ISTAR: Nichole’s Journey
In my last post I gave you a brief summary of my experience at the ISTAR (Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research) event. I alluded to one young woman’s speech that I found particularly powerful. I had asked her for permision to share excerpts and planned to give you a summary of her speech but […]
ISTAR: Changing lives through communication
Last Friday I had the privilege of being invited to a luncheon for one of the charities that our company supports through our affiliation with REALTORS® Community Foundation. I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but had been encouraged to attend. I was honestly expecting a fancy luncheon where they sold donors […]
Emotion: The key to inspiring action
If you want to inspire action, you’ve got to evoke emotion. This is an important thing to consider when we look to inspire others to action. Whether it be our children, our spouse or our consumers. If you think about anything in your life that has compelled you to act there is usually a strong […]
The Power of The Follow UP Call
A couple of weeks ago my car broke down and was going to be out of commission for at least a week (don’t ask. That’s another blog post). I found myself in a position where I needed to rent a vehicle for at least a week. Since I broke down in Red Deer and needed […]
Words to Live By: “Responsive”
Quite some time ago I wrote an article entitled “Words to Live By” where I talked about looking at the words with which you think people use to describe you and contrasting them with the words you would like them to use to describe you. I still use this as a barometer to try and […]
Happy New Day!!
It is New Years day and as I sit back and reflect on the past year and watch others do the same, I can’t help but think that there has got to be a better way to do the whole “Out with the old, in with the new” thing. Striving to make big changes, new […]
Brain Food: What do you eat?
2013 was a year in which I really focused on my physical fitness and it certainly paid dividends. I am in better physical shape then I have ever been in my life. As I sit and reflect and look forward to my 2014 goals I feel compelled to put the emphasis on intellectual development. We […]
Goal Setting to Goal Achieving: The ‘not so secret’ ingredients
Inevitably, this time of year, we start reflecting on what we accomplished last year and look forward to what we might like to accomplish in the next. This post may be nothing more than stating the obvious but I thought it is a concept that might sometimes go overlooked. I was on the treadmill the […]
All I want for Christmas…
Well, it’s that time of year again. The requests from the family to get your Christmas lists in has begun. This year all I want for Christmas is: A goat 2 Chickens A sheep a donkey and Fresh Water For many of us the real joy at Christmas time is in the giving not the […]
Thirteen years ago
Thirteen years ago today my life changed forever. While you often hear that having kids will change your life, I am not sure you ever really understand the full impact of that statement. Christopher you have made an enormous impact on my life and likely more than you will understand until you too have a […]
What was hard becomes easy
So here we are less than two weeks away from the most challenging physical thing I have ever done in my life. In 12 days I will swim 3.8km, bike 180km and then run a marathon. This is a feat that 18 months ago I would have thought impossible. Now don’t get me wrong or […]
My Half Ironman Experience
So here it is, 32 weeks of training all comes down to one day. On Sunday July 7, 2013 I raced the Great White North Half Ironman Triathlon and I have to tell you that after my swim experience at the ITU I was a little nervous leading up to this event. I made extra […]
Race day: I fought the Suck, and the Suck won!
So today I did my first sprint triathlon. It was the 2013 Edmonton ITU Triathlon World Cup and man was it well run. This was a big event and a qualifier for worlds for 2014 which will be hosted in Edmonton. To qualify for Worlds you needed to place in the top 8 in your age […]
Thank You: Amy Holden
Recently I came across a blog titled 365 days of “Thank You”. The author has made a point of writing a blog post daily of thanking someone in his life that has made an impact on him. As I read some of the posts I was struck by what a brilliant, simple idea that was. […]
To be coached, or not to be coached, that is the question
If you look at any of the great performers out there you will find a common thread…. they all have a coach. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure if I needed a coach as there are so many resources online and, after all, it’s not like I’m training to win. I’m training to finish. Well, […]
It must have been the sea air!
So last week I was in Vancouver for our annual Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals Mortgage Conference. Like a good little athlete I brought my running gear intent on making sure that I got out for a few runs while there. Historically where the intent has always been great the execution has been lackluster at best. My […]
I can’t swim!! How am I gonna do a triathlon
One of the first things I recognized I would need to do to reach my goal of completing an iron distance race was to improve (OK maybe ‘learn to’ would be more accurate) swim. I was referred to a local fitness trainer/triathlon coach whom I contacted in September. His suggestion was to sign up for […]
OK, I guess it’s time to make it official
Alright, I guess it is time I admit it. I have signed up for Challenge Penticton (formerly Ironman Canada). What exactly does that mean you say? Well, it means I need to get my butt in shape. Challenge Penticton is an Iron distance triathlon set in the Okanagan on August 25, 2013. We begin our […]
Reflection: What do you see in the mirror?
This week at our Toastmasters club our theme was “Being Reflective”. As the Toastmaster for the meeting I had the privilege of leading the meeting and keeping it on track with the theme. In my preamble I talked about what “Being Reflective” meant to me. I talked about the fact that I felt being reflective meant taking […]
It’s the little things…
How often do we hear the line “It’s the little things that make a big difference”? I tend to use that line alot and truly believe that is the case. It is often not the massive large scale gestures of others that make a significant impact in our lives but usually the very small ones. The small […]
Perceptions of a Newbie: Group Cycling; who knew??
