A vision in RED!

Today was a growth day, hard lesson’s learned that will change the way I work forever….and at the same time you know this lesson will be learned again in the future. The power of a clear vision….it’s one thing for you to know it, a  completely different story is sharing that vision with those around you. I’m not talking about just a few bullet points on a poster up in the tech room, I  mean an impassioned, sweaty, taste it, smell it, feel the excitement and the chill up the back of your neck kind of experience someone feels when a vision is so compelling, it is lived. A vision so profound it taps into emotion that defies logic, creates tears that stain your face for hours or a smile so authentic that you look around the room embarrassed or guilty that a single thought brought you so much happiness in a random moment. These moments happen every day through the entertainment industry, they spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create these moments. How do we create them every day for our family, our business, our future? How do we use the create an emotional response so powerful through our words that people don’t just acknowledge us, but enroll in our success? They say vision is all about describing what it looks like when a mission is accomplished, but describing anything these days is a lost art. We are 180 characters away from delivering a txt message, yet 180 miles away from delivering a vision that could change someones life or the course of history itself. I have to say I have been delivering messages and falling short on enrolling people in a vision. Tonight, as I race to complete this entry against the clock that is my laptop battery, I solemnly swear to take a moment and think about the long term impact of every short term task, choice or action you or I might make with the hopes of effectively painting a picture of what that will look like 5, 10 or 20 years down the road. Vision is influence.

Today’s goals were met:

Appointments
Contacts
Strategic Alliance

Today’s goals not met:

FITNESS 😦 Sorry Jody – It won’t happen again.

Sincerely,
Brett Boettge

Do your clients get it?

Do your clients get it?.

Tightening the Screws

Has there ever been a time where you felt like you were king of the world? I have, and I can tell you that you don’t learn a thing when you feel that way. It was last week Wednesday (April 2011) that I was de-throned by a self assessment, not on how I rank compared to my competition, but how I rank based on my potential. My expectations for myself are extraordinarily high as are the expectations I have for those I choose to surround myself with. The challenge is good truly is the enemy of great and it is so easy to fall back on a performance review when compared to your peers, not the mirror. So, let’s wrap this up and put it to bed, I’m tightening the screws in my life again so that I can leap through my current achievement ceiling, and just like before (the day I founded this blog) I am going to ask for your help.

Come here daily and ensure that I have posted a “status update” about these areas of my life.

• Fitness – I need to Get in Shape
• Appointments – 2 Per Work Day
• Growth – A Book Report or Nugget Daily
• Contacts – 15 a Day
• Strategic Alliances – 1/wk.

This starts tomorrow morning May 4th and runs through June 30th to reinforce some old habits and recreate new ones.

I have some big goals between now and November 1st 2011, it is going to take a commitment to some key tasks in order to achieve this growth. The only way for me to live the life I want to lead and ensure my family and I can achieve our “Why” is to enroll myself in this level of accountability.  There will be challenges, road blocks and a great deal of pressure and I LOVE it. What I am most looking forward to is the personal growth in this process and the ability to look at my daughters and lovely fiance and say with integrity, “I’m doing what it takes every day to achieve our dreams.”

I can’t do this without your help, so please, please, please check in often and comment without hesitation through the good and the bad.

Yours in Accountability,

Brett Boettge

Designing Your Reality

Watch this video of Harold and the Purple Crayon…..What are your thoughts? What if you had that much control over your business? Is it possible? Please share your thoughts, I just came off of a year where I often felt like Harold and I’d like to hear different opinions and experiences.

Sincerely,
Brett Boettge

Practice makes….YOU!

We are always practicing something….

I heard something the other day I loved, “We are always practicing something.” That is a pretty powerful statement if you pause and think. What do you practice daily? You see this question doesn’t only pertain to training for a marathon or preparing for a speech, you practice life. Now that you have paused, I’ll ask again… “What do you practice daily?” Do you practice integrity? Do you practice the core skills of your trade? Do you practice leadership? Do you practice personal accountability and positive thinking? I’m sure you see the flip side of this coin now and where this note is headed. Do you practice making excuses? Do you practice shifting blame? Do you practice searching for that “silver bullet”? Do you practice the art of “I’ll do it later? Do you practice goal achievement or delusions of grandeur? You see, whatever we practice we become better at….so understand that you have practiced your entire life to be where you are and who you are today. What would your closest friend say you mastered through practice? Your partner? I write this not from the soapbox, but from personally standing in front what Debra Seaver, (a brilliant colleague of mine) would call a full length mirror. So what do you really want out of life? What might you need to practice daily to achieve that?

