are bulletin boards in area stores, post your open house flyer.

·   If there is a subdivision newsletter, ask to include your scheduled open house on the next distribution and schedule your subdivision open houses around the distribution of their newsletters to take advantage of the timing. 

THE IN-HOUSE PLAN: 

What are you going to do in the house on the big day? Here are some suggestions: 

• Arrange with the owners still live in the home, arrange for them to vacate the home for the duration of the open house. You want visitors to be able to discuss the home freely with you which they will not if the owners are still present.
• Arrange with the owners to secure valuables, medication and firearms and ensure that they are completely out of site.
• Instruct the owners that if anyone shows up and knocks on the door BEFORE you arrive and BEFORE the scheduled open house time NOT TO LET THEM IN. Recommend that they return when you are present. This is for the owner’s safety because someone who desires to case the property with the intent of stealing or doing harm may use the excuse that they are “early” to gain access – not a good thing to let happen. If they are serious buyers, they will return.
• Instruct the owners that the home needs to look its best. Things need to put away. Pets should be removed whenever possible. Not all people like pets and you do not want the prospects to be discouraged due to an overactive puppy or cat.
• Open all drapes and blinds and let the sunshine in.
• Turn on all lights – make the home look as bright as possible.
• Consider baking something that makes the home smell good like an apple turnover. Buyers tend to “name” the homes they have seen like “the home with the broken window,” “the home with the pet smell,” “the home with the great landscaping,” or “the home that smelled like fresh baked apple pie.”  You want them to leave with a favorable memory.
• Are you going to have refreshments? If so, what? You do not want to make a mess in the home so keep the refreshments simple and easy to dispense. You do not want to become a chef and have all your time taken up with fixing plates for prospects. Clear whatever you are going to do with the owners.
• If you use a Home Book, make sure it prominently displayed.
• Consider using acrylic brochure boxes to professionally display your property flyers and personal brochures.
• Have your notebook computer or the owner’s computer ON and logged into the MLS so you can easily demonstrate to prospects the available properties in the area as well any sold properties that would put your property in “good light” with the prospects.
• If you have a notebook and you have a program like Formulator that has the forms needed to write a purchase agreement, you will look most professional when someone shows interest and wants to write an offer.
• Have an adequate supply of business cards.
• Decide in advance what you are prepared to give to visitors to your open house: 

1. Buyer Orientation Booklet
2. Seller Orientation Booklet, remember most buyers are also sellers
3. Staging your home for success booklet
4. The new Keller Williams First Time Homebuyers Book
5. Selling Your Own Home instructional booklet

Note:  It would be wise to have only samples available and instruct the visitors that you can provide them with copies by mail – gives you a reason to obtain names, addresses, and phone numbers. 

SAFETY: 

• For YOUR safety, unlock all exit doors and know where they are.
• Create a sign, laminate it, and put a cord through it so you can hang it on the front door that reads, “Please be patient, I am showing the property and will return in just a few minutes.”  Then when you are showing the property, lock the front door to keep people out until you are ready for them. There are thieves that wait for you to be busy with real buyer prospects, and then let themselves in and tell you, “That’s okay, I’ll just look around here in the living room while you are showing the house.” Then when you leave the area, they make themselves at home. This procedure is especially true if you are a woman holding a home open.
• If you ever feel uncomfortable with a visitor to the home, make sure you stay between the visitor and an unlocked exit door.
• Always keep your cell phone very handy, just in case.
• If you feel uncomfortable with a visitor, act as if you are answering a call and talk as if you are talking to someone while at the same time dialing the office. Make sure your office number is on your speed dial.
• Notify the neighbors that you are going to be holding the home open and the hours you will be doing so.  Gives you the opportunity to add new people to your database.
• Women are strongly encouraged to team up for open houses. Ask newer agents to accompany you and explain why – there is safety in numbers plus you can use the opportunity to conduct some mentoring for the new folks in the office.
• Park your car on the street when possible and not in the driveway. You want the space available for your customers and more importantly, you do not want to be blocked in just in case you need to get away from the area quickly.
• There is a “game” that criminals play at open houses that you need to be aware of. They either work in teams or they wait for a real prospect to visit your open house. As soon as the prospects enter the home, they pull up in front and go in. By the time this occurs, you are busy showing the first prospects around the home. The second prospect (criminal) then goes through drawers and cabinets while you are busy with the other customer. Be careful, the people we allow into our open houses are unqualified and we know little about them. Trust them but not too much. 