So today I had my first experience with an organized group ride. I have to admit when my friend invited me out for this 65KM ride I was more than a little nervous. My previous longest distance on a bike was somewhere shy of 40KM so going with a group of people I did not […]
For the love of reading; Passion is contagious!
Have you ever wondered why some people burn an indelible impression in your mind and others you forget the minute they walk out the door? Have you ever wondered why some conversations leave a lasting mark and make an impact on your life and others are gone with the wind? Why is it that our […]
Do you believe in the tooth fairy?
Well, this week my 9 year old decided to test the theory that the tooth fairy is real. Mikaela lost a tooth this week that has been hanging on and hanging on. It finally came out and she handed it to me and I left it on the kitchen counter on a kleenex. Well of […]
It’s not rocket science folks!
The following is an article I wrote back in 2007 and came across as we redefine our business processes. I thought it was worthy of republishing. You are well on your way to becoming a “successful” mortgage agent. You have worked hard, learned from your mistakes and believe in life long learning. Now your efforts […]
Words to live by
For our conference in Las Vegas this month I prepared a workshop on effective communication. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we ended up with far too much content for our 48 hours together and ended up scrapping that session. Putting this workshop together was a real eye-opener and thought I would take a minute to share with […]
Why I drop kicked Mark Messier
Alright so I didn’t exactly drop kick Mark Messier but I did cross paths with him at an event in Las Vegas last week. It was the opening day of our very first corporate national conference. We held the event at the Venetian Hotel on the strip. The first event after the registration desk closed […]
Telus: Customer Service via Twitter?
So late last year my wife convinced me that we needed PVR anywhere. Yes, that is right, PVR Anywhere. Our Shaw system with one PVR just wasn’t cutting it. I mean really, what if we want to watch a show in the basement or up in our bedroom? Heaven forbid we be inconvenienced by not […]
Are you a salesperson?
Do you view yourself as a salesperson? I would suggest you probably should. Let’s start with the definition of sales. The exchange of a good or service for money; the action of selling something. If you earn a living in one way shape or form than whether you are self employed or employed by someone […]
Relationship Marketing Revisited
Recently, Chris Smith from Inman Next published a blog post entitled “Real Estate is no longer a Relationship Business“. While I agree with the sentiment, I completely disagree with the title and what it implies. First off understand I am not a Real Estate Agent, I am a mortgage broker and while our industries our […]
Christopher’s Passion
My 10 year old was asked by his grade 6 teacher to write a paragraph about something he was passionate about. This is what he wrote: I run on to the field at the start of the game. My heart pounding and the crowd cheering. The ref blows the whistle. The game starts. My team […]
Providing “Value”, Part 3
In my last couple of posts I talked about some of the ways that I have observed people “provide value” in interesting or unique ways. In this post I wanted to share a story of one of the ways my team found to ‘provide value’ to a builder who is a valued referral source. One […]
“VALUE” COMES IN MANY SHAPES AND SIZES: PART 2
In my last post Part 1 of this topic I talked about the challenges of providing value via social media or otherwise to attract prospective clients or referral sources. In this post I am going to continue with that same line of thought and give you an example of how someone else found a unique […]
The HOME Program
The following is an article that was written and published in the Canadian Mortgage Professional magazine. You can view the HOME Program website here. The article below focuses on my participation but it is important to note that we have many fabulous people who make the program happen. Not the least of which is the […]
“Value” comes in many shapes and sizes: Part 1
One of the things you will often hear from the marketing gurus out there is the constant talk about ‘value’. The concept is that you can’t just be spewing product information and pushing your message out to the masses. People have become resistant to this kind of marketing. You need to provide ‘value’ is the […]
Some folks get it… and some they don’t
So since I started getting on this social media bandwagon, I’ve been really paying attention to how companies interact with the public. Especially on Twitter. I have run into a few different experiences that I thought I would document that really highlight the difference between those companies that ‘get it’ and those that don’t. It […]
The Power of Social Media
About a month ago I was asked to come do a presentation at a lunch and learn in a fairly casual setting. I discussed a few subjects with the organizer and we settled on what I would entitle “Relationship based selling in a digital world”. My thought was I would do a sales presentation that […]
Lessons from Twitter on Accountability and Transparency
You will hear all kinds of words used to describe how to interact on social media. You will hear about authenticity, you will hear about engagement. The two most powerful words when it comes to social media and especially Twitter are Accountability and Transparency. I had just recently started using Twitter and had talked to […]
Back at ‘er
You know how it is. You’ve gone too long without getting out for a run. You want to do it, you need to do it but you just need that kick in the pants to get out the door. Well my ‘kick in the pants’ came while I was on vacation and of all places from […]
My first Marathon: 2003 ING Edmonton Marathon
It all started with an email. A friend of mine and REALTOR had run many different marathons over the coarse of a few years. We had often talked about them and he knew I had a small nagging interest in pursuing the challenge. We were exchanging emails on a file one day and once we […]
Life can change in the blink of an eye
Most years for our family summer vacation we make our way out to see my parents in beautiful Hope, British Columbia. They have a gorgeous spot directly on Kawkawa Lake with about 60 feet of beachfront. Their place comes complete with a second floor deck that spans the entire width of the home. Surrounded by a […]
Don’t treat your mortgage like rent!
For many first-time buyers it is easy to get into a new home and a mortgage and continue to treat it the same way you did when you were renting. You can make a significant impact on how quickly you payoff your mortgage by just paying a little attention to it. While renting you get […]