FOCUS!

It's a matter of focus!

Current mood: focused
Category: Life

It doesn't matter what you are doing, who you are or where you want to go...one thing is for sure. YOU NEED TO FOCUS! Depending on the sincerity or size of your goal or plan you may need to focus more than others, but everybody has to get focused at some point.

I am amazed at every level of personal and business life how there is so much ambiguity in the daily movement and activities. One simple question would help people to move more efficiently in the right direction and that question is "How does this activity help me get to my goal?" Not a bad question right?

Apolo Ohno had another question that helps him to determine if he is on the right track, or more importantly, whether or not he has done everything in his power to put himself in the best position to win. His question is "Have I done everything possible today to put myself in the best position to win?" WOW! What a focused question! But his answer to that question revealed how champions view themselves...He simply said "it's tough to answer 'yes' to that question every day" WOW again! Here we have a world-class athlete being totally honest about themselves and their preparation.

The reason I bring up Apolo Ohno, is because most of us in our minds would answer "Yes!" to the same question he asks himself...But because he is not trying to fool himself, he gives himself an honest answer. The subtle difference between the two is startling. Apolo sets himself up to work harder and harder every day, where we set ourselves up to think that we are doing well enough and we don't necessarily strive for more. Don't take my word for it, see if it applies to your life.

The second part to this is the fact that, we don't know what it is that is important to us so it becomes hard, if not impossible to work hard at anything that is going to move us in a straight line. Many people, including me, work hard but not at a single goal...thus, we are basically working hard at running around in circles and never make forward progress on the things that matter most.

So before you go to work at anything, figure out what it is that you are trying to accomplish and work from there. Create your plan, then work that plan. Only then will you be able to focus on moving forward instead of in circles.


Good Luck. Rob

Perspective

You can always tell when you are talking to someone who embodies the Suck it up, Buttercup! spirit in the way that they talk. Just today I overheard someone putting things into perspective and I was so impressed that I had to share it with you in this blog.

Here I am in Virginia Beach, we have had two snow storms over the past 10 days and the temperature has barely risen above freezing for the last 2 weeks. Keep in mind that we are supposed to get snow tomorrow as well. For those of you who get snow on a regular basis, keep in mind that we can go 10 years without seeing a snowflake!

So while I was passing by two people talking at the grocery store, I heard one of the guys complain about the snow and cold weather...I just wanted to vomit. You would have thought that mother nature herself was plotting against this guy...He's what I like to call a "Victim." Those are people that take everything personal from a simple "hello" to a snowstorm. How do these people live? Their lives must be miserable...so, just when I was about to give up all hope, the guy he was talking to said those magic words (no, not SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP!) he said, "look at the bright side..." That's a phrase that always gets my attention. I lingered just long enough to hear him say, "...next month is Spring!" That's what I'm talkin' about! A positive spin...putting things into perspective.

You know, the funny thing is they were both right, the weather is miserable outside, and next month is indeed Spring! It was a simple demonstration of the differences between winners and losers!

Next time you hear yourself complaining, find a different perspective to view your situation from and move on...nobody likes a perpetual victim.

Rob

It's easy when its easy!

It's easy when it's easy...WHAT?!

When things are going great, it is easy to feel good about everything going on and it is easy to stay positive. That's why I always say that the internal barometer of a person is best seen when they are struggling.

You see, we all hit the highs and the lows, but it is easier to see what kind of internal fortitude people possess when things aren't going their way. Are they still nice people? Do they treat their spouse with love and respect, or do they become absolute jerks? Some people believe that they will become great benefactors of the human race when they make it big...but in the mean time, they are just going to be self-centered until they get to the top...Here is a newsflash for you, THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

If you are a jerk, you will just be a bigger jerk when you have fame and fortune...money, power and fame make you more of what you, intrinsically, are. That means if you are a great person without money, you will probably go on to be a great person with money....

But I digress (a little.) Let's face it, we are facing some pretty tough times right now on a lot of levels. Look around to see how those around you are weathering the storm. Take a look at yourself and see how you are handling all of the pressures facing us as individuals and furthermore as a nation. Now more than ever we need to look inside ourselves to find out what we are really made of. Consider these trying times a gift to find ourselves, or rather the center of ourselves. Up to this point, very few of us have ever had to take stock of who we are and where we are headed. Now, we have that opportunity...yes, opportunity. Be thankful for it.

So, our plans are not as solid as we may have thought and our reality has been shaken over the past 2 years. I submit to you that it may get worse before it gets better. Take time to figure out what is really important to you and what is not. I am not here to tell you what you should have as your top priority...only you can know that, but at the very least, take a look inside to see what is going on inside of you every once in a while. That way, it will be much easier when it is easy and it won't be so hard the next time it's hard.

...and that is the spirit of Suck it up, Buttercup!

Rob

Local Real Estate Deals makes progress!!!

Local Real Estate Deals get National Exposure!!!
Yup, it was bound to happen, click on the link to see the press that Local Real Estate Deals Magazine is getting...couldn't be more pleased!!!


Rob

http://www.bni.com/BNINews/tabid/64/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/132/Real-Estate-Magazine-Highlights-BNI.aspx

New Study

I just heard on the radio this morning that more expensive placebos work better than cheap placebos. Who knows if this study is real, but what I do believe is that our minds are the key to our health...not medicine. It seems as if the east has figured that our thousands of years ago, but the west has yet to fully embrace the power of our own minds as healing entities.

It does sort of crack me up though. Think about it, more expensive placebos work better than cheap placebos. The whole experiment is based on fraud to begin with and now we are measuring the degree of our fraud and how well it works. There are so many things wrong with it, but at the same time so many things right about it. We have the power to do so many things, yet we give our power to things and people for that matter who do nothing but use our energy because of our own apathetic tendencies to believe we can do it ourselves.


We haven't begun to scratch the surface of our own human potential....Rob

and yet another one...

again. I am just checking to find out how all of this high-technology integrates with each other. I mean really. I am an old dog, but I am certainly learning new tricks...Check out some of these places and try them out for yourself. It damn sure doesn't hurt your search engine rankings. If you don't believe me just search for Robert D. Cass or Suck it up, Buttercup! on Yahoo or Google...Not bad huh? 9 1/2 more years of this and I should have something good to sell...Time will only tell...Rob