Making Good Decisions

Too often people don’t make the time and they are not in the habit of asking powerful questions that evoke emotion to and create hope in a better way of working and living.

You cannot go through life on auto-pilot – there needs to be a high commitment to managing decisions that you make and before that can happen, you probably need to make some new decisions. Most decisions that need to be made will begin with and spring forth from an internal, intuitive perspective but without asking new questions, often this internal emotion lies dormant.

Questions that are both heart and head provoking can begin to move an individual to a position of having to make new decisions. I teach a process called Life Planning and here are some examples of questions I use each year as I review my annual Life Plan :

What if…? (I could go home on time. I could save more. I could spend more time with my family. I could get that promotion. I could become self-employeed.) Whatever are my dreams or desires and what if I could achieve these?

How would the person I see myself being in the future be handling the issues of today?

What would need to happen to take my life to a whole new level? My business?

What decision could be made in the next 5-minutes and what action could be taken in the next 60-minutes to create fulfillment and happiness in the (state area) of my life?

What am I not willing to settle for any longer in my life? My business? My finances? My health? My relationships?

Which areas of my life are most stressful for me these days? Why? What hope lies ahead in helping reduce the stress in that environment?

What could I say “no” to today?

New questions serve one key purpose – to make our intuition come alive. They also hit hard in the area of common sense. We all have a “gut” instinct to what decisions we should be making. We all know in our “heart of hearts” the key areas of our business and our life that need new or different choices.

Intuition is always first when it comes to decision-making – the reasoning always comes second. What new questions do is cause those emotions to come to the surface on the important issues that need to be dealt with. Balance is a result of acting on those emotions and reasoning is the process through which the best decision is made. All of our key decisions require facts. And if the facts were understood, we would see how many of our decisions could be altered or fixed. But it all starts with the gut! And because of this, balance is always in flux, a constant process of decision making and managing the decisions made; a process of intuition and integrity. So when we arrive a point where our gut is telling us something, we MUST move on it, balance the emotion of this with facts, the making of new decisions, and then the management those decisions consistently.

In my own personal journey of making and managing decisions, I have learned two very important truths:

1. Intuition is most effective when it is educated
2. Analysis is most effective when it is isn’t over done

Spend the rest of this year asking new questions and coming up with new solutions that will change your life forever.

Purpose: The Driving Force

Purpose is often absent in the lives of most mortgage originators. As I travel across America, I am constantly impressed by the dramatic differences in performance between mortgage originators who have a Compelling Purpose and those who do not.
I want to share with you the gems that I gleaned recently from two very powerful and life-changing books. The On Purpose Person, by Kevin McCarthy is a book that, in less than one hour, takes you step-by-step through a process that will shape your life forever in distinct and enlightening ways. The Art of Virtue, edited by George Rogers, articulates the life-management strategies of Benjamin Franklin. This book also offers incredible new insights and skills for designing a Compelling Purpose into your business and personal lives.

Let’s take a look at the words, Compelling and Purpose. Compelling is the adjective form of the verb, compel, which is from the Latin com — together + pellere — to get or bring about by force. Purpose is something one intends to get or do; intention; a desired result. Putting these two words together creates a very strong concept that is full of empowerment. Compelling Purpose is the use of determination and resolve to focus your efforts to create intended results. With this definition in mind, let’s look at how to develop a Compelling Purpose.

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. I find it fascinating that he experienced the same challenges then as you and I are experiencing now. His frustration while pursuing his dreams caused him much confusion and led him to search for the meaning of life. He created a personal system that helped him accomplish many great things, including a place in history as one of the most revered and ingenious men ever.

Benjamin Franklin created a formal game plan for creating outcomes that emanated from a specific purpose. He developed a picture or image of his life that began with his youth and ended with his life’s completion. In effect, he visualized what he wanted his life to be, and then worked to live that life precisely.

While still very young, Ben Franklin developed a “Ladder of Success.” This ladder was a sequence of rungs that he believed people must climb if they are to create fulfilling lives. Each rung is a cornerstone or a launching pad — backed by a compelling purpose from which success would be created predictably.

