How To Avoid The Holiday Coma

How To Avoid The Holiday Coma

Like many of you, I’m coming off a major Thanksgiving holiday. Full of friends, family and the food coma. A study from 2007 found that eating a meal with a high glycemic index shortened the time it took for people to fall asleep by about 50% when compared to those fed a low glycemic index meal.

But there’s likely more than one reason a Thanksgiving feast can end in sleepiness. A study from 2009 suggests that cross-talk between the gut and the brain after a meal activates the hypothalamus, which indirectly stimulates regions responsible for sleep while simultaneously suppressing regions responsible for wakefulness.

In last week’s blog, I wrote about the Mindset, Attitude, Actions, and Results circle. That’s kind of like the cross talk between your gut and the brain after a big meal, yes!? Here is what we know, the difference between mindset and attitude are clear: mindset is a way of thinking; that in turn drives your attitude which shows up in how you approach things, your language tone and posture. That in turns drives your actions and your behavior which ultimately delivers an outcome or a result.

So, IF your business is in a food coma, or you are being proactive to avoid the holiday business coma, here’s 2 steps to consider.

1. Improve your posture and increase your daily physical activity over the next 4 weeks.
2. Make sure your business plan is relevant and up to date by 12/1. And in that process ensure you:
a. Define YOUR unique value
b. Trouble shoot any issue holding you back
c. Be clear and FOCUS on a clearly defined target market
d. Get in a small group

Move your body MORE

Tony Robbins, consultant and coach to CEO’s and self-help guru believes that what the body does, the mind follows. Wake up your body and your mind is awoken.

Example: what is your posture at this moment? When was the last time you went on brisk walk? How do you carry yourself? How do you dress yourself? How does your face look at this exact moment? Change your physical state: Take a daily walk, sit up straighter, put a smile on your face, dress the part for your industry and see if that doesn’t have an immediate effect on your mindset.

If you’re interested, look into the book “Presence” where author Amy Cuddy explains the science behind all of this and even shows you a couple of power poses. Here is a link to her amazing Ted Talk.

Is Your Business Plan Relevant?

Define your value and remember it’s NOT all about you! Be TOTALLY clear about how choosing you as a real estate agent benefits your prospect. When someone asks you what you do, it can be tempting to list your awards and accomplishments. Try to be mindful about naming specific ways your services benefit sellers, buyers or investors. Benefit-focused value statements resonate with prospects in a meaningful way. For example:

I specialize in helping empty nesters find the luxury downtown condo that’s just right for them.

I am a ninja negotiator with a track record of selling homes at an average of 2 percent over list.

Want to sell fast? Then I’m your real estate agent, as my listings sell in 26 days on average, 13 days faster than the norm.

Troubleshoot any issue holding you back. Unless you are a hobbyist in real estate, you’ll need systems for:

Consistent quality – for you, your clients and your partners.
Simplifying your workload – like a checklist for a pilot before takeoff
Saving time – less time wondering what to do next and more time doing it
Highlighting and eliminating inefficiencies
Growing your business – serve more people, make more money

Do you have a clear TARGET?

When we see agents and teams struggling, too often their target market is just not specific enough. Many agents and teams may have several different types of target markets. Yet, for the purposes of marketing your business, you want to start with a laser focus on sellers and buyers. Your target market profile should be specific enough to answer basic questions like:

Where can you find sufficient numbers of them in groups?
What media do they consume? (How to reach them)
What blog sites, websites, forums do they frequent?
How engaged are they on social media and which platform?
What associations do they belong to?

The power of a small group. If your business is struggling – or you want to avoid the holiday coma – as the business owner, it can be tough to see the forest between the trees. It’s easy to get in overdrive mode putting in more hours working in the business with little or no time left to work on the business. This is where it would be wise to seek expert from like-minded individuals, a business coach or BOTH.

What action will you take to get out of OR avoid a business holiday coma?

 

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is much more than just a three-day weekend and a chance to get the year’s first sunburn. As we reflect on those we’ve lost and those that have served us, we trust you, your family and friends will enjoy this special holiday.

On May 30, 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where he said:  “I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be beside the graves of fifteen-thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem the music of which can never be sung.”

A few other Memorial Day facts:

  • It is customary on Memorial Day to fly the flag at half staff until noon, and then raise it to the top of the staff until sunset.
  • Taps, the 24-note bugle call, is played at all military funerals and memorial services. It originated in 1862 when Union General Dan Butterfield “grew tired of the ‘lights out’ call sounded at the end of each day.”
  • The World War I poem “In Flanders Fields,” by John McCrea, inspired the Memorial Day custom of wearing red artificial poppies. In 1915, a Georgia teacher and volunteer war worker named Moina Michael began a campaign to make the poppy a symbol of tribute to veterans and for “keeping the faith with all who died.” The sale of poppies has supported the work of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
  • Set your alarm!  In 2000, Congress established a National Moment Of Remembrance, which asks Americans to pause for one minute at 3 p.m. in an act of national unity. The time was chosen because 3 p.m. “is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday.”

Hold your loved ones close and enjoy the freedom of this amazing holiday.

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” 
– John. F. Kennedy