A couple of thoughts about life mastery….that is what we are talking if I wasn’t clear earlier. This subject is tough, it is work and your life will not change unless you want it bad enough. I thought paragraph two in this note might be about “ways to practice for life mastery”. Frankly only ten percent of those that read this would actually implement those how to’s long enough to change their life. So this paragraph is actually about what YOU want because until you figure that out, see the work required to achieve that and still are not swayed from that path only then will you start practicing what is required for the life you desire. How do you know what you want? Quick exercise on values…list your 5 core values…no seriously write them down. Are you done? So what are they? Let’s say #1 is family….what have you done lately to enhance those relationships? If that truly is your #1 value that is where the majority of your effort is spent right? So what is your “family practice”? Are you afraid family might be work and you don’t want it to feel that way? I thought that way too until I realized that the vision for my family life was not going to be achieved by the actions that came natural to me…so that tells me it is going to take effort to achieve the vision I desired in my family life. Knowing family might be work is it still your #1 value? Once you have your values aligned and in order it is time to define benchmarks while thinking without limits…five years is a good place to start. What I want you to do is pretend that we are having a conversation 5 years in the future, in this conversation I want you to be able to tell me the last 5 years were phenomenal….what would have to happen in your life in order for you to say that. Use your 5 core values as areas for this exercise. WRITE THEM DOWN and they must be specific and measurable. For example,

• Family – Annual Family Reunions, Only working 3 weeks per month, etc.. college fully funded for children
• Personal Growth – First Book Published, Master Toastmaster, Fluent in Spanish & French
• Business – Net Worth 7MM, 1^st Book Published with deal for 2 more, 25% equity share in 2 businesses, passive income to cover expenses. Help my wealth determiners achieve their 5 year goals.
• Health – 6 Pack, 170 Cholesterol and 120 over 80 BP, Maintaining a weight of 175lbs. Annual ½ marathon completed.
• Friendships – Annual Guys trip, 1 financial opportunity to a friend every year, monthly gatherings of all friends. 12 new friends per year. 1 annual trip with friends.

Do you see how this works? It starts by defining what you would fight for and I mean fight to the death, not just a playground pushing match. Do you have even a single goal you would put in that category? Understand it is not the end of the world if you don’t, just practice asking big questions about your life daily and the clarity will come at some point. Also understand that the above exercises create moving targets, life changes can change your core values and alter your plan, be OK with that. Life mastery is about succeeding in the storm, not just enjoying the nice weather.

 In closing, self help gurus show us how to think, provide us very trendy advice on life mastery and it is all very entertaining, but truly profound once you understand why you push forward when the universe conspires against you. This clarity is a prerequisite to obtaining everything that has escaped you in life, a prerequisite to unlocking your dreams. Again, without that clarity, practice asking bigger questions about your life and until clarity is realized “act as if”.

another late night blog post by Brett Boettge – TL|CEO Keller Williams Realty

Let’s get LOUD people!

Let’s Get LOUD

I often hear a great advertisement that states.. “America needs a comeback.” Well at KW Crossroads we don’t need a comeback, we need to come out. Come out from behind the shadows, share OUR story and tell it more often than our competitors. Do you love your company? If not then why are you here, you are an independent contractor and there are other companies out there. I often wonder why it is not everyone just oozes passion for KW. The answer is simple…you don’t know any better or you aren’t a fit. If you are not engaged in your success, taking advantage of what we offer and continually learning about our opportunity, than we might as well just hand you a gold coat, pack you up for a trip on a red & white hot air balloon and usher you out the door because to some…..we are simply holding your license. We have SO much to be proud of at Keller Williams Realty and in my opinion some of the GREATEST agents and success stories out of the “Shift”.

 

I need your help! Keller Williams across the country is in a rapid growth phase starting June 1^st. How can you help as a partner in your firm….share your story with passion, fire honesty. Are you proud of your affiliation with Keller Williams? These are things that I am proud of…..