Benjamin Franklin has 13 rungs to his Ladder of Success. We have highlighted his first right. Think about each one and ask yourself how you are doing in that area of your life.

Rung One: All human achievement rests on the establishment of clearly defined objectives.
Rung Two: The achievement of one’s objectives requires a good plan and consistent effort.
Rung Three: Religion is a powerful regulator of human conduct.
Rung Four: Correct action is dependent on correct opinion.
Rung Five: Motives of personal gain tend to be opposite of one’s true self-interest.
Rung Six: Without honesty, there can be no happiness.
Rung Seven: The proper acquisition and use of money may be a blessing, but the opposite is always
a curse.
Rung Eight: The possession of health makes all things easier. In its absence, everything is more difficult.

The rungs provide an excellent road map for success and for developing a compelling purpose. Let’s explore the development of a compelling purpose as it relates to what you want in the highest priority aspects of your life.

Rung One: All human achievement rests on the establishment of clearly defined
objectives.

Mortgage originators can learn a great deal from Franklin’s philosophy. Without knowing your destination, there is no purpose for the trip. You must see the end from the beginning. As Steven Covey said in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “You begin with the end in mind.”
You cannot expect to get results without specific objectives. You must have a target at which to shoot. Use this article (later) as an exercise to help you determine what you are trying to accomplish in the core areas of your life. Once you have them clearly defined, back them up with a plan and a compelling purpose.

Rung Two: The achievement of one’s objectives requires a good plan and consistent effort.

Most mortgage originators — and most people — operate without a plan. Planning is indispensable to the success of every business. You are a business; plan accordingly. In addition, when you develop lifetime plans, you add even more depth and meaning to your compelling purpose.

This second rung of Franklin’s ladder is a major one for most people. It requires you to become honest and vulnerable. Yet, taking yourself through the process will make you fulfilled and purposeful. Thomas Carlyle said, “The man without a purpose in life is like a ship without a rudder; a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.”

McCarthy suggests, to be “On-Purpose,” you must articulate what you want in life in the areas that are important to you. He called these areas, “life accounts.” Ben Franklin called them virtues. As you go through life, you deposit or withdraw from your accounts. The simple metaphor enables you to see that, when withdrawals exceed deposit, deficits are created in those accounts. When you become overdrawn, you go out of balance or “Off-Purpose.” (Instead of “On Purpose”.) Part of creating a compelling purpose in life is to create life accounts (or virtues) and work at filling them.

This metaphor is useful for helping you create balance in your life. Adding too much to one account can cause a deficit in another. Many mortgage originators work hard to produce “acceptable results,” but in that pursuit, they neglect other areas of their lives. In the long run, this causes an imbalance and causes them to be out of touch with a larger, more meaningful compelling purpose.

Examples of Life Accounts:
• Spiritual
• Physical /Health/Recreational
• Financial/Material
• Family
• Vocational/Career
• Social/Community
• Mental/Intellectual
• Virtues (As Franklin wrote in 1728 — he was only 22 years old)


McCarthy suggests that the first step in becoming an “On-Purpose Person” is to write each of your life accounts at the top of a piece of paper. (You may have five to ten sheets, depending on the number of accounts that are important to you.) Then, under each account, fill in what you “want.” All of your “wants” and “needs” are “deposits” that you will work toward accruing in each account during your lifetime. These are what I call your Core Values and Highest Priority Needs (HPN’s).

For example:

Life Account: Spiritual Fulfillment
Wants:
• Prayer and devotion daily
• Church and Study weekly
• Study one chapter from the Bible monthly
• Model Jesus

Life Account: Health
Wants:
• Maintain 195 lbs
• Aerobic exercise 30 minutes, 4 days per week.
• 25% max fat diet
• 50% water rich foods
• Moderate Alcohol

Life Account: Family Balance
• Monthly partnership meetings for constant growth
• 1 quality time per child, per week
• 3 quality vacations per year
• “I love you” daily
• Phone every extended family member at least once a month
• Vibrancy and fun, supportive and contributing.