GREETING VISITORS

Know what you are going to say to your visitors BEFORE they arrive at your open house. What exactly will you say? I would suggest that you officially welcome them to your seller’s home. “Welcome to 123 Maple Street (remember people tend to remember things when they can also ‘hear’ what is said). Please make yourself at home.”  Notice that I did not say to give the visitors your name. Chances are they have other things on their mind, so they are not going to remember it anyway. Besides, you should have your name tag on and most people can read.

• Do not shove a flyer or your business card in the customers face or hand. In fact, do not give them anything. You want to maintain eye contact and if you give them anything that requires reading, they will keep their heads bowed and their eyes on the paper instead of you. Giving a visitor a flyer, card and/or brochure should be the LAST thing you do when they are leaving the property not the FIRST.
• Hopefully, you will have a Sign-In sheet for visitors to sign. Tell them that the Seller has asked the visitors sign in on arrival and give their honest opinions upon their departure so they can make any necessary changes or adjustments to the property. On the bottom of the Sign-n sheet it is highly recommended that you include a Do Not Call disclaimer indicating that if they sign in, they are giving you permission to follow-up with them. Important note, people do not like to be the first to do something so it is highly recommended that you enter a name and a comment on the sign-in sheet so visitors will see that someone else has already signed the sheet and hopefully they will be less reluctant to do the same.
• Suggest that they make themselves at home. You may also suggest where they might want to start their tour. What you should NOT do is to try to sell the home to the visitors before you engage them in rapport building. How do you do that, you ask a lot of questions. The questions can qualify them as buyers, as sellers or as just lookers. Here are some questions that generate additional information for you to use:

 

1. Where are you from? If they are local, it quite possible they are neighbors and they may be thinking of selling. These could be great leads for listings. If they are from out of town, chances are they are great buyer prospects.
2. The first question could lead to other questions regarding transferring into the area. Where do they work, etc.
3. Are you working with an agent? This is a question required by the Realtors Code of Ethics. What do you say if they say yes? You have two choices; suggest that they contact their agent if they like the property. You can also ask, do you have a Buyer’s Agency Agreement with the agent? If they say yes, you may want to further ask, do you mean a Buyer’s Agency Agreement or the Agency Disclosure required by the State? If they have a Buyer’s Agency Agreement, recommend that they contact and work with their agent. If it is only a Buyer’s Agency Disclosure, it is up to you if you want to pursue working with them. Remember in either case, you owe it to your Sellers to get the home sold therefore do not lose sight of your objective. If the visitor IS working with another agent and they show interest in the home, call the agent, and let him or her know that their customer is there and interested.
4. Have you been looking long? What is long? Anything over a week or two should be long. A good agent would have already found them what they are looking for. If they have been looking for a long time you either have perpetual lookers, or they just have not found a good agent to help them – their search for a good agent is over!
5. What price range are you looking for?
6. Will you be paying cash or have you been pre-qualified by a mortgage lender?

 

During the tour of the home, you should ask questions more than provide information. If the visitors are not talking about the property, you may want to ask them how they feel about the living room, the den, the master bedroom, etc. Ask them how it compares to their present home. 

Remember your primary objective is to get their names, address and telephone numbers and email addresses if possible. 

At some point when you determine that the visitors are buyers, you want to explain how you can enter their names and email addresses into a computer that will notify them immediately when a new listing is placed on the market that meets their specific needs and wants.  It is automatic and quick – they may be the very first person to know that their next dream home has just gone up for sale. 