• RISMedia’s Power Broker Report and REAL Trends’ REAL Trends 500 rank the largest residential real estate brokerages in the U.S. based on transaction sides and sales volume. This year (2009), Keller Williams Realty had more brokerages on both lists than any other real estate brand.
• With many of our regions reporting 100 percent
  

  Thanks to all who gave blood, donated time and money to support our community.

  market center participation in RED Day, last week’s event proved that the compassion in our company is exceeded only by the imagination!

• The first component of Keller Williams Realty’s Wellness Program – The Health Providers Program is now available to all associates. This new program offers unprecedented advantages to you in terms of health insurance options and is sure to crystallize the Keller Williams difference among competitors.
• Industry leading coaching organization MAPS wins the coveted “Stevie” award for excellence in sale coaching programs. MAPS (Mega Agent Productivity Systems) was also a finalist for the 2008 Prism award. Take a look at their latest program. 20 agents. 3 weeks. 53 listings. 33 contracts “My business came to a complete stop in September. I was frozen and I think I was in denial. But in the four weeks of this class, I’ve taken three new listings.” – Lori Wakefield, associate, Lake Travis market center.

This on top of open books, a solid value system, a brilliant retirement plan, great people, industry leading technology and training PLUS the best compensation plan in the industry. Gary Keller might add… “well go read that best selling book your companies leadership wrote!” to the list in reference to The Millionaire Real Estate Agent.

I understand that in order to grow the market center, it is imperative that I know every aspect of our value proposition. Well you have an equal opportunity to grow our market center and be rewarded handsomely for it through our profit sharing system.

Shift Into Profit Share June 1st 2009!

 How do you do it? One simple phrase… “I love my company.” If you can’t say that, why are you here? If you want to learn to love us then start taking advantage of the classes, the resources and be part of this wild real estate movement called Keller Williams Realty! Get involved, take responsibility for your career, your future, put modesty in your back pocket, then tell your story. Don’t you think some of our competitors deserve our help?

Sincerely,

Brett Boettge

Update to “About This Blog”

THIS IS AN EDIT AS OF 12/29/2008 I BELIEVE IN THIS JOURNEY IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THE EVOLUTION OF THE BLOG WHICH IS WHY I DID NOT DELETE THE ABOVE.

 

Those that have truly followed this blog saw an evolution from the original 4 posts per day, down to 3, then 2, then 1. The posts for 2009 are going to be very much mind-set based….. and starting with a 2 post per day minimum. I will open this blog up to more of how I feel throughout my days journey. The morning will start witha gratitude entry, then my day ends with a “closing argument”. That “closing argument” will share a story of every single day and how I am pushing myself at the first urge of letting up. This is my roadblock, my issue of appt. v.s. join, the reason massive success escaped me in 2008 and after deep thought the one single piece of my life that if improved, will enhance EVERY aspect of my life.

 

So where does intensity show up? I’ll share withyou what I think…. It’s not backing down when you know what is right, It’s passionately expressing your opinion regardless of mixed company, it’s tenacity…on a deeper level, it’s a healthy “fierce” conversation with a loved one, its looking deep into someone’s eyes because you care, it’s asking the questions nobody else will, it’s attacking that subject most avoid, it’s honestly answering the question “What are you pretending not to know?” it’s allowing yourself to feel so passionately about something you contemplate the impossible, its pushing those around you to see their ultimate potential, its making the tough calls without hesitation.

 

What is the cancer that created my personal, unconscious indifference in the face of intensity? There was no defining moment that led to a lack of intensity, it is more of a compilation of experiences. My parents divorce? To this day I still claim that had no effect on me at thirteen. Now my first marriage (not tipping my hand to the possibility of a second) had more of an effect, not pinpointing the relationship itself, but the time period. Somewhere between 1999 and 2004 I lost something that came natural, emotion. My strong strength of logic and lack of emotion has brought me to where I am today and I am grateful, that same combination has held me back from the next level. It has always been said that I have a great energy. Only in the last week did I realize the difference between energy and intensity. Energy is just that, my mood is positive, I’m quite animated and I never seem to tire throughout the day. I am a motivator. Intensity is focused energy, energy that commands respect and walks that line, gushing with passion that inspires (long term), not motivates (short term). Intensity is fueled by emotion and I’m thankful for Jody and Brooklynne, both have helped in my journey to repair what I thought was irreparably broken.