Life Account: Financial Security
• Pursue a debt free lifestyle
• Delay gratification Embrace frugality
• Invest to develop $10,000/month income by age 65
• Purchase two vacation homes in locations desirable for renewal

Life accounts are not your Compelling Purpose, per se. They are a vehicle to use to bring clarity and focus to your life. The life accounts exercise empowers you to develop a compelling purpose; one that was developed with a high level of intention.

Franklin summarized this process with: “...but on the whole, though I never reached perfection, I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”

Now that you understand the concept of life accounts, let me add a little twist. To maximize the impact of your compelling purpose, create a hierarchy of your life accounts. To do this, McCarthy suggests that you “play them against one another.” Here is how to do it: Take a model of a progressive elimination tournament. (See diagram.) It starts off with a wide field. Players compete and, as some are eliminated, the field narrows until there is a winner.

Creating a hierarchy by prioritizing your life accounts can follow the same process. To prioritize your life accounts, number them 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. for as many as you have. Then “play” 1 against 2, and 3 against 4. In that “round” you will only have two winners. Continue this process with all of your numbered life accounts: 5 against 6; 7 against 8, and so on. Eight life accounts will narrow to four; four will narrow to two; and two will narrow to one. You now have a prioritized list of your life accounts. Next, under each life account, prioritize your wants using the same process.


This system creates focus and allows you to be a much better time manager. You will respond to your day’s activities with a renewed purpose; a compelling purpose. Combining Franklin’s first two rungs creates my first Purpose Strategy:

PURPOSE STRATEGY #1
To develop a compelling purpose, you must intentionally decide what you want in life and resolve to adhere to those wants every day of your life.

Rung Three: Religion is a powerful regulator of human conduct.

One strategy that Franklin used to shape his life was the spiritual truth of Christianity. To quote from The Art of Virtue: “In the process of establishing our life objectives (compelling purpose), and planning how to achieve them, we are forced to examine the underlying values that govern our thoughts and actions. It is these values, the estimates of worth we attach to things, that enable us to determine the importance of any given objective, and to establish the price we are willing to pay for it. Inherently religious in nature, all value systems encompass some concept of the divine essence, the purpose of life, and the laws that govern human existence.” Faith in your future creates power in your present. If you don’t have faith in your future, you will be powerless in the present. Spiritual congruency helps you develop the passion necessary to fulfill your compelling purpose.

Rung Four: Correct action is dependent upon correct opinion.

Poor judgment and poor decisions impede human excellence. Most of the problems in life are the result of poor decisions, made by ourselves or others. Bad decisions can generally be tied to misinformation or a lack of information, both of which form wrong opinions. The fact is, correct action is largely impossible without correct opinion and, correct opinion may only be obtained through the acquisition of correct information. The process for gaining accurate and correct knowledge is:

• Possess the desire to know
• Seek out the best information available
• Examine the information thoroughly
• Form an opinion
• Test your opinion
• Compare the resulting actions with your past experience and the experience of others


Benjamin Franklin believed that, in the quest for knowledge, you should not put too much trust in human reason. Too many times, reason is a tool for justification rather than for discovery. To be thought right is sometimes a more compelling ambition than to actually think right. Reason, he discovered, was as easily led by pride and passion as it was by a hunger for truth.

Franklin believed the best alternative is to “think rightly.” He said:

1) Place more value on understanding truth than on what others think of you.
2) Do not invest so much of yourself in an idea that you cannot give it up or be made to see another idea more clearly.
3) Be straightforward in your admission of error when called for.
4) Be the first to admit you do not know and the last to commit to what you cannot deliver.
5) Be honest with yourself. Do not rationalize your actions with unwise or untrue justification.

PURPOSE STRATEGY #2
Knowledge is power! Be an accumulator of information and be careful when forming opinions to immerse yourself into the information without bias or prejudgment.

