How to say NO thank you Mr Pink (not res. dogs)

How to say No . . . especially to things you want to do

Last night, I had a breakthrough: I realized that personal productivity is the new dieting. (Like all evening epiphanies, this one is subject to future revision, refinement, and rejection.)
Here’s what I mean.

A century ago, America didn’t have much of a weight loss industry. Why?  Lack of demand. Back then, calories were generally scarce and expensive. As a result, few people had the luxury to overindulge — which meant that waistlines didn’t expand and the Dieting Industrial Complex couldn’t exist.

But then, over the next few decades, a funny thing happened: The economics flipped. Calories became abundant and cheap. In this new environment, people, driven by genes programmed to accumulate those calories, did overindulge — which delivered lots of new customers to a once-tiny industry and presented our society with clutch of unexpected problems (obesity, diabetes, etc.)

Personal productivity has followed the same path.
A century ago, middle class Americans didn’t have many options or much information. That enabled a simpler, though not necessarily better, life. So notwithstanding a few Ben Franklins and Napoleon Hills, we didn’t need a ginormous industry devoted to helping us sort through our choices and refine our priorities.
But then, once again, things flipped. We now inhabit an environment (at least in much of the developed world) of abundant options and boundless, inexpensive information. That has triggered our dopamine-seeking instincts to pile too much onto our professional plates — which in turn has produced an entire infrastructure to help us avoid gorging ourselves.

The result is that the question that has bedeviled dieters now bedevils many of us in the option-rich, information-saturated Conceptual Age: How do we say “No?”
But as the wise Elizabeth Gilbert points out in the short video clip below, it’s not just saying
no in general or declining what we don’t find interesting. It’s saying no to things we actually want to do.

Here the dieting analogy clarifies the problem. It’s easy for most of us to say no to a kelp and wheat germ smoothie. But saying no to the andouille cheese fries at Louisiana Kitchen? That’s tougher.
And so the more I think about it, the more I realize that one of our big challenges (again, for those of us who lucked out, live in the developed world, and earn our living through something besides grinding physical labor) is this: How do we say no to things we want to do?
I don’t have a good answer — but I have explored a few options:

• I’m a devotee of Getting Things Done and that’s helped a lot.
• I believe in Tom Peters’s idea of creating a “To-Don’t” list.
• Some folks use the equivalent of barricading the refrigerator with software like Freedom.

But I wonder if we could go further and help each other out — much as peer groups assist dieters. For instance, when someone who seems pretty interesting asks to meet for coffee or to talk on the phone for “only fifteen minutes,” maybe the options aren’t only to say Yes and feel like you’ve compromised your priorities — or No and feel guilty.
Instead, maybe there’s something we could say that indicates that their request falls into the “I’d love to, but my health depends on saying no to things I want to do” category. Maybe a phrase (“cheese fries”)? A new coinage (“R-No” — for “reluctant no”)? A link to this blog post?
I wouldn’t want to return to a world of limited options and pricey information any more than I’d like to return to a world of scarce, expensive calories. But I think we all need a little help dealing with our new circumstances and saying no to things that we want to do.
If you’ve got ideas on how to do that, leave them in the Comments section and I’ll repost the best advice.

Get your pink on a Great post from Daniel Pink

Would getting rid of cash make our lives easier and better?

On Sunday night I did something that, when you stop and think about it for a moment, was weird.
Accompanied by SaulonSports, I drove to Ray’s Hell Burger to pick up dinner for ourselves and our fellow Pinks. We asked for five burgers. And the folks behind the counter gave them to us in exchange for — get this — three pieces of paper.
Three pieces of paper!

Yes, they were two 20-dollar bills and one Hamilton. But still, we obtained something of value (including a B.I.G. Poppa!) by handing over a few strips of fiber that have no inherent worth.
In his new book, The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers — and the Coming Cashless Society, David Wolman explores the conundrums and complexities of cash. (Buy the book at Amazon, BN.com, or IndieBound.)

