Very nice catch by Calculated Risk spotting this Bloomberg article on the Fed moving in to make it harder for lenders to charge for early repayments. Good news indeed.
“Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve will make it harder for lenders to charge fees for early repayment of subprime mortgages, according to consumer advocates and a regulator.”
Could it be true, foreclosures showing signs of slowing down? It looks like it.
BusinessWeek put out this post that shows the foreclosure activity is slowing down a bit, albeit still very high. It could be a combination of many aspects.
I just finished an article on Educational Leadership that talks about the dangers and rewards of praising children. I would like to work more with gifted children. I feel they are the hope for the future and I hate to see them get bored at school.
The article explained the different between praising a child on hers/his intelligence alone and praising them for the way they handled any problems they faced. One generation I see as already having problems are the ones we praised on their intelligence alone. They expect praises and hit a wall when they either/or don’t get them or are faced with a new tougher problem. These kids were never taught to use their intelligence, they were only praised for having been intelligent. Many studies found that students praised on the way they handled how the used their intelligence were better equipped at dealing with new challenges than those praise on intelligence alone. It was fascinating and made perfect sense.
It was interesting that at the same time, I stumbled on one of the CoachingForum‘s post about the same subject. David C. Buchan posted a four step process on intelligent praising:
1. Confirm there was a commitment from the other person to do something for you.
2. State the commitment has been met.
3. Outline the consequences of having met the commitment
4. Expand into future possibilities.
There you go. Don’t just praise. Praise the way someone handles a situation, the way they used their intelligence, the method, if you will. That will give them a better sense of their worth than just praising something as impalpable as “intelligence”.
And in case you run out of ways to praise your child, check this website out.
Coaching synergy is the result of working with a coach.
It’s making more sense to me as I am logging hours in view of graduating for my ACC from the International Coaching Federation, coaching is a synergistic relationship.
We can do a lot on our own, but we do much more together. A friend of mine used to say, we can’t do it all on our own, we need to do it together. In this world of growing globalization, one trend we can reclaim right now is to unite the human race and work together. By putting aside differences such as political views, religious ideologies and social concepts, we can work together to reclaim our societies and yank it from those wily leaders that only want to divide the mass to better rule. I was looking at the presidential debates that rage and wondered how immature it is of us to vote for one person. Show me the team and I might make up my mind 
I see how changes happen in a coaching relationship. I see how together we do more, we ask more of ourselves and we stay more on course. The Client/Coach relationship is a synergy that carries us far and motivates us to outdo ourselves. I am excited to bring along my journey a wonderful new mentor coach, Winston Connor from Coaching Dynamics. Having a coach and being one is yet another great synergy.
Wow, California has just declared fiscal emergency. It’s about time.
For those of us who have been watching the market for the last 4 years balloon out of control and wondering when it would touch down, the governments finally have to intervene.
The state is looking at $14-billion shortfall in 2008, up from the $10-billion estimate from a few months ago.
According to Paul Kedrosky on Seeking Alpha that is the size of the California prison system budget plus the cost of running the University of California schools. And they said real estate would be a bleep on the economic radar a year ago.
So now of course, here we are again, cut spending or raise taxes. We shall see.
In the meantime, it is a rainy day here in Long Beach and I am debating when I will step out of my cozy place. Listening to ambient music on iTunes and enjoying the drizzle versus going out. Hum…
One thing I hear sometimes is how some business owners fear getting a Business Coach for their employee.
It makes me smile. Why scares you? Most of the time, owners fear their employees might realize they would rather do something else. Well, set them free! Who needs to have someone doing what they are not passionate about within the business you created. Seriously now.
More to the point, how about those who like working with you but have lost steam? How do you re-spark their spark? Providing a Business Coach for your employees is probably the best thing you can do to re-motivate your employees. A Business Coach will work with them so that they find the original passion that made them sign on with you. Their productivity will rise again. As usual and as with anything in business, a little investment goes a long way in terms of returns. Think of how many Realtors at this moment would benefit from having a Business Coach?
My stint with Robert Weil Associates made me very familiar with the real estate world. It finally dawned on me what I should have done differently as an agent. This market isn’t so bad, if you take the right actions and follow what you like to do. I came on top of the computer era creeping into classrooms by adopting that new technology, you can do the same in real estate. I don’t mean technology here, though it certainly plays a role but different techniques on how to approach the market. A well thought out approach plan today will make you a successful agent for decades to come.
And if you have any doubts, check out this post.
Looks like I let the morning slip by again, and I wanted to talk about how to get out of a funk before it gets the best of you.
Do you ever feel the lingering blues creeping up? You know that feeling when all the sudden you lose your energy level, you’re not motivated and something is making you melancholic? That’s how it starts for me at least.