Rung Five: Motives of personal gain tend to be opposite of one’s true interest.
One of the greatest elements of developing a compelling purpose can be found in Franklin’s fifth rung. If you are motivated by self-interest, you will lose more than you will gain. This is especially true in loan origination. I have talked repeatedly about the law of reciprocity. It states that you should, without condition, give to others freely and willingly; and what you give will come back to you. The inverse is the law of scarcity: if you focus on personal gain, you will end up with less.

As a mortgage originator, ask yourself, “Am I a Giver or a Taker?” Be honest with yourself. What is your focus? Is it getting transactions, making money, and doing deals? Or is it helping prospects succeed by giving them ideas and strategies that will increase their business?

Over 3000 years ago, King Solomon wrote: “It is possible to give away and become wealthy. It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall become rich. By watering others, he waters himself.”

PURPOSE STRATEGY #3:
To develop a compelling purpose, you design your life to give, not take.

Rung Six: Without honesty there can be no happiness.

Part of having a Compelling Purpose is integrity. The loan origination business is too short to live on the line. You must possess honesty that is beyond reproach. Franklin had some profound ideas on this: “The very nature of dishonesty is that we must first practice it on ourselves before we can practice it on anyone else. If we do not discover some ‘good reasons’ to justify our wicked deeds, we will be overcome by pangs of conscience. Being reasonable creatures unwilling to suffer the discomforts of guilt, we often find it easier to lie to ourselves than to be honest with others. Unfortunately, as with other forms of misguided self-interest, the consequences of dishonesty are tragically different than those anticipated.”

PURPOSE STRATEGY #4:
A good reputation is hard to get and with the slip of the tongue can be lost forever. To develop a compelling purpose, live with integrity.

Rung Seven: The proper acquisition of money may be a blessing, but its opposite is always a curse.

Happiness is not rooted in the accumulation of money. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Rungs five and seven have some close parallels, but there are some distinctions.

The major concept in rung seven is that your life must not revolve around the accumulation of wealth. Innumerable men have fallen in the pursuit of riches. Far fewer have been able to stay balanced and centered once they gained wealth. Stay focused on business and frugality and you are assured of wealth, if you want it. Franklin believed that is was better to live usefully than to die rich.
The question arises, “What’s your primary focus as a mortgage originator? Is it to make money or to help others succeed and, in the process, become wealthy yourself?” There is a big difference between the two.

When Franklin published Poor Richard’s Almanac, he used it as a vehicle to promote inventions, virtues of industry, and frugality. He had hundreds of inventions and solutions for the men of commerce in his day; all of which he gave away for free in his almanac. He never patented his ideas; instead, he allowed others to gain and no one took advantage of him. He died very fulfilled.

Some sound advice is delivered in a quaint story by Franklin: “I have heard that nothing gives an author so great pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by others. Judge, then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I’m going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately where a great number of people collected at an auction of merchant’s goods. The hour of the sale not having come, they were conversing about the badness of the times, and one of them called to a plain, clean, old man with white locks: “Pray, Father Abraham, what do you think of the times? Will not these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be able to pay them? What would you advise us to do?” “Friends,” said he, “The taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them, but we have many others and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly. Let us hear the good advice of Poor Richard: God helps those who help themselves.” Franklin said there are three ways to accumulate wealth: Industriousness, Prudence, and Frugality. How are you in each of those areas?

PURPOSE STRATEGY #5:
Pursue true wealth, not monetary wealth.

Rung Eight: The possession of health makes all things easier. In its absence, everything is more difficult.

Energy is the cornerstone of longevity in life and of passion in business. Energy springs from a lifestyle of exercise and eating the right foods. Mortgage originators need massive amounts of energy, but how many of you eat well and exercise regularly? Perhaps no other aspect of life is appreciated more in its absence and less in its presence than health. Franklin believed proper nutrition, adequate exercise, and sufficient rest were paramount to the blessing of good health. Over 200 years ago, he preached and recited the principles of a healthy lifestyle: avoid over-eating and heavy meals, eat vegetables, water-rich foods, and lighter meats; recognize the danger of heavy alcohol consumption; get adequate rest; breathe lots of fresh air; and exercise.

