Mindset

Success is and never has been about a simple formula at all. Rather, it's about that path you took. How'd you find it. Then you finally made it out. Now look at you helping other people do the same. See, a business can and should be personal. There's no reason for it not. At the very least it's premise really ought to be believed. It all comes back to the simple question, for what did you create it then. Just as with success, the answer really is simple. If nothing else, I should be one hell of a realtor and very good at my job. Moving beyond that, then there's the business side of things should I chose to go so far. When I'm done, it'll look something like the journey I once took myself. In fact, I've got one of my books set up in my office to let my clients know if I made it so will they.

HIVE Mind: In business as well as everyday life, there's a thing called the HIVE mind going on and it looks something like this. Let's say a client is in trouble financially. They might own their own house but it's been a while and has fallen into disrepair. They lack the necessary skills or desire to fix it themselves. Otherwise, they would have already. Your average client is incredibly active on social media, but doesn't get out much. If you ever spent time on their Facebook, you'd find it filed with scenes glowing from their life. Yet they go home at the end of the day surrounded by a broke up, run down mess and the clients never think a thing of it. Surely some Hobby Lobby signs and abstract art would fix that problem. But not a single dollar's value has been added at the end of the day. It doesn't really solve a thing. Here's the thing. It didn't just happen. Everybody's always been that way. See, they lacked personal boundaries before they got around other people. That's why the HIVE mind is often so infectious and easily catching.

The Guide: When speaking of myself, the business owner, I much prefer the term guide. Regardless of what it is, pick one that works for you: realtor, nurse, teacher, writer, therapist, and many more. But at heart what you really do is guide.

A lot of folks like to hang cow prints on the walls. Now by no means are you to refer to your clients as livestock however tempting that may be. Some of us guides have a set of extremely loud herd dogs at our possession. Yet not all of us do. It might just be yourself standing in the difference between the path or two. Now I can call this how not to lose clients or I can take time explaining what we actually do. Now I know a thing or two about flipping houses. I've done so twice. Both times were on a shoestring budget so small, it's a miracle that even got done at all. According to the housing market, there's value in it. Notice though how I didn't say I'd guide my clients with the help of Ray Dunn nor yet Johanna Gaines. If they do that, they'd already be on HGTV themselves and not with me at all.

Who would tell people exactly what they want to hear? Someone who wants something – a desired end. Whether it's accurate or not really just depends. In this case, the guide is usually someone that doesn't want anything at all. Seriously, the rewards and perks thereof are nice. But that's not the only aim. Getting people to believe me might be a little harder than expected yet a fixed view doesn't just happen by chance.

An Ethics Problem: One of the hardest things to realize is we've got ethics problems. I realize the idea of ethics, something governing moral behavior seems questionable at first. But think about it. Whole businesses are built upon them, particularly the heavy people-oriented service industries. It's more than the vague idea of the customer always being right. Realtors have them too. They're what prevents them from market scalping, driving the prices up. On the surface, huge sums of money sure sound nice. But ultimately the practicing realtor and the whole business becomes downright unreliable. Tipping points like these bring about the rise and fall of markets rather than the small droppings of a stone. Sure, if mansions were affordable, everyone would have one. Let's put it in other terms. Charging excessively for life's bare necessities is not only unethical. In some places, it's also highly illegal. That's where the principle of ethics comes in. Sure, ethics won't do much for business. But it'll give you a solid leg on which to stand and when times get tough, it lets you feel a bit better about yourself. There might be other people around that profit from ending the rules. Yet surely you can do better than that. Sooner or later, your clients will recognize and thank you for it.

I believe the good Lord said seek and ye shall find not rise and grind. It might help to do a whole lot more seeking. Quite possibly you'll be surprised to see the finding all worked out.

Why it's called a HIVE mind. The issue is so polarizing or the human experience so palpable that it ends up drawing everybody together in common on this one issue. It's almost like a bee nest in someone's house. The queen orders the workers around. Now they do three things: defend the queen, make honey, and guard the hive. There's only two things that set them of: intruders and their own HIVE brain. See, lost people don't always know thye're lost. That's like expecting Shrek to get out of the swamp. Why should he? He's got his own place, lives in comfort, and everything. Who cares that the roof sometimes lets the rainwater in. except for that pesky little fact that his ogre turned wife used to be the daughter of a queen. Maybe some knight errant will come looking for them, who kows. Then of course, they'll go away from the little house in the swamp never to be seen again. Oh but the district and planning commissioner definitely will. Maybe some poor woodland elf will find the shelter later on and make it a home. By then the time and the elements will have made it little more than a nest in the trees. What of the ogre and his wife with all the value they had. Sure such sacrifices are often necessary for the greater good. But are they really? You're forgetting that life's not a fairy tale. You really don't know your money, honey to be thinking that way.

The Betrayal: About this time as you're getting into business, you'll notice something weird is happening. I call it the betrayal. You see, what happens when someone like a guide comes into contact with the HIVE mind. The very good ones will already know their way around it. They'll see it as just another of the many dangers on the path. A good guide is one who has both lost and found their way. As such, they know the intricacies of the HIVE mind, inside out. Suppose though you've got a guide that doesn't know or even care. What are you to do then?

Really, what a crazy way to do business. You brought us here then left us to our fate. Do you really not care what becomes of us, your trusting clients. What are we supposed to do then, up and join the HIVE? If you knew it was wrong, what'd you do it for. Attention, fame, a quick buck, and perhaps a nice warm lay. Maybe the appeal of having a bunch of people all your own was just too good for you. That sort of approach hasn't really solved a thing. If anything, it almost lets people know, hey. Our guides out of control, somebody come quick and take him away. As a client, you have no idea what it feels like being let down time and time again. Sure, you're not God but we never expected the guide to be. We asked only for a safe trip along the way.

Business should be personal. Believe it or not, there is meaning in the work. If you don't enjoy it, merely tolerate it, or can't find purpose in it, perhaps you're in the wrong thing. I'm definitely not coming through hell and high water just to do what I'd rather not. Neither should you.