Greetings BRAR Friends,

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, my thoughts turned back to New Years’ Eve, 2000.  Can it really be 24 years ago? I remember the angst associated with the millennial change. The dreaded Y2K. Everyone was worried about financial systems breaking down, computers imploding, etc.   But life went on relatively unaffected.  The stress, worries, and angst were all unfounded.

It’s human nature to worry.  Still, when you really process it, worry is a huge waste of time.  We can only control a few things in our lives (what we eat, who we associate with, how we behave and our attitude).  Thinking back to my life as a Realtor, this time of year was when I set big goals for the coming months and self-motivated my approach to my career.  No doubt I spent too much time planning and not enough time “doing” at times.  We all get caught up in goal setting, planning, developing systems and dreaming about what lies ahead.  Good stuff, right?  Not always.  As we head into this new year, we should also be focusing on making the most of each day, each moment and opportunity that comes our way.  Staying in those moments is difficult when we are busy multi-tasking and putting most of our energy into the grand plans we make.

I’m not saying that plans are useless, and that we should just stick our heads in the sand and hope that staying in the moment pays off in all the ways necessary to keep us going in terms of servicing our financial, emotional and career/family needs. Planning is necessary.  So is the realization that we need to be able to stay nimble, to ad lib.  My experience has been that staying positive and limiting time with negative people or thoughts gives you a boost toward achieving your goals and being filled with joy.   Your chances of having a better day and a better year are increased substantially by staying in the positive lane and not picking up negative hitchhikers.

As part of the BRAR community, I’m hopeful that all of us take a positive attitude into 2024.  We can’t control the economy, where interest rates go, or the volume of buyers/sellers who will step forward in the coming year.  We can control how we deal with each other.  We can control how we support each other, especially when a friend or peer is deeply in need of that support.  We can control our image as a caring Realtor association in the communities we serve.  Let’s do all those things and see where the year ends up.  I’m betting that our actions will help us overcome any obstacles that litter our paths in 2024.

Who’s with me?