He argues that bills and coins are inefficient and expensive — for example, a U.S. nickel costs 11.2 cents to make – and that we’d be better off without it. In fact, he tried to go a year without using any cash at all.
The book is fascinating — so much so that I asked David to answer some questions for Pink Blog readers.
You tried to avoid using physical money for an entire year. What changes in your daily habits or ways of thinking were you forced to make? And have you gone back to using coins and bills?
The biggest hangup for me–both during the cashless year and now–is tipping. While foregoing cash, I made sure, for example, never to get help from a curbside porter at an airport or bellhop at a hotels, no matter how heavy my suitcases. Now I’ve loosened up on that, especially during a recent family vacation, which included a duffle bag that I would swear was packed with silver bullion. I also steered clear of farmers markets; many of those vendors still only accept cash, although I think that’s changing. I tell ya, I can’t wait for the day when I can tip or buy some strawberries with an exchange as simple as a text message.
As some people know, I harbor a long-standing animus against pennies. You talk about this issue in your book – pennies are expensive to make, heavy to transport, and nearly useless as a medium of exchange. And still we can’t get rid of them! If we can’t even break our penny habit, how likely is it that we’ll be able to shed our reliance on cash more broadly?
Cash’s magic spell begins with the penny. You’re right: if we can’t even nuke the penny, doing away with cash sounds rather quixotic. And losing the penny is going to be especially hard during the term of a President from the Land of Lincoln. (You may have seen recently that the President wants the Treasury to look into making pennies out of cheaper materials, precisely because of this cost imbalance. Talk about an inability to see the forest through the trees.) All of that being said, I’m still hopeful that cash’s death by 1,000 cuts is still on course, thanks to emerging technologies and alternative currency innovators. It’s not so much that we will actively do away with pennies and cash in other denominations. It’s that cash will get pushed so far to the margins that people won’t want it anymore. Think of how little we use it already. Illicit transactions notwithstanding, when was the last time you or other PinkBlog readers used cash for any sizable purchase or payment?
What’s the most surprising thing you learned about money – past, present, or future — while researching your book?
I was taken aback by how vehemently so many people oppose the idea of doing away with cash. For crooks, tax evaders, or individuals who want to buy porn in secret — I get it. What I’m talking about are people representing a broad spectrum of viewpoints, yet all converging on a defense of cash that is sometimes rational, other times not at all. ACLU types worry about threats to privacy resulting from an entirely digital money system; right-wingers ascribing to the get-government-off-my-guns-and-cash dogma obviously loathe the idea; and even everyday folks who just feel this kind of vague ambivalence about giving up on money in its tactile form. They know the paper and metal representations of US dollars aren’t in and of themselves of worth. But they don’t care. They still like them.
After reading the book, I’m convinced. Cash costs too much in terms of time, materials, security, transportation, you name it. Tell us what a future without money will look like, and what’s one step a PinkBlog reader could take today to help make that future come true as quickly as possible?
The future holds a phantasmagoria of value options, with various currencies all exchangeable and trade-able in real time via your mobile phone. What can you do to nudge things along? Be like an airline! To avoid the high costs of cash, most major airlines have stopped accepting paper money for payment during flights. By doing so they have chipped away, ever so slightly, at the fungibility of cash. One of cash’s historical — and, to a large extent, persisting — advantages is that it can be used across almost all uses because nearly everyone accepts it. But that doesn’t have to be so. Look at how many restaurants and other businesses refuse to accept plastic because the proprietor doesn’t like the fees. If refusing to accept cash strikes you as too extreme, or possibly too hazardous to your bottom line, consider encouraging other forms of payment by offering a discount, for instance, to people who pay with electronic funds, thereby helping you reduce the need for using–and paying to use–cash.

This Week’s Market Commentary

This week brings us the release of six economic reports to be concerned with in addition to some very important testimony from Fed Chairman Bernanke.

