(By Kevin)

Your 3 Most Important Choices

"Apathy is a natural human instinct, common to us all, that consistently encourages us to seek a comfort zone in which nothing ever changes." - David Byrd.

In Mr. Byrd's book "The Tripping Point In Leadership" he states that most organizations that aren't moving forward suffer from apathy.  I would say many individuals also suffer from this. 

The good news is that you can overcome the negative impacts of apathy in your life and your business once you recognize it.  CHOOSE to change it.

God gave us our wonderful minds and the ability to make choices.  We are all a product of the choices we have made throughout our lives.  Where we are right now is the result of those choices.

Consider where you are right now.  Is it where you want to be?  Understanding and implementing these 3 critical choices everyday can change that.

• The Choice of Attitude

Attitude is a daily choice.  It is an emotion.  If you are not in control of your emotions then who is?  Therefore you control your attitude.  My mother always used to tell me that you "Catch more flies with honey that you do with vinegar."

Now I don't think anyone is trying to catch flies; however, do you think a sour or negative attitude will get you what you want, or is it a cheerful attitude of abundance that will get it for you?

I have a confession:  I used to be Mr. glass half empty.  I did a lot of complaining and worrying.  Then a true friend pulled me aside and asked me, "Kevin, why are you always unhappy?"  His philosophy was that, "No one got hurt, no one died, and we can fix anything else."

Thank the Lord for true friends.  I realized I was wrong and had so much to be thankful for.  The next day I decided to be in a good mood.  And each day since then I count my blessing and realize what a wonderful abundant life I'm living.  It's an awesome life.  Your life is an awesome life too!  Just make that choice.

• The Choice of Action

When you're unhappy with some aspect of your life or business understand that it's that way because you are tolerating it.  Make the choice to change it.  If you need to get guidance on how to change it go get it. 

As Mary Jane and I have embarked on our "get healthier" journey we've combined it with a business opportunity that we are engaged in.  After all what could be better than getting healthy and improving other people's health and wealth at the same time?

As people see the changes we are experiencing, they will often say they want to release weight and ask us how we are doing it.  For some, when we tell them how we are achieving such great results, they decide not to take action.  Why?  I don't know; however, we have heard a lot of reasons/excuses.

The truth is the people with reasons/excuses are making the choice to not change.  That's okay, we were like that for many years.  We are glad that we finally made the choice to change and took action and so are those who have joined us on this journey.

Remember this: No action will lead to nothing but more of the same.  Effective action, consistently applied, will lead you to the business, relationship, or personal life that you want and deserve.

• Choice of Accountability

Although all three of these choices are important and go hand in hand this is perhaps the most important because it puts the burden of living your life, creating your dream, squarely on you where it belongs.

In our society we seem to be tolerating more and more people who do not want to be accountable for what they do.  If you want to change and achieve a dream you must accept 100% accountability to get there.  If not you, then who?

I believe each individual has an infinite potential.  No one can tap into that potential except that individual. 

There may be difficulties along the way.  Other people may not believe in you. (Some of them with the same last name.)  Or you may not know how to achieve your dream.  Once an individual accepts 100% accountability for the outcome, then all of these issues will be overcome. 

We are all captains of our own ships - sail to your dream destination my friends! 

We should be asking ourselves these two questions on a regular basis:

Am I settling for life as it is?   OR   Am I moving closer to what I really want?

Understanding and implementing these 3 choices consistently everyday will change your business, life, relationships, etc.   

Industry News  

(by Kevin) 

10 Metro's Offering the Biggest Discounts on Distressed Residential Properties

With the economy picking up it is getting harder to locate the great deals that were available just a few months ago.

RealtyTrac, recently put together a list of markets that offer the biggest discounts on distressed residential properties, based on the percentage difference between the median prices of non-distressed and distressed assets.  They looked at sales prices for both single-family homes and condos and came up with the following list.

• Dayton OH

• Memphis, TN

• Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI

• Cleveland, OH

• Toledo, OH

• Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA and NJ

• Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

• Lancaster, PA

• Pittsburgh, PA

• Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA

To see the actual discounts and read the rest of the article click here. 

Laughs and Interesting Stuff 

(Kevin and Mary Jane)

Small Town Life:

Having grown up in a small Alabama town, my friend James couldn't wait to tell us all about life in California, where he was stationed.

"The malls are massive, and the restaurants are great," he said.

Then he grinned. "I even went to a topless bar."

"Really?" said his mother, surprised.  "What do they do if it starts to rain?"

Ponder This:

• I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

• Healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

• The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

• All of us could take a lesson from the weather.  It pays no attention to criticism.

• Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out'? Hmmmmm

Blonde on a Plane:

A blonde and a lawyer are seated next to each other on a flight from LA to NY.  The lawyer asks if she would like to play a fun game?

The blonde is tired and just wants to take a nap so she politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks.

The lawyer persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun.  He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5.00, and vice versa."

Again, she declines and tries to get some sleep.

The lawyer, now agitated, says, "Okay, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5.00, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500.00."

This catches the blonde's attention and, figuring there will be no end to this torment unless she plays she agrees to the game.

The lawyer asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" The blonde doesn't say a word, reaches into her purse, pulls out a $5.00 bill and hands it to the lawyer.

"Okay" says the lawyer, "your turn."

She asks the lawyer, "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs?"

The lawyer, puzzled, takes out his laptop computer and searches all his references, no answer.  He taps into the air phone with his modem and searches the net and the library of congress, no answer.  Frustrated, he sends e-mails to all his friends and coworkers, to no avail. 

After an hour, he wakes the blonde, and hands her $500.00.

The blonde says, "Thank you," and turns back to get some more sleep.

The lawyer, who is more than a little miffed, wakes the blonde and asks, "Well, what's the answer?"

Without a word, the blonde reaches into her purse, hands the lawyer $5.00, and goes back to sleep.

And you thought blondes were dumb.

(so people will wonder what your up to AND its contagious)