• Do you own your present home? Do you need to sell before you can buy your next home? Remember, a lot of visitors to open houses are first sellers. You want to list their home if possible. If they are from out of the area, you want to refer them to another agent and earn a referral fee in doing so.
• Would it be Okay if I stay connected with you? This is also their approval to call them even if they are on the Do Not Call List. 

HANDLING OBJECTIONS: 

As the visitors go through the home, hopefully they are talking and you are taking notes. If it becomes obvious that they are interested but have concerns, this is where you must go to work. Qualify the objection. Let us take for example that the visitors feel the master bedroom closet is too small. First you must define what “small” is. Ask them to describe their present master bedroom and closet space. Then ask them, “Mr. & Mrs. Prospect, if it were not for the closet size, would this home meet your needs?”  If they say yes, you know the closet size is the real issue. If they say no, there are other issues you must uncover. If their answer was yes, is there a way to overcome the size of the closet? For example, if there are other closets in the home, it may not be ideal, but the homeowners can put their winter clothes in another closet during the summer and vice versa. It may also be possible to install a piece of furniture that can accommodate their clothing. 

You are at the same time looking for feedback to provide your sellers. If there are enough negative comments, it may be ammunition for a price reduction or minor repairs to bring the home up to expectations such a painting over an unpopular color. 

The longer a prospect stays in the home, the higher the odds are that they are interested. One of the best signals is “lurking.”  Lerking occurs when the prospect simply spends an unusual amount of time in one area of the home like the kitchen, den, or patio. What are they thinking? Are they placing furniture or do they see themselves enjoying the home and its amenities? 

THE CLOSING 

Eventually every prospect will want to leave your open house. This is when you want to direct them to the kitchen area or the area where you have your refreshments and all your materials on display. Offer them the cookies, milk, coffee, or sodas and ask them to complete the sign in sheet with comments for the Seller. Remind them that if THEY were the Sellers, THEY would want to know what other people thought of their home, wouldn’t they? 

As they are getting ready to leave, this is when you want to give them a copy of the property flyer (hopefully in color), your business card, and your personal brochure. 

LEAVING THE PROPERTY 

You should sure all doors and windows are locked. Lights are off. Stove/oven is off if used. Make sure the home is as the Sellers left it. Leave the Sellers a handwritten note thanking them for the opportunity and that you will call them either later that evening or tomorrow with follow-up on the event. 

Make sure the home is secure and if there is a security system, make sure to rearm it. Before you leave, check the yard sign and the brochure box to make sure there are ample flyers still in the box if applicable. 

FOLLOW-UP 

Upon return to the office, go to www.SearchBug.com and enter in the names and addresses and phone numbers of your visitors to validate the information they provided.  However, just because they may not appear on the sight, do not give up on them. The first thing you want to do is write each visitor a handwritten thank you note thanking them for stopping by. Make sure you include a return address to validate the information they provided. If it is false, it will be returned to you. 

Enter the visitors into your database and start your 8x8 program, followed by your 33-touch program as described in Gary Keller’s book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. If you agreed to put their email address into the computer program, do so and do it immediately so you can contact them to let them know it was done and they should now expect to be contacted automatically by the service when a new listing appears on the market that matches their needs. 

OPEN HOUSES CAN WORK PROVIDED YOU WORK YOUR OPEN HOUSES!

WHO WOULD IT BE?

WHO WOULD IT BE?
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, August 16, 2026

 

There was a very intriguing question asked on Facebook today, August 16, 2026. 

If you could thank one Coast Guard member today, who would it be? 

Before you write the question off because you may not have served in the Coast Guard, think about the question and the career path that you have chosen. You can easily substitute a very different type of profession or even a company’s name that you worked for in lieu of Coast Guard.  

It is a question that WILL make you THINK! Personally, I had two careers that I retired from plus I have done a considerable amount of writing in the form of real estate training courses and Nuggets for the Noggin like this one. In fact, over the past thirty-five years, I have written well over one thousand such Nuggets which will be the topic of another Nugget very soon. 