One of the reports is considered to be very important, but nearly all of the week’s releases have the potential to affect mortgage rates. There is nothing of relevance scheduled for release tomorrow or Friday, so the middle part of the week should be extremely active for mortgage rates.

The week’s first piece of data is January’s Durable Goods Orders data early Tuesday morning. It gives us an important measurement of manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders at U.S. factories for items expected to last three or more years. A larger decline than the 1.3% that is expected would be good news for the bond market and mortgage rates as it would point towards manufacturing sector weakness. This data is known to be quite volatile from month-to-month, so large swings are fairly normal. A small variance from forecasts would not be a big deal.
Tuesday also brings us the release of February’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) during late morning trading. This Conference Board index measures consumer confidence in their personal financial situations, giving us a measurement of consumer willingness to spend. If consumers are feeling good about their own financial situations, they are more apt to make large purchases in the near future. Since consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the economy, related data is considered important in terms of gauging economic activity. It is expected to show an increase in confidence from 61.1 in January to 62.5 this month. A lower reading would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates since it would indicate consumers are less likely to make a large purchase in the near future.
The first of two revisions to the 4th Quarter GDP reading is scheduled for release Wednesday morning. Analysts’ forecasts currently call for an annual rate of growth of 2.8%, matching the initial estimate that was posted last month. It will be interesting to see where this figure falls and what its impact on the markets will be. Generally speaking, higher levels of activity are bad news for the bond market, while a sizable downward revision would be good news and could lead to improvements in mortgage pricing.
Fed Chairman Bernanke will deliver the Fed’s semi-annual testimony on the status of the economy late Wednesday and Thursday mornings. He will be speaking to the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee Thursday morning. Market participants will watch his words very closely. He is required to deliver this testimony twice a year, which is considered to be of extreme importance to the financial markets. We almost always see the markets move as a result of what he says during this testimony. Look for him to address the unemployment and housing sectors along with Europe’s financial issues specifically and their impact on the overall economy. His testimony begins at 10:00 AM ET with a prepared statement then is followed by Q & A with committee members. I am expecting to see the markets fluctuate during this session, possibly affecting mortgage rates also.
The Fed Beige Book is the next report scheduled for release and it will be posted Wednesday afternoon. This report details economic activity throughout the country by Fed region. The Fed relies heavily on this data during their FOMC meetings, so look for a potential reaction during afternoon trading Wednesday. It probably will not cause a major sell off in the stock or bond markets, partly because Mr. Bernanke will have access to this info when testifying to Congress. However, it could give us some finer details that we won’t hear directly from Chairman Bernanke, so it is worth looking at.
January’s Personal Income and Outlays data will be released at 8:30 AM ET Thursday, which gives us an indication of consumer ability to spend and current spending habits. Current forecasts call for an increase in income of 0.4% while spending is expected to rise 0.3%. A larger than expected increase in spending would be bad news for the bond market and could drive mortgage rates higher because it would mean consumers spent more than thought. Since consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, the bond market does better when spending is slowing. Good news would be a smaller than expected increase, or better yet, a decline in both readings.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will release their manufacturing index for February late Thursday morning. This index measures manufacturer sentiment and can have a pretty large impact on the financial and mortgage markets if it varies from forecasts. It is expected to show a small increase from January’s 54.1 to 54.5 this month. This is important because a reading above 50.0 means more surveyed manufacturers felt business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened, meaning growth is likely in the manufacturing sector. If we see a weaker than expected reading, the bond market could rally. But, a higher than forecasted reading could lead to major selling in bonds, causing mortgage rates to rise Thursday morning.
Overall, look for a pretty active week for mortgage rates. Wednesday will likely be the biggest day of the week, but Tuesday may also bring noticeable movement in mortgage rates. The least important day will probably end up being tomorrow or Friday unless stocks stage a significant rally or sell-off. However, we may see movement in rates several days this week, so please maintain contact with your mortgage professional if still floating an interest rate.