Without your commitment to the preservation of health, you will not be able to be a compelling person or have a compelling purpose. It’s a tough business. The superstars always have more physical and emotional stamina. Commit yourself to a healthy lifestyle. Eat to live, don’t live to eat. Keep your base metabolic rate (BMR) high so that you burn fat, which produces energy. Do this by working out aerobically three to four days per week. Get your heart rate up to 130 to 160 beats per minute, for 30 to 40 minutes each time. This lifestyle will increase your energy by 30 to 40 percent. You will not only feel better, you will feel great!


PURPOSE STRATEGY #6:
Your body is a temple, created by God. Treat it with reverence. I hope these thoughts have been interesting and will be beneficial to you. I believe that as we go through life, we should look for catalysts to help us with our transformations.

Make Failure Your Friend

Principle #6: Self-leadership means learning from your mistakes.

Make failure your friend.

Self-evaluation means nothing if you cannot learn from your mistakes. By confronting your mistakes you take one step closer to becoming the person you are supposed to be. None of us would be anywhere without self-evaluation.

I once heard a coach compare the athlete who can self-evaluate with the one who can’t think past the current play. An athlete who is self-evaluating is usually your captain. He or she is the athlete who understands how mistakes (especially his or hers) affect the momentum and outcome of the game. If an athlete cannot make adjustments during a game, then chances are they will lose. It is the same outside of the game.

In business or in personal life, it’s easy to spot someone who keeps running into the same brick wall. They make the same mistakes because they refuse to learn from their mistakes. In sports it’s the athlete who can make adjustments during play or at halftime or between holes who will typically rise above the competition. Too often when people face defeat, they respond either by never trying again or by continuing their faulty strategy or action.

Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, said, “When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal,” great advice! Learn from your mistake. Your plan is not sound, so make corrections and get back in the game.

Love that thought!

How To Succeed in LIfe

As a young 22-year old, I came accross this essay published in 1903 in the Pittsburgh Bulletin by Andrew Carnegie. Andrew Carnegie is regarded as the second richest man in the history of the US behind John D. Rockefeller. And besides the great rules for living found below, he had the smartest wealth and legacy buidling strategy ever. I give that to you at the end of this BLOG.

Everybody wants to preach to the young, and tell them to be good and they will be happy. I shall not enter far upon that field, but confine myself to presenting from a business man's standpoint of view, a few rules, which, I believe, lie at the root of business success.

First--Never enter a bar-room. Do not drink liquor as a beverage. I will not paint the evil of drunkenness, or the moral crime; but I suggest to you that it is low and common to enter a bar-room, unworthy of any self-respecting man, and sure to fasten upon you a taint which will operate to your disadvantage in life, whether you ever become a drunkard or not.

Second--I wish young men would not use tobacco--not that it is morally wrong, except in so far as it is used in excess and injures health, which the medical faculty declares it does. But the use of tobacco requires young men to withdraw themselves from the society of women to indulge the habit. I think the absence of women from any assembly tends to lower the tone of that assembly. The habit of smoking tends to carry young men into the society of men whom it is not desirable that they should choose as their intimate associates. The practice of chewing tobacco was once common. Now it is considered offensive. I believe the race is soon to take another step forward, and that the coming man is to consider smoking as offensive as chewing was formally considered. As it is practically abandoned now, so I believe smoking will be.

Third--Having entered upon work, continue in that line of work. Fight it out on that line (except in extreme cases), for it matters little what avenue a young man finds first. Success can be attained in any branch of human labor. There is always room at the top in every pursuit. Concentrate all your thought and energy upon the performance of your duties. Put all your eggs into one basket and then watch that basket, do not scatter your shot. The man who is director in a half dozen railroads and three or four manufacturing companies, or who tries at one and the same time to work a farm, a factory, a line of street cars, a political party and a store, rarely amounts to much. He may be concerned in the management of more than one business enterprise, but they should all be of the one kind, which he understands. The great successes of life are made by concentration.