As to the question, my first career was serving in the U. S. Coast Guard. Over the next twenty years, I was EXTREMELY fortunate and I emphasize the word extremely because not everyone could be as lucky or as fortunate as I was. I had the best of the best to supervise, train and guide me to the point I eventually retired from the service as a Lieutenant having entered as a Seaman Recruit. That may not mean much to people who have not served in the military, but trust me when I tell you that was quite an accomplishment for which I am very proud. 

Over those twenty years, I can list at least six Coast Guardsmen that were exceptional at what they did and of the six, there was one that helped me the most. It was a matter of luck, of timing and my own perseverance but the catalyst was “the one person” that was most responsible for me serving the twenty years and retiring as a Lieutenant. To non-military people reading this, to be selected for a special Limited Duty Officer program that promoted only one or two people each year in their specialty to Lieutenant was indeed an honor and an exclamation mark on a successful career. 

When I saw the question on Facebook, it caused me to pause for two reasons. First, it gave me the idea for this Nugget. Second, and the most important reason of the two, is that it caused me to stop and think about those twenty years and who within the Coast Guard community would be the most responsible for any success that I was able to achieve. For any of my fellow Coasties that might read this, your name was probably on the list of six names that I reduced my selection to, so please do not take it personally that your name is not the “one name” of the person who helped me the most. The reason I listed the person’s name is because he took a young 20-year-old, with no specific skills other than being able to type, and guided me to do the work he and others assigned me. He guided me towards advancing through the ranks. He guided me regarding working with others, especially very senior Coast Guard Officers like the Admiral who was our District Commander. 

I graduated from Coast Guard Boot Camp as a Seaman Apprentice (E2 on the pay scale). The only skill I learned in the first three months of service was how to cut up fallen trees. I was assigned to the Coast Guard Radio Station across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. I arrived in New Orleans weeks after Hurricane Betsy struck the area and there was damage everywhere. At the Radio Station, which sat on a HUGE parcel of land in the middle of nowhere, there were fallen trees blocking the dirt road that completely encircled the station. For three months I cut up trees to be hauled off. I accomplished two things during those three months. First, I put on twenty-five pounds. Secondly and the most important one, I caught a severe case of poison ivy working in the jungles at that time.  The ONLY solution to the poison ivy was to transfer me away from what was causing my skin to break out and blister over most of my body. This was one of those “life lessons” we hear about. When one door closes, another door opens. 

The Radio Station door closed for me, but the Eighth Coast Guard District Personnel Office opened. That is when I met my selectee who became the one person who helped me to grow my career the most and gave me a chance, primarily because I could type. That one person was YN1 (Yeoman First Class) Carl Seale (who eventually retired as a Chief Warrant Officer (W4) specializing in Personnel Administration. I sat down at a desk and a brand-new potential career opened in front of me. Carl guided me to what I did. He explained why certain things must be completed in a certain way and that errors were not acceptable. He also set an example for me. His uniform was always impeccable. At the time I was single, living on my own in a two-room apartment. Yes, I said two rooms, actually three if you count the bathroom. It had a small, very small kitchen and a living room with a pull-down Murphy Bed. I was twenty-one years old, living on my own in a town two thousand miles away from what I called home and earning about $100 a month, yes, you heard that right, $100 a month. 

From that humble beginning with Carl’s help and mentorship, that twenty-year-old unskilled worker bee made it through being promoted to Petty Officer, Third, Second and First Class and eventually to Chief Yeoman. From there I was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer (W3) and eventually to the LDO Lieutenant at which pay grade I retired. 

This is the sad part that the question generated, at least for me. I have never said Thank You to the one person most responsible for my success. Why do you suppose that is? I have a thought, but it may only apply to me. My formative years were in the 1950s and early 1960s. I do not remember “GRATITUDE” ever taught by anyone. Is that not what this is all about? Showing someone YOUR gratitude for the help THEY provided on your path to SUCCESS?  To be 100% honest with you, I self-taught myself about gratitude when I read the book The Secret.  By the time I read the book I had already retired from the Coast Guard and was well on my way establishing a second career in the real estate business. By the way, there is that ONE PERSON who also helped me towards the success I achieved in the real estate business and that was Dr. Tom Hill of RE/MAX Dixie Region. 

