I'm an average runner. I started running in earnest when I was about 35.  I look back fondly at the various races with my running buddies, triathlons, marathons, half marathons, mud races, adventure runs, etc.  Great social support group with the benefit of burning calories though offset by post-race beers. Fast-forward 15 years, and my friends either got bored, injured or are just doing other things like cross-fit, yoga, P90x/Insanity or YMCA classes.

So for this year's Gasparilla half marathon, I found myself solo.  Tampa has a huge Mardi Gras-like party known as Gasparilla, chock full of faux pirates who attack the city with beads and gunfire along a parade route after an insane boat invasion. There are numerous ancillary social events including parades, art shows, musical festivals and a running event. My friends either bailed or were injured. So signing up to run at 6 AM in the dark by myself felt like self-imposed solitude.

I found myself complaining to my wife about the lack of participating running buddies. Then she said five words that instantly changed my mind; "there's always the finish line." These simple words reframed my internal dialogue of "this will be boring", "why bother training for it" and other negative Nancy thoughts. The words evoked competition. I was motivated, had a purpose, and I visualized the feeling of crossing the finish line.

An MAI I know and respect concluded that commercial report writing has been embraced by the large majority of our peers. Most appraisers feel strongly that report writing is necessary to stay competitive though many lament that the existing products on the market don't work as well as they had hoped. Some appraisers have switched from product to product trying to "make it work." Many appraisers are hoping for the software to handle their easier jobs believing that the products don't do a good job with "complex" reports.

I think the appraiser's conclusion is spot on. However, I see the conclusion differently.  It's analogous to my negative pre-race attitude of: I'm not going to participate unless everything is perfectly in its place, on my terms. All or nothing. This of course results in nothing, just sitting at home while the race goes on without me. With my wife's sage words playing over and over in my head, I was excited to get to the starting line solo. At the end of the day, I felt like I ran a strong race, got a huge runner's high and was elated that I chose to participate.



Yes we appraisers are a detailed oriented lot. Yes commercial report writing is "a lot of little". Yes I would like to click a button and have a complex appraisal completed with no edits. However, the reality I choose to accept is one of completion, reaching the finish line. Even if my merged Word document gets me to 80-90% completion; it's way more productive than 100% of nothing. Struggling with perfection only results in one conclusion, more struggling and paralysis.

• "I'm careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business." Michael J. Fox

Put aside your desire to find the mythical kingdom of Perfect-Report-Writing-Land. Rethink your writing style while preserving high quality analysis bundled with professional report content and presentation.  Embrace the everyday nuances of appraisal creation with an attitude of practiced imperfection. Get out of bed, put on your shoes and get to the starting line because after all, "there's always the finish line."