Fourth--Do not think a man has done his full duty when he has performed the work assigned him. A man will never rise if he does only this. Promotion comes from exceptional work. A man must discover where his employer's interests can be served beyond the range of the special work allotted to him; and whenever he sees his employer's interests suffer, or wherever the latter's interests can be promoted, tell him so. Differ from your employers upon what you think his mistakes. You will never make much of a success if you do not learn the needs and opportunities of your own branch much better than your employer can possibly do. You have been told to "obey orders if you break owners." Do no such foolish thing. If your employer starts upon a course which you think will prove injurious, tell him so, protest, give your reasons, and stand to them unless convinced you are wrong. It is the young man who does this, that capital wants for a partner or for a son-in-law.

Fifth--Whatever your wages are, save a little. Live within your means. The heads of stores, farms, banks, lawyers' offices, physicians' offices, insurance companies, mills and factories are not seeking capital; they are seeking brains and business habits. The man who saves a little from his income has given the surest indication of the qualities which every employer is seeking for.

Sixth--Never speculate. Never buy or sell grain or stocks upon a margin. If you have savings, invest them in solid securities, lands or property. The man who gambles upon the exchanges is in the condition of the man who gambles at the gaming table. He rarely, if ever, makes a permanent success. His judgment goes; his faculties are snapped; and his end, as a rule, is nervous prostration after an unworthy and useless life.

Seventh--If you ever enter business for yourself, never indorse for others. It is dishonest. All your resources and all your credit are the sacred property of the men who have trusted you; and until you have surplus cash and owe no man, it is dishonest to give your name as an indorser to others. Give the cash you can spare, if you wish, to help a friend. Your name is too sacred to give.
Do not make riches, but usefulness, your first aim; and let your chief pride be that your daily occupation is in the line of progress and development; that your work, in whatever capacity it may be, is useful work, honestly conducted, and as such ennobling to your life.

To sum up, do not drink, do not smoke, do not indorse, do not speculate. Concentrate, perform more than your prescribed duties; be strictly honest in word and deed. And may all who read these words be just as happy and prosperous and long lived as I wish them all to be. And let this great fact always cheer them: It is impossible for any one to be cheated out of an honorable career unless he cheats himself.

Wealth Building:

Carnegie believed in using his fortune for others and doing more than making money. He wrote:

I propose to take an income no greater than $50,000 per annum! Beyond this I need ever earn, make no effort to increase my fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes! Let us cast aside business forever, except for others. Let us settle in Oxford and I shall get a thorough education, making the acquaintance of literary men. I figure that this will take three years active work. I shall pay especial attention to speaking in public. We can settle in London and I can purchase a controlling interest in some newspaper or live review and give the general management of it attention, taking part in public matters, especially those connected with education and improvement of the poorer classes. Man must have an idol and the amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry! No idol is more debasing than the worship of money! Whatever I engage in I must push inordinately; therefore should I be careful to choose that life which will be the most elevating in its character. To continue much longer overwhelmed by business cares and with most of my thoughts wholly upon the way to make more money in the shortest time, must degrade me beyond hope of permanent recovery. I will resign business at thirty-five, but during these ensuing two years I wish to spend the afternoons in receiving instruction and in reading systematically!

Principle #5: Self-leadership means evaluating how you are doing in the areas that are important to you.

Make improvement your initiative.

Self-evaluation is not easy to learn, nor is it easy to do. It takes true humility to admit that things may not be going so well—that you are off course. But self-evaluation is a key asset to sound self-leadership. It is something that never really ends, but that continues to develop over time.

My good friend John Maxwell said, “Success is a continuing thing. It is growth and development. It is achieving one thing and using that as a steppingstone to achieve something else.”

In order to achieve and move on to something else, you must be able to evaluate your progress. The strong leaders are the ones who are always making improvements in their personal and professional lives so that one harmonizes with the other.

Achieving professional success doesn’t mean that you’ve arrived, rather, that you’re always moving toward your next project, your next opportunity for success. As Winston Churchill asserted, “Success is never final.”

What about you? Are you simply living for temporary success? A true self-leader is always striving to better their craft, grow as a person, and find success in whatever avenue presents itself.