This Nugget is about two different subjects, first identifying that one person and then second, telling them how much they have meant to you and your career. As for showing gratitude, the book The Secret (I highly recommend reading it) discussed the Gratitude Stone. In the book, it was just a random stone you might find anywhere alongside the road. Instead, I chose a glass stone like the ones you see at the bottom of a fishbowl. I purchased a bag full of them at Hobby Lobby.  First, you make certain that you take the gratitude stone with you wherever you go 24 hours of every day! No exceptions! Every time you see the stone or touch the stone in your pocket or purse, you are to stop, think, and give thanks/gratitude for something or someone at that moment in your life.  For the last half of my real estate career, I would give a glass stone attached to a business card size instruction card on how and when to use the stone. People remembered that stone and thus they remembered me, something everyone in sales wanted to have happened.  I used the stone for years.  Why I stopped, I am not certain, but I will carry it again; it is a great habit to practice! The glass stone takes up very little room in your pocket or purse. You see it first thing in the morning when you get up and again the last thing at night when you go to bed. Being grateful for what you have is far more productive than listening to the news first thing in the morning and last thing at night. 

The goal for everyone should be to be always conscious of occasions when it is appropriate to be thankful/grateful and to show how thankful/grateful someone has been to you. As an example, my parents taught me to write thank you notes to people who give you gifts or did something for you. Writing thank you notes has become a thing of the past and everyone ought to consider restructuring that habit. When was the last time you received a handwritten thank you note?  Me neither! 

So……..with all that said……. 

WHO SHOULD YOU BE THANKING RIGHT NOW!
 
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING ON?

Your Future and How to Get There!

 

Your Future and How to Get There!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, August 10, 2026

“Hope is NOT an effective strategy!”

Dr. John Maxwell 

“To succeed at whatever you wish to do or become,

think with the end in mind!”

Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown 

 “Your thoughts makes all things animate and inanimate work to bring you want you want; but your personal activity must be such that you can rightly receive what you want when it reaches you.” 

Wallace C. Wattles 

By “thought”, Wattles is referring to learn to “think in a certain way.”  Wallace is the author of several really great books written in the early 1900s which are more valuable in 2026 than ever before! 

The graphic above proves the point that a picture is worth 1000 words!  The best time to think about your future begins around the age of 10 if not before.  What will your life look like by the time it is finished?  A better question would be, what do YOU SEE your life looking like by the time it is finished?  Far too often, people’s lives are directed by what “others” see them doing rather than what THEY see them doing. 

"Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life" 

Mark Twain 

The road to success is therefore quite simple.  Begin at an early age to identify the type of work you want to see yourself doing.  It was over 20 years ago that I learned that there were students beginning their college education with a goal of performing a job that may not even exist by the time they graduate.  You can interpret that in two different ways.  Either the job has not yet been created, or technology will have made the job obsolete.  In 2026 there are thousands if not millions of college graduates who are unemployed in their specific field of study that they majored in and for which they have acquired massive debt to complete.  That is NOT a good place to be – ever! 

My advice to the youth of today is to seek multiple avenues to pursue.  For example, learning a trade skill is never a bad idea even if you desire is to be employed in a position that requires your mind over the completion of a skill.  I refer to this as having a “Plan B.”  In other words, it is not a good idea to “put all of your eggs into one basket.”  As an example, you may be the best quarterback that ever-played football and your goal is to play in the National Football League.  Given your skill set, that might be the most beneficial path for you to follow.  That would be Plan A.  However, as we all know, football is a sport that can be and oftentimes is harmful to your health.  A sudden injury could bring an end to your desire to play in the National Football League, your Plan A.  If you had put all your efforts (eggs) into that one goal (NFL Career), you would find yourself unemployed with no Plan B.  The more topics you become well versed in, the more valuable you become to others and to yourself. 