 

I’m not a huge sports fan, yet here is a quote.. “let’s leave it all out on the field” thanks for all of your support and I appreciate your interest in following a “twenty something” executive on a pursuit of personal excellence.

 

Sincerely,

Brett Boettge

Turning up the INTENSITY in ’09

Turning Up Intensity in 2009

 

Before we get into the meat of this blog, let’s do a quick exercise. Raise your right arm as high as you can possibly raise it….. seriously, come on nobody is looking. OK keep it there……….wait… NOW raise it just ½ an inch higher. Your arm moved didn’t it? Now I understand some of you may have been far to cool to partake in this exercise, so for you guys, try it on someone you know. It works.

 

What did the above exercise prove? Even though we think we are doing all we can, there is a little extra we can strive for, just another ½ an inch. That ½ an inch is the difference between good and great, so how do we consistently operate in the GREAT mode? Darren Kittleson is one of my many coaches and this was the topic of our conversation in yesterdays meeting. This conversation actually started three weeks ago with all of my coaches and evolved into a singular area for personal improvement. INTENSITY.

 

One thing I am unfailingly is honest, brutally honest… don’t get me wrong I occasionally exaggerate or embellish to increase the entertainment value of a story and I dream very big all the time. What I don’t do is disillusion myself as to my strengths and weaknesses which makes me very coach-able. What am I getting at? I have to turn it up in 2009, I need to work in that ½ inch of greatness. So what are my roadblocks?

 

It was kicked around last night that I have a need for people to like me which is why I don’t push them far enough. Maybe I have become complacent in my role? What about the accountability blog? This blog has helped me grow in so many ways, has helped keep me focused on daily tasks, created clarity that allows me to communicate on a much higher level and created daily habits that will help me on any endeavor I choose. What is the accountability blogs next evolution? I’ll think about that, and I’m sure it will be very entertaining…. Along the lines of do something every day that scares you.

 

 The bottom line is I sense that ½ in. and I stay or back away, rarely pushing forward. I really think this is why wild success escapes so many. All my life I have heard, “You will succeed at whatever it is you choose to do.” And many would consider me successful by THEIR definition. I’ll tell you today I’m proud of what I accomplished in my life, and I wouldn’t yet call myself successful….by MY definition. So what is the mantra for 2009?

 

Slight edge decisions, pushing myself farther than I thought possible. Identifying that point of hesitation and pushing just a bit more. On a much grander scale and deeper level, who knows if I will be around one year, five years or twenty years. I need to treat every day like it could be my last…Writing that eulogy and ensuring that those around me would say those things about me. Truly understanding that if I feel comfortable, I’m not giving my all at home or at the office.

 

Join me in making 2009 the best year ever…. ½ inch at a time. Make sure you have someone in your life that will ask you to rise up just a bit more, into that land of the unknown, the land where wild success is created.

 

Sincerely,

 

Brett Boettge

Team Leader | CEO

Keller Williams Realty Madison Crossroads

 

Have a very Happy Holiday

 

#’s

0 Appointments

22 Contacts

1 Appt Booked

1 Cancelled

0 Joined

0 Maybes

0 Undecided

Christmas greetings complete : )

Judie Czys – A Real Estate Icon

 

BabyBoomerAgent.com Real Estates NEW Standard

 

In my professional opinion taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary is a skill only a few possess. I want to introduce to the world, Judie Czys founder of BabyBoomerAgent.com a nationwide brand of real estate excellence. Judie is a real estate sales professional with Keller Williams Realty Madison Crossroads and has a single goal to fuel a powerful vision. Judie’s goal is to provide you, her clients and customers the most positive home buying or selling experience she can create. From the moment you meet Judie you will realize that this is “Real estate the way it should be.” Honestly Judie is staking her reputation and her company BabyBoomerAgent.com on just that. Judie Czys has met that goal for every single one of her clients and customers as well as the agents she works with.

