I was recently listening to Duke & the Doctor (http://dukeandthedoctor.com/) on the radio enjoying the various health tips and insightful stories when Dr. Jan McBarron said, "there is no cure for death so why not live a wonderful healthy life?" I started to laugh because who could argue with that logic? Sometimes simple is simple but sometimes simple is hard, or at least we make it more complex.
 
We all generally know that a healthy lifestyle includes proper diet and exercise but how often do we actually do that?  Drinking soft drinks and smoking cigarettes are obvious low hanging fruit of "duh - not good for you." It begs the question, why don't we do the things that would lead to clearly beneficial outcomes to our lives? I think there are two reasons: 1) habitual practiced behavior and 2) reluctance to avoid bad things because there's no immediate negative effect. You won't instantly keel over drinking a couple of Fantas or Doing the Dew a few times a day. A handful of Camels and Winston cigs won't make you "push up daisies" in the short term.

We're very busy with our lives. However, one would think living in this century, in the Western Hemisphere specifically the United States that our standard of living would reduce our stress, worries and anxiety. Sometimes that's not the case. Many of us can get frustrated with the everyday, taking care of children, bills, traffic, appraisals being late, etc.

We have lots of control in our lives but in reality we don't. What we really have is the perception of control or more aptly, we have choices. Watch the following video which illustrates well the concept of choice.  The video is about the value of real education which has nothing to do with knowledge and everything to do with simple awareness. The point is that you're in control of your decisions; learn how to think, pay attention and control your choice to be happy or frustrated. Real freedom that comes from real education can turn on the light switch of consciousness, awareness and perhaps for the first time in your life of your own behavior and those around you. http://www.upworthy.com/the-earth-shatteringly-amazing-speech-that-ll-change-the-way-you-think-about-adulthood-4?g=3

I confess that I probably spend too much time on things that don't generate beneficial outcomes such as social media. Why my brain found a Facebook post of a study by Georgia Institute of Technology titled Duration of Urination fairly captivating is beyond me. The study compared the urination volume of an African elephant (42 gallons), bison (5.5 gallons) and a Great Dane dog (0.4 gallons), complete with visual info graphics of milk jugs. The study's critical findings: the vast majority of mammals only need around 20 seconds to pee, regardless of bladder size. This type of time usage is fun to a brain that likes "shiny objects" though it can be a distraction from more productive thoughts and actions.

Starting today, I recommend you try an experiment. Try to make your decisions intentionally positive in both your commercial real estate appraisal career and in your personal life.  If you are lucky enough, you might be able to see our industry in a whole new light.  I talk to many appraisers that are very negative about our trade, thinking nothing will ever improve for them. However, those with real education choose the more productive and optimistic thinking model when dealing with issues. Unproductive behavior isn't helpful long-term. The Pepsi and Marlboros will eventually catch up to your health.

Commercial appraising can be more than just cranking out reports. Expand your thoughts to leadership, management, finance and marketing. Embrace technology, procedures and being open to new ideas to streamline your appraisal world. Simple is simple.  Simple is hard.  You choose.