Is it a good time to buy read more

5 Reasons it’s Time for a Home in 2012

It’s true that money can’t buy happiness, but knowing that the value of your assets will grow over time does give you peace of mind.

Negative press is leaving some home buyers stuck on the fence, but here are a few reasons to climb down.
1. In the long run you come out ahead; in the short run you enjoy your home. The paper value of your home won’t rise much in the next couple of years. But if you want a home where you can raise your children or retire for the rest of your life, the paper value will rise significantly, or probably double or triple during that time.

2. The recent survey by the Hartford/MIT Lab’s Home for a Lifetime survey shows that half of all homeowners prefer their current home for retirement. Another 10 percent may choose to retire there, but aren’t yet sure.

3. A home is like a savings account. Your initial costs of home buying will come back to you many times over during the life of your mortgage. Your stake in the home builds every month. You’ll have more than rent receipts in the future.

4. Mortgage payments are fixed; rental payments rise. On a fixed-rate mortgage, you know what your payment will be each month for years to come. (As inflation rises, you’ll be making those payments with less expensive dollars.)

5. Apartment rents through the third quarter of 2010 were up 2.4 percent nationwide for the year and up twice that amount in larger cities. Nice apartments were hard to find because the national vacancy rate is the lowest since 2006, according to a study by real estate research firm Reis, Inc.
There are many more reasons for having a home of your own, reasons that have little to do with the financial aspects.

Stability and community. You get to know the neighbors. Your kids won’t have to change schools. They can keep their friends. You get to know their teachers and which parks, neighborhood facilities and merchants are best for you. Studies show that as people develop positive relationships with neighbors, they have more happiness and less stress.

You get to be the boss. Dealing with a landlord and negotiating repairs are hassles you won’t have to deal with. As the boss of your own place, you can paint, renovate and redecorate as much as you want and in any color or style you want.

Thank you Keith Ferrazzi current blog about making one small change

The Secret to Making Even One Small Change

1 comment By Keith Ferrazzi February 21, 2012 Missions

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What kind of change is on your mind today? It might be simple, like trying to get yourself to visit the gym daily. It might complex, like deciding how quickly to expand your business. Either way, we all know, change ain’t easy.

Accountability helps. Experience it yourself by trying a mission from one of the myGreenlight Relationship Bootcamp lessons: Powerful Accountability through a Bite-Sized Behavioral Change. This mission starts to build a practice of tapping your network for accountability – why go it alone when others can help?
Find an Accountability Buddy

Your Mission: By building accountability around a small behavior change, you will taste the transformative power of having a committed network that won’t let you fail.

Make a commitment around a behavioral change that you know will improve your work: e.g., getting into the office 15 minutes earlier, exercising in the morning, or spending the first 15 minutes of every workday pinging prospects or circles of influence. Then email a target contact whom you think would enjoy the mission him- or herself. Ask him to be your partner in accountability by setting a meeting one week out to check in on your follow through — or you can even check in with each other daily. If you want to take it a step further, make this a regular weekly check-in during which you share a success, a challenge, and a commitment for the week going forward.
What’s your bite-sized change?

 

Tax time and mortgage interest deduction

Tax Time Preparation: The Mortgage Interest Deduction

It’s that time again when Uncle Sam picks your pocket for taxes and, if you are writing out a check this year, you might want to ask yourself if a nice, fat mortgage interest deduction would come in handy next year.

For many people it certainly will. Mortgage interest is tax deductible. This means it is one of the expenses that reduces the amount of income on which you pay taxes.

Many, if not most, people who do not own houses, also do not itemize their deductions. That makes sense because if they added up all their potential deductions, the deductions would not be greater than the standard deduction. In 2011, the standard deduction for single people is $5,800. The standard deduction for married people is $11,600.

The beauty of the mortgage interest deduction is that it allows you to deduct all the interest you pay on your home loan. During the first years you pay on a home loan, nearly everything you pay is interest — up to 75 percent of your payment.

That nice deduction can reduce the taxes you owe, