Day 3265 – Dreaming Big Dreams

Posted on June 19, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’m currently reading a few books that have to do with big goals. The first is Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt. I’m at the part in the book where it talks about making big goals, sometimes scary goals. He’s also talking about how bigger goals motivate you more, i.e. if you have a goal you know you can attain, you hit the goal and then stay there. I have seen a lot of this in my life when I look back. I’m super thankful that I’m finally taking strides to move past this in myself.

I just started reading The Real Estate Fast Track by David Finkel. It was recommended to us by Bret’s mentor and as soon as he mentioned “it has the best systems” I geeked out. I’m a huge fan of systems and processes and how to’s. I was struck by a few sentences on the first few pages.

“That probably seems impossible, or maybe too good to be true. But just for a brief moment, imagine it were truly available to you….The road will be harder than you ever imagined, but the rewards will be sweeter than you could ever have anticipated.”

Here’s a recurring theme in my reading and personal growth over the last few years – “why not dream bigger?” I was sharing a financial goal with a friend for my new project (lol, I’m SO close to telling you guys about it, hang tight!), and it was honestly “a bunch of money” or something along those lines. She encouraged me to put a number on it. Which I did…and then I added another zero. It took my somewhat achievable goal to something way beyond my dreams. What’s cool about this is that I purchased some courses for the new project I’m working on from folks who have achieved 10x my goal. They stand as an “if they can do it, I can do it” example to follow.

I think a big part of achieving things is dreaming WAY bigger than you ever thought possible for yourself.

So I challenge you today to add a zero to your goal, whatever that means to you.

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Day 3257 – January Letter Status – or – How Visualizing The Future Helps To Change It

Posted on June 11, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I told y’all a little bit about my January Letter a while back and I wanted to give an update to show just how powerful this technique can be.

The short description of a January letter is that it’s something you write in January like it’s the end of that year. So I wrote mine on 1/1/18 (and 12/31/17) and it starts with “It’s December 31, 2018.” After that, I listed how the year was going to look “we’ve closed XX deals…I have read XX books…I met the Super Carlin Brothers…etc”

There were a few items (and still are) that I’m not sure if they will actually happen. First was seeing John Williams in concert. I heard he was touring and after my life-changing experience at the Hans Zimmer concert, I knew I had to make it happen. Unfortunately, it was something I kept putting off and the less expensive tickets were gone and the left-over tickets were going for $200-300+. While I do think seeing a film composer is an amazing experience, I didn’t want to spend that much (especially when that amount of money can do a lot better in our real estate business). Another item was “I saw Thrice twice.” A few weeks ago, we could have seen Thrice at a pretty epic festival, but it just didn’t work out. I then realized there was only one more tour date in the US this year. Ugh, well, at least we can go to that one! (It just so happens to be the day after our anniversary, woo hoo anniversary trip!) While a little disappointed I wouldn’t be able to tick that off, I was happy to see them once.

The John Williams Baltimore show is this Wednesday and has been on my calendar for months. A few days back, I thought, let me see if he’s playing a show somewhat nearby that would be a little more within our budget. Dudes. Dudes. Dudes!! The first location I checked was in Massachusetts….in August (before Bret goes back to school)….and is at a venue JUST like Merriweather (where we saw Hans)…AND it was under $30 each!

On the SAME day, I happened upon an announcement….Thrice is putting out a new album and doing a tour this fall!

While I’m not saying that these things will now happen because I wrote this letter. What struck me is that because I have been visualizing this, I look for opportunities to make them happen. How you see the world has a major impact on how your life plays out. If you’re looking for a job and think “there are no jobs out there” it will be much harder for you to find one. If you think “there are plenty of jobs for my specific skill set, there are people who need what I can offer” odds are, you’ll recognize opportunities right under your nose.

It’s been so exciting to see my letter come to life. One of the items – meet The Super Carlin Brothers, will happen in only a few days time! They’re hosting a viewing party of Incredibles 2 and a meet & greet after. I’ve watched so many of their videos and they bring joy to my days, so it will be an honor to meet them in person.

Have you written a January letter?

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Day 3250 – Lessons Learned from Stedman Graham (Oprah’s Man) – repost

Posted on June 4, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

This is a way oldie, but a goodie! 🙂

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Since yesterday, I have learned SOOO much at this conference! It has completely changed how I think about my business. I also have a TON of new ideas for side projects and books to write.

The highlight of today was hearing Stedman Graham speak. You probably know him best as “Oprah’s man” but after hearing him speak, he is completely in his own category in my mind.

He shared SO many encouraging things and I’d love to just type them all up…but I don’t want to just give away his information, you know? BUT, I will share something that he shared, written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (taken from this page)

“And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. don’t just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn’t do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”

Later in the evening, there was a pink and white party for some of the attendees. I got a picture with Mara Glazer, her assistant, Kara Anderson AND Bridget Moore of K&B Bridals and Event Planning.

I am honored to be good friends with Mara! Even more so after she asked Stedman if we could get a picture with him!! He’s so nice and down to earth in person. He actually shook my hand and thanked ME after we took the picture. Awesome guy!

And randomly….they had this beer at the party….this was the same company that made our root beers in Virgina!!

originally posted 7/7/12

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Day 3249 – Fifth Closing Celebration Meal And Major Growth

Posted on June 3, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

We closed our fifth deal with our real estate investing business on Thursday. It was all around one of the most fulfilling deals we’ve done because I got to be a part of more steps than I normally am (meeting with clients, going to the actual closing, etc), and it was a family that was so thankful we were able to help them. After everything was done with closing, we decided to go to El Salto for the celebration meal. While in the parking lot, Bret said something that was so powerful and such a testament to how much we’ve both grown. He said, “order whatever you want, we can afford it.” For so many years of our marriage, those little words “we can’t afford it” have been peppered through our conversations. How you think about things has such an impact on how your life plays out. We have both done so much work in changing our mindsets about things and to see it come out of our minds was so rewarding.

I took Bret at his word and ordered a whole bunch of stuff! I got all the dip options, extra cheese, and I supremed my meal.

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Day 3248 – Fun Day With Dogs!!

Posted on June 2, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Today I got to hang out with dogs all day! I was manning the booth for Red Leash Pet Photography at the Lab Rescue of the LRCP Walk in Annapolis! It was an amazing turnout and thankfully the rain held off until we finished up. I had so much fun meeting so many great labs (and other breeds too!) all day. I love a day that ends with my hands smelling like pups! Last I heard, they raised over $160,000!

This is a picture of Lori (of Red Leash) and I last year, we were so busy with the pups we didn’t get a photo together this year.

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365daysofmarriage

Simplicity in Marriage, Christianity, Travel, Business, Life

Category Archives: Business

Day 3265 – Dreaming Big Dreams

Day 3257 – January Letter Status – or – How Visualizing The Future Helps To Change It

Day 3250 – Lessons Learned from Stedman Graham (Oprah’s Man) – repost

Day 3249 – Fifth Closing Celebration Meal And Major Growth

Day 3248 – Fun Day With Dogs!!