As an overall objective, I would suggest that you begin with the end in mind.  What do you see your life looking like by the time it is finished?  Where do you see yourself living?  What are you doing for fun?  What are you doing to keep yourself busy?  What are you doing to ensure you have an adequate income well into your retirement years?  What WILL your life look like when it is finished?  Do you have a plan? 

If you can paint a mental picture of that life you can envision, you can reverse engineer that image and ascertain what one thing should you be doing at this very moment that if done will serve as a puzzle piece that fits perfectly into to your life’s overall picture that you have envisioned.  Once that one piece is put into place, what is the next “one thing” you should be doing at this moment in time to add to the picture you have begun to complete? 

Gary Keller, co-founder of Keller Williams Realty International, has written a book “The One Thing.”  It details how you identify what the “one thing” is that you MUST do right now that will lead you to the next “one thing” that must be done next!  It then becomes a simple matter of “rinse and repeat.”  Imagine your life’s picture when it is completed as being that of a completed puzzle.  Each puzzle piece would represent one step in your life’s journey that when they are all put together becomes the completed life you have desired and worked to achieve throughout your life. 

If you notice in the graphic at the beginning of this Nugget, the boy has not only identified the important aspects of his life, but he also planted seeds in each of the various categories (rows).  His first decision is what does he do next?  Does he sit back and “hope” that they get enough sunlight, that they get enough water, that they get enough fertilizer or does he take action necessary to ensure the seeds get enough of these things that would all but ensure their growth? “The Secret” is a book certainly worthy of reading and many have.  Even I could pick out one glaring omission in the book.  It instructs the reader to set goals, to think about what they want and suggests that the universe will more than likely bring them what they seek.  But no where in the book does it say you have to take some form of action to turn your “wants” into “receipts!”  To accomplish anything takes some form of action.  That is why Dr. Maxwell’s quote above is so critical to understand, “Hope is NOT an effective strategy!”  It takes a vision, a goal, an objective and then that is followed up with some form of action; a movement towards achieving what you want to achieve. 

I have used myself as a training aid as to the value of (1) identifying a need/want.  (2) Identifying what the end looks like.  (3) Identifying the steps that must be taken between steps (1) and the completion at step (3) and beyond.  To this end, I refer to you my Coast Guard career.  By the time I completed Boot Camp, I KNEW EXACTLY what I had to do to be eligible for a promotion to the next pay grade.  I also knew exactly what I had to do to acquire a specialty that would enable me to be promoted beyond just the next pay grade.  In other words, I knew I was under contract for the next four years of my life so why not make those four years the best that I could?  I immediately ordered and began working on the required correspondence course that needed to be completed prior to being promoted.  I had a choice of applying for a Class A school or learning on the job.  This was a path that some of the service ratings could do while others required you to attend a school.  I could type rather fast without errors so one specific specialty seemed to fall into place, that of the Yeoman specialty.  Being a Yeoman in the military might better be understood if you were to refer to it as the “company clerk.”  A record keeper.  A personnel administrator.  To acquire that rating while serving in the field required that I “strike” for the position under the direct supervision of experienced Yeomen in the field, which I did.  I completed the correspondence course for YN3, was recommended by my Commanding Officer, passed the service-wide examination and was promoted to YN3.  

This started a routine for me.  Before I took the examination for YN3 I had already ordered the course for Second Class Petty Officer, YN2.  That was also true for First Class Petty Officer, YN1 and eventually Chief, Petty Officer YNC.  At the time that I was a YN1 taking the YNC course, I applied for and was recommended to be promoted to Chief Warrant Officer.  I was promoted to Chief Yeoman and two months later promoted again to Chief Warrant Officer.  The point of this is that (1) I knew exactly what I had to do and when I could do it. Then (2) I did them as quickly as the time would permit me to complete them.  As a result, I was promoted through YN1 as fast as anyone could have been promoted.  The competition for YNC was much tougher and therefore took a bit longer to be promoted but the process was the same. 

