A Career Worth Having, a Life Worth Living, and a Business Worth Owning

Between working in customer service, hospitality, and currently for the government; I've seen my fair share of bad or non-existent training. Take right now for instance; I'm sitting in my office waiting for the CFO to arrive to tell me why she will not approve my purchase orders. I've been doing them the same way for two years and suddenly they're wrong. Was I doing them incorrectly for the past 3 years or is her way of viewing different than the way my old boss was viewing them? Ya know, the guy who had been doing his same job for 15 years? Another issue I'm dealing with in regards to training - I have a report to do, and I've never been shown how to complete it. No one on property knows, so what is the extent of my training? "Figure it out." That's it.

They won't offer any sort of promotional opportunity here, but they will 100% use you up until they can't anymore. My new boss is dealing with the same stuff - she's under-trained. It makes me miss my old boss. I really need someone to take charge and give me some guideance and advocate for us in other departments where they believe they should be first priority - I'm doing the job of 3 people; sorry, your stuff isn't always urgent. I'm well aware that it's often my job to fix someone else's mistake, but that doesn't means it's at the top of my list of priorites - I have my own work to worry about too.

It's different with Keller Williams....

I mean, I'm already taking an educational course to help me succeed and I'm not even "on board" yet. I was also invited to a career night that was helpful and two realtors have already contacted me for meetings to give me more information. There are weekly, monthly, annual, semi-annual, and even daily opportunities for education and training. You have a team of people at your disposal to ask questions to and several tools at your finger tips to help you succeed. They are a training and coaching company disguised as a real estate company. On top of that, every single person I've met has been enthusiastic about their work - I've not had to ask anyone, "do you like your job?" It's been obvious and they are always vocal about it. My favorite thing that multiple people have said is,  "we want you to have a career worth having, a life worth living, and a business worth owning."

Better than the motto at my current job: "Figure it out. You're disposable."

In Googling, I see too that KW is listed as one of the top best places to work on Glassdoor. That's very encouraging too! The company has such great energy! So much energy that it's changed my goals in regards to how many houses I want to sell my first year.

Original goal: 20

New goal: 36

I INTEND to do that!

There is no try, only do.

Boo at the Zoo

 I've been looking at this picture for a few days - I'm so lucky!

They are both so handsome.
All my love, right here <3

BOLD: Money

One lesson that was taught on Thursday's first step to Bold was something I thought seemed a bit strange; why would the instructor even need to say such a thing?

The lesson was: "It's okay to have a lot of money."

This was brought up at both the beginning and at the end of the session. When he first mentioned it, I said to myself, "Well, of course it's okay!! Why would it not be okay? What a ridiculous thing to say! Is this some sort of sales pitch, because I'm already here." He then asked us, "how are rich people portrayed in the media? How do you view them?"

Answers included:

Self indulgent

Mean

Selfish

Rude

Uncaring

Stuck up

As I thought about it, I thought about the things said about people I've known who have found success, made money, and have enjoyed their hard earned income.

Things I've over-heard have included:

"Well, they're just showing off!

He's just blowing his money on stupid stuff!

I don't care if she's making money, but does she have to brag so much?!

They're not even the same people anymore...

They think they're better than everyone now.

How pretentious of him to post about his success!

What would THEY know about OUR struggle?!

These conversations were always followed up with, "Well, if I had that level of success and that much money I would ______."

That blank was always filled with some sort of uber responsible idea like saving money, fixing something up, or starting some sort of retirement plan. But really, is that the first thing you'd do? It's not the first thing I would do - our house needs a face lift, so that would come first. I would want to trade my car in too and maybe take a little vacation. Will people say negative things about me if I'm driving a newer car? Are they going to scoff if I'm able to take my family to Florida more often to see my in-laws? Should I REALLY have to worry about that? Why is success a bad thing?

Another reason that it's okay to have a lot of money is that you can give back. I think what people don't understand about my more recently successful friends is that they are coming from a situation where they have some catching up to do. Their money is well spent on paying off bills that we all have, while also doing some things that bring their family happiness and enjoyment. Eventually, I'm certain they'll give back to charity more often, but they have to assure their foundation is steady before giving back. You can't give back money that's already spent, and when paying off debt and securing yourself and your family in case of financial hardship - that money is definitely already out the door. Continued success allows charitable giving though, so their friends and family (and hopefully my own) should support that. Plus, who knows what's going on behind the scenes? They could be giving away half of their income for all you know. In saying that, I'm certain people would say negative things about them if they were to post things about their giving too like, "Why do they post that? Do they want a pat on the back or something?"

Bold really gets the wheels turning and makes you look within on how you approach life and how you think when it comes to certain situations. I never really noticed that I and others had such a big issue with the success of other people or their ability to make money. We're probably jealous, but I think too that we've been taught that rich people are bad when in reality that's not always true. Look at Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Michael Bloomberg, or Mark Zuckerberg - they're always involved in giving back in some capacity. Not everyone is a Scrooge McDuck.

Think about how you feel about rich people.

Is it mostly negative?

Keller Williams: BOLD

Hello, I'm Misty Bowles and I am BOLD!

Okay, I probably haven't earned the right to say that yet as I've only attended the first step to Bold, but I am now registered for the entire program thanks to my wonderful friend and soon to be team mate at Keller Williams, Corey. I'm excited and afraid of the Bold program, but the success of past attendees definitely seems worth the discomfort.

As I mentioned, I did attend the first step to Bold. I don't know what I was expecting going in, but I definitely left with new perspectives on the way I think and approach life and my career. I'm not going to lie, I almost cried at least 3 times as I took what the instructor was saying to heart - I really am my own worst enemy and I do over-analyze how I will accept defeat before even being defeated. I go into most situations expecting the worst, having a back up plan, and assuming failure; I need to change that. I need to approach things with confidence, and not be consumed with a disappointment that hasn't even happened yet.

I'll tell you right now, the thought of going into a career where I'll be considered an independent contractor terrifies me and I've been consumed with, "what if...". What if I fail, what if I have a bad month, what if I can't perform these required tasks, what if clients don't like me, what if my advertising photo is ugly, what if people don't want to work with me, what if they don't like me, what if I let everyone down? Yes, the defeatist attitude IS that intense and I know I can't change over night, but I think the Bold program will help - it already has.

We spoke about eliminating the words "but" and "try"
I'm guilty of saying, "I hope this works out for me, but if it doesn't...."
What does that "but" say?
To me, it's saying there is an option in regards to if I succeed or not, and there isn't.
I must succeed!
It's saying that I need to make a back up plan, but who needs one of those?
I'm going to succeed!

So, I need to replace that "but" with "and"
"I hope this works out, AND when it does..."
Doesn't that sound better?

"Try" will be replaced with "intend to", because there is no try.
I will not *try* to succeed.
I INTEND to succeed.

These lessons are valuable, and I will try....
No...
I INTEND to begin catching myself in conversations that are leading me into that defeatist attitude. I want my words, my tone, and my body language to appear confident.

I wasn't expecting to learn that the real key to success starts within, and not by the actions you take or the career you choose. Of course, career has a lot to do with it, but if you're not confident and you are not expecting to succeed - what's the point of a new career?