 

Judie puts herself in her clients shoes and asks, “What would make this better.” At every point of the real estate experience. Judie has now mastered professionalism, customer service and has created a standard of practice she has put her company name on “www.BabyBoomerAgent.com”. Judie believes that all home buyers and sellers across the nation deserve the very best in customer service and has created a wide reaching net of hand picked professionals who have earned the right to be a preferred BabyBoomerAgent.

 

It was a short 18 months ago that I joined Keller Williams Realty Madison Crossroads as the Team Leader and CEO. I would stake my career on Judie delivering a customer service experience rivaled by none. The BabyBoomerAgent.com client focused strategy is one that is sure to serve you well whether you are buying, selling, investing or relocating across the globe. Remember when you are working with a trusted BabyBoomerAgent, you are working with a hand picked professional who is loyal to a higher standard, a client focused standard, a standard created by Founder & Cultural Icon Judie Czys.

 

Sincerely,

Brett Boettge

CEO

Keller Williams Realty Madison Crossroads

TheNextLevel@kw.com

 

#’s

Contacts 13

New Appts Booked 1

2nd Appts Booked 1

Appts Had 0

Handwritten Notes 5

1 ALC Meeting

1 Staff Meeting

 

# Week

7 Appts had

75 Contacts

8 Appts Booked

2 Hires

Tapped Resources?

CAUTION THE VIDEO LINK BELOW CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. IF YOU ARE SITTING AT A CUBICLE OR NEAR THE FAMILY TURN DOWN THE VOLUME ON THE COMPUTER. THE POWER OF THIS MESSAGE FAR OUTWEIGHS THE SINGLE EXPLICIT WORD FOUND IN THE VIDEO PLEASE ENJOY AT YOUR OWN RISK. 4 Minutes 30 Seconds to 4 Minutes 38 Seconds is CAUTION ZONE PLEASE ENJOY THE REST OF THE CLIP!

 

Contacts Made: 8 (tue) 16 (wed)

New Apts Set: 1

New Apts Had: 1

2^nd Apts. Had: 0

(transition apts)

Yes to KW: 0

In Transition: 0

Joined: 0

No: 0

Undecided: 1

 

 

Needs Delivery?: Buyer Urgency & Leverage

Handwritten Notes: 0

 

Personal Education: Shift – Aha’s there is ½ the units available per agent in todays market compared to 3 years ago…. From roughly 14 to roughly 7.

 

Aha’s/Blurb: Dissecting Life Long Learning

 

I had a conversation yesterday about leadership and life long learning. It was said in this conversation that a resource for growth was tapped. What does that mean? At what point do you tap a resource for education? I’ve been struggling with this statement… we master a model then add creativity to improve upon it. If that truly is the path to success can we tap a resource or is it our responsibility to build on the concepts? I guess a great analogy is when the student becomes the teacher right? The reason I struggle with this is I am teaching CAMP 443 (18 sessions of foundational sales/customer service concepts) in November and most objections to enrolling in the course will come from “That resource has been tapped!” meaning that the prospective student has taken the class at least once before. Now, “How good am I at that?” becomes the first question that we have to ask ourselves to open ourselves up to learning.

 

So let’s say that I mastered every piece of the resource… the model. What do I do? Look at the resource in a different way to start. Take CAMP 443 and pretend you are a buyer sitting in the course hearing what an agent is going to do for you. From the buyers perspective what would you like, what wouldn’t you like? Now take it again as a Seller and ask yourself the same questions. Another technique is ask yourself how can I take that concept to the next level? Who can help me see this in another light? Let’s pretend that you are washing a car and mastered the task of washing a car. Clearly you are the master, and what if the thought of mastery is a limiting belief itself. I get the soap, the sponge, the towel to dry and the hose….my technique is perfect so how do I improve? What if I found a way to keep the car clean? The problem with my perfection is that I’m still doing the task….who could I get to do it for me? Can I figure out a way to get my soap for free?

 

In real estate we master pricing objections to obtain a reasonable list price. I have mastered these scripts, there isn’t a list price objection that I can’t handle. Then one day I thought what if the seller didn’t care what price I listed the home at? I found that solution and now I don’t need any proper pricing scripts that I mastered. It truly is up to us to remove our limiting beliefs, we cannot tap a resource only master it’s content and add our own creativity.

 

Yours in lifelong learning,

Brett Boettge – KWTL MADISON CROSSROADS