Coach Patti's Blog

"Almost out" is not a happy place to be: almost out of time, almost out of gas, almost out of money. Suddenly, you can't think of anything else. You're in a meeting with a client but your mind is fretting about what you’ll do if your car can't make it to your next appointment. Now where was that gas station?

Your attention is compromised because you're focused on what’s missing instead of what you’re doing right now. Guess what? You can fix this problem. The solution is to create a reserve—extra time, extra money—so that there's always a little cushion between you and out.

It may seem like the only time to start working on this solution is when you have more than enough, but the reality is that when we have enough, we don't think about some future time when we won’t have enough. The time to create reserve is now, wherever you are in your cycle of abundance.

The first step is to assess and prioritize your needs. What's missing in your life can gobble up so much energy that it's hard to tell what the problem is. If I had more time, I’d be able to exercise and my arthritis wouldn’t bother me so much, so I'd stop avoiding hillside properties and I’d have more clients and more money, etc., etc., etc.

Take a moment to do a little inventory and prioritize the list. Put a number next to each general area below, making the most urgent number 1, the next-most number 2, and so on:

___ How's your health? Are you sleeping? Eating regular meals? Exercising?

___ How’s your emotional outlook? Are you stressed? Are you spending time with people you care about? Are you cheerful and upbeat?

___ How's your spiritual life? Do you have a peaceful place—either physical or psychological—for retreat and renewal?

___ How's your work? Are you prospecting? Do you have enough clients? Are you doing the work you want to be doing?

___ How's your financial outlook? Do you know how much you need each month to stay even? Is your income changing for some reason, and if so, why?

___ How's your schedule? Are you always on time? Usually late? Making excuses? Do you feel you need more hours in the day?

The next step is to start from the heart as you begin to build a reserve. Whatever order you gave those six areas, you must begin the rebuilding process with your self. All the time and money in the world isn’t going to help if you are a physical or emotional wreck; conversely, the more robust your physical, spiritual and emotional life, the better your work, finances and schedule will be! Guaranteed. Here are some things you can do, starting immediately, to create reserve in your life:

• Take time. On next week's calendar, but an X through half of one work day—the entire morning or the entire afternoon. That’s your time. No work, no clients, no "emergencies"—just you doing something you enjoy, even if it's nothing! Take a half day the following week and after that, take a full day every single week. No excuses.
• Give yourself an attitude adjustment. Leave the gloom room. Negativity is contagious and there's way too much of it going around. Just say no to complaining, blaming, and excuses. Focus on what's going right and start building positivity from there. Practice smiling. Find something to laugh about.
• Move around. When we're stressed in any area of our life, exercise is usually the first sacrifice. Reclaim it. Start small: 10 minutes a day. Then 10 minutes twice a day. Multi-task: walk to the post office; ride your bike to the pharmacy; jog or swim or hike or dance or do yoga with a loved one.
• Ask for help. It’s okay to ask for help. Friends, family, spiritual leaders, coaches and counselors will listen and may have fabulous ideas to share with you. And don't forget the skill you hire—the tech wizard, the assistant—who will create huge reserves of time for you by doing things you do inefficiently or just plain dislike.
• Divide tasks into smaller pieces. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of our problems. Think of your debt in $25 increments (mail one now) instead of in thousands; turn your back on the mess and deal with one file; take one tiny step toward the solution to a nagging problem.
• Discover abundance. Set your alarm five minutes earlier. Give two heartfelt compliments every day. Stop saving your favorite shoes or shirt or jacket: put it on now. Most important: do something for someone who's worse off than you.

These actions, insignificant as they may seem, can actually turn your life around and help you create not only a small reserve, but tremendous abundance. The smallest measure of a good thing—health, success, happiness, balance—attracts more of the same: the more you have, the more you get.

Now go do some little thing to start the ball rolling.

Coach Patti

Patti Kouri, Accelerated Performance Coaching
Helping You Through Self-Made Limitations! 

Take control of your Life and Business, and create extraordinary results.
Join a select group of real estate professionals at
Coach Patti's Annual Jump Start Workshop, November 14-16, 2008
With special guest speaker, Floyd Wickman.
Reserve your seat today!