At that moment when you start to feel this and you know you have better things to do, it’s time to take an overall view. It’s time to go above yourself to get a bird’s eye view. This is something you can bring to your meditation practice. When I feel the blues creeping in, I have triggered myself to stop. I stop and get a sense of what I feel.
1) Stop and ask yourself; “What is it I am feeling?” When did it start and where did it start. Why doesn’t matter as much because, remember, what is wrong with you is besides the point, what is right with you is the point.
2) Then, make things relative again. What I mean by that is take an honest look at your life focusing on the positive things. One thing that never fails for me, no matter how blue I might ever be, I always congratulate me for having made it this far. Seriously, no one gave you a manual on life and certain none for figuring out who you are. You might be holding the facade up, nonetheless, you made it thus far. Tap yourself on the back. Then congratulate you for remembering to remember. Remember to remember to take the time and see through your busy life, or through the haze.
3) Climb as far up as you can from your vintage point of view. Go above and beyond yourself. Go behind the person. Be your own observer. What do you see? When you reach a great enough height, you get to a place where you become just a peaceful observer. No judging feelings get in your way. You observe the human, with your attributes, feelings, likes and dislikes without passing a single judgment. It’s as if you have peeled away the onion layers of yourself. You are the core of your being, now.
This last part can be a little difficult if you are not the type to meditate using your “inner eye” or using your imagination. You might want to represent yourself, as if you were driving a great car, or navigating a boat or on board the Enterprise if you wish. Then go behind the eyes of who you are. Just try it. You will get a sense of detachment at first. It’s very soothing. Then, you will see yourself. You won’t be so judgmental of yourself. Once you are there, you can look around you, look above and below. If you do this well enough, you eventually get to a place where you rise above the concept of right and wrong. Then you stare at the source of all things. Life! The Sun of life. It is peaceful and you will smile. And when you come back down again, you will see things are not as they appear. There is a grander aspect of life. Once you have that, anything that happens to you becomes relative to the whole.
Hum, very philosophical this morning… and imagine what we can do in a coaching session.
Yesterday was the famous Naples Christmas boat parade. It was very nice as usual.
We didn’t stay until the end to see if the famed Dragon boat would show up. I hear every year it is canceled. Somehow it surfaces. There were some very nice boats. My favorites were the island paddle boats. They were so well decorated and had the spirit. There were some odd ones though. There were some power boats that had one light string and that was it. Strange.
After a while, we couldn’t feel our bottoms from sitting in the cold, so we headed on home and had a few people over.
It’s that holiday feeling. I love, it.
We had out last Robert Weil Associates Christmas party on Friday night. It was sad and fun. You know, the usual mix of feelings.
It was overwhelming at times seeing all these people in one room, la creme de la creme of Long Beach. All wonderful people I would trust with any real estate transactions and good friends. It made me realize how special the office was and how it can never be replicated. It was the right time for the right people to come together under one roof.
I see the light bulbs go off with other brokers minds from other companies wanting to cash in on this unique team. They just don’t get it. They can’t get it when their main interest is bottom line. It wasn’t about making a killing, it was about nice people having fun with something they feel passionate about. It’s something I haven’t found in most other offices.
The party was great. Many said they will use me as a coach and I can’t wait to get some of that feeling back.
It’s kind of strange thinking I won’t sit in those surreal plush big red leather chairs. Why can’t other offices look so elegant? We had a unique team. No one came close but onwards to greater and bigger things. And anyway, isn’t it time to spread our ethics, standards and wonderful team spirit to the rest of the world?
The more I do Coaching, the more fun it is, the more I love it.
It is so much fun being there with people as they discover about themselves, make big decisions and tackle projects. It feels so right. And I don’t have to tell anyone what to do or what is right!
Most of my life I have tackled a lot of different business ventures; translations, teaching, computers, real estate, to name a few, and it feels all of them built me up for coaching. I have always attracted confidences and people have come to me to talk since high school. I’ve always enjoyed it. Learning about coaching felt like a perfect match. I had no idea it would this great.
Coaching taught me some great things. I listen to people differently. I don’t listen to their accomplishment so much as I listen to them, who they are and how they are. I am happy for them, not their accomplishments per se. A friend of mine was telling about his accomplishments. I was happy he was able to make them and able to fulfill his dreams. That’s more impressive than the actual accomplishments.
As I watch this culture that tries to tell us it is more important to look a certain way than to discover what makes you unique, I marvel at people who take the time to find out about themselves and offer their uniqueness. They accomplish one of the greatest feast as humans, self discovery and self awareness. And think about it in the end, what is more important, look like you are “cool” or know who you are and truly, deep insight feel good about yourself? Most of my friends were the ones who were “different”. They didn’t fit with the latest trends, they were unique. That was the best present they give me.
Anyway, just another one of those grateful moments…