I historically have never liked to measure. If I'm doing a long run, I get super irritated when someone next to me counts off how many miles yet to go, which makes me feel uber tired. I would rather not think of the number of miles in front of me and just be in the moment. However, throughout the years I've learned measuring is the only way to know how you're doing. You don't need to be fanatical about it, but it's helpful to measure the important things, at least in big round numbers. In business, measuring is called metrics, a way of tracking deliverables with a focus on accountability.

"Are you better than yesterday?" It's an open-ended question for sure, but I think intuitively you know the answer. "Better" can mean a happier personal life, overcoming a recent adversity, more income or an improvement in health physically and mentally.  



Working out can be a perfect match of physical improvement and fantastic brain food with an endorphin high vis-à-vis a low feeling from inactivity. My sensei taught me that a martial artist needs to be flexible physically, but almost as important, in attitude. If your arm is injured, he suggests working out your legs. If your legs are injured, work on your arms. If everything hurts, walk through your techniques at a gentle pace. If you can't get up from a chair, read, watch or mentally go through techniques, keep engaged, keep moving and don't get discouraged.  

Lose the "all or nothing" attitude. You can't perform exactly like you did when you were younger. If you stay in this line of thinking, odds are high that you'll quit. Stopping your forward momentum will eventually catch up with you through a declining appraisal career, health issues, lack of purpose and other negative stuff. Fictitious science fiction leaders such as Yoda teach us the secret, "There's is no try, only do."  

Age and tiredness have less in common with a lack of energy than apathy and boredom. The lack of energy in your appraisal career might have something to do with thoughts of "the good old days of appraising are gone" that has siphoned your motivation, your focus or your interest in your art.

I was at a running seminar where Jeff Galloway was giving a presentation to running enthusiasts generally 45 to 70 years old, similar to the age bracket of commercial appraisers. Mr. Galloway is known for his run/walk technique. For example, if you want to run a 10 minute mile pace, you might set the timer at a four minute run, one minute walk, then repeat. It allows you to run much further with less fatigue since you get interval rests. The end result is you cover a distance that you desire and your pace is the same or better than as if you never had stopped running. Though I admit it's really hard on the ego to stop and walk.

 

A woman asked Mr. Galloway about her girlfriend that runs faster than she does no matter how hard she trains. He said, "get a new girlfriend." His point was, not to get discouraged by not being able to do exactly what you had in the past or comparisons with others' performance. His larger point was that he wants to give runners the ability to continue their passion for the rest of their lives with his technique and not give up due to "age" or physical ailments.

Mr. Galloway said he broke his hip a few months prior to the seminar in which I asked an adjacent attendee, "how old is this guy?" To me he looked early 50's, but at that time he was 67 years old. He mentioned he used his run/walk routine to heal his injury and planned a marathon in three months. Wow, no excuses there. Speaking of excuses:

• "It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one." George Washington
• "Positive results are always inevitable when you refuse to live a life of fears, doubts, excuses, blames and procrastinations." Edmond Mbiaka
• "Lie to yourself if you want, but you're not fooling me. Your excuses tell me that you didn't really want it." Steve Maraboli
• "Excuses are the tools of incompetence, used to build monuments of nothingness." Anonymous

Age is no excuse to be disengaged, unmotivated or lazy with your personal life or appraisal career.  Though it sounds cliché, you're the only one that can change. Orrin Woodward author of The Financial Matrix and Life Leadership says "Success is not as easy as winners make it look nor as hard as losers make it sound." Mr. Woodward sums it up nicely, "You can either hold onto your dream by letting go of your excuses or hold onto your excuses by letting go of your dream." 

  

As a young man, I was never the most adventurous person, nor would I have classified myself as a "risk-taker". I preferred to play things safe, and fantasized about a comforting life, full of simplicity, uneventfulness and copious amounts of wheat toast.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I'm halfway through my proven and established (yet elegantly simple) method of showering. Shampoo, check. Conditioner, check.
 

Fast forward to two weeks ago.  While I'm visiting my sister, I'm halfway through my proven and established (yet elegantly simple) method of showering.  Shampoo, check.  Conditioner, check.  Face-wash, check.  Bar soap, check.  All of a sudden, I notice an innocuous container among the arsenal of girly looking bath products- a tub of Trader Joe's Fuji Apple Exfoliating Sea Salt Body Scrub - and I'm entranced.  I have a staring contest with this enticing container of exotic looking paste, and I start to wonder things.  What is this stuff?  Dare I try it?  I don't think I should try it.  It might be expensive.  What if it makes me smell girly?  What if I hate it?  What if I LOVE it?  What if it completely re-defines me?  Will I be able to commit to forever-incorporating this product into my shower routine that I have followed with stringent rigidity for over a decade? 

 

I decide to live dangerously, and muster up the courage to take the leap. As I pop it open, the sweet smell of apples hits me. It's breathtaking. I've never used any kind of Sea Salt anything before, and apparently I have been living my life trapped in a self-inflicted cave of refrainment. My inner-goddess is pleased with the baby-soft-skin results of my bold risk-taking.

 

This experience got me thinking, about life, about change, and about the pursuit of evading the limits of one's comfort zone. There is a fine line that separates monotony from stoic endurance. To embrace the unknown is to obtain empowerment over oneself. Re-inventing yourself, your company, or your life does not have to be a solution to a problem, but a catalyst for betterment, refinement, and the ultimate realization of your dreams, whatever they may be. Success is not something that is obtained; it is something that you strive to create for yourself, by exhibiting courage, conquering doubt, by exploring the unknown instead of fearing it.

 

Providing customer support for Realwired has given me the opportunity to gain a unique perspective into the world of commercial real estate appraisers. It excites me to assist our clients with implementing our products that I know are going to be integral to achieving their goals. Personal experience tells me change is hard but we all need to embrace adaptability to try new things and remain competitive.