It is the PROCESS that I want to convey to the reader.  I KNEW what I had to do.  I set a personal goal of doing it as quickly as time would permit.  I kept my nose clean, as they say.  I did my work as professionally as I could and that resulted in getting good recommendations for advancement from my various Commanding Officers.  One “life lesson” learned along the way was that the more you make yourself irreplaceable on the job, the more valuable you become to the people you work for and the people who work for you.  This all occurred long before Gary Keller wrote the book The One Thing but looking backward, that is exactly what I did throughout my Coast Guard career.  I identified the ONE THING that if done would lead to identifying the next “one thing” that needed to be done and then the next, etc.  The list of completed “one things” resulted in a very successful Coast Guard career.  I advanced from Seaman Recruit in Boot Camp through Seaman to Yeoman Third Class to Chief Yeoman, to Chief, Warrant Officer (Personnel Administration) and was ultimately selected for a rare promotion to Limited Duty Officer – Lieutenant the grade at which I retired after twenty years. 

I know with certainty that this process works because I did the same thing as I progressed into the real estate business.  There was ALWAYS the ONE THING that if done, would lead to the next ONE THING that cumulatively would lead to the completion of a goal/objective I pursued.  IT WORKS!  

Therefore, your goal, should you decide to pursue it, is to (1) find the ONE THING you must be doing right now.  (2) create a mental image of what your life will look like when it is finished.  Breakdown the period from where you want to be in the future back to the current moment in time. Once you have accomplished that, you can identify the many steps you MUST take to make things happen in your life that must happen for you to get to where you want to go.  BUT FIRST – YOU MUST KNOW WHERE IT IS YOU WANT TO GO!  The following is a great poem.  I wish I knew who wrote it.  The message is clear as a bell! 

WHERE’RE YA GOING? 

High in the Sierra Mountains lives an old man
Who, from their hermitage, looks down in pity
Upon other people of higher mental aspiration.
One day he rescued a little group of Swiss mountaineers
Lost deep in the mountains’ fastnesses.
When told where they were, they exclaimed in disbelief,
“But how did we get here?”
To which the old hermit replied,
“If that question ain’t got no answer attached to it,
I ain’t got none that fits.
If you is goin’ anywhere in particular
Up here, yu’d better figger fust how to get thar.
Cuz by jest goin’ afore ya know where yere agoin’
Ya can get to a powerful lotta places ya might not wanta be.”

-Author unknown

Gary Keller also said many times that YOU MUST be LEARNING BASED because if you are not Learning Based, you are IGNORNANT BASED and that is the mindset of a loser.  You MUST be constantly learning.  You must want to become better at what you do, and you achieve that by reading, studying your craft, attending seminars, and listening to appropriate podcases.  The more you learn the more you know and the better you will perform.  Since my early 40s, I established a personal goal of reading 2 books a month.  I read on average 3 books every month.  Reading explains how when you are facing a problem, suddenly from out of nowhere the solution appears in my mind.  At first, I had no idea where these solutions came from but then I realized that you rarely truly forget anything.  The information is there, lying dormant within your subconscious mind.  You put it there through your reading, courses taken and podcasts listened to.  Then if as if by magic, the information appears when you need it most. 

“YOU can READ…for a change; or YOU can read…for a CHANGE!  The choice is yours!  Choose wisely!”

Jim “Gymbeaux Brown 

There you have it!  You can CHOOSE a purpose filled and successful life, or you can LIVE an unplanned life of happenstance and struggle.  The choice you make that will grow the quickest will be the one you voluntarily choose to feed the most as the graphic above suggests!  The choice should be obvious and a “word to the wise should be sufficient!”  You are wise, are you not? 

I would be remis it if I did not recommend you read the book Where Are You Going? (available on Amazon) co-authored by Lou Vickery and Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown (yes that is me).  The book goes into much more depth on living the life you desire through self-analysis and goal setting.

“Success leaves clues!”  Anthony Robbins.  It truly does.  The information is out there!  All YOU have to DO is open your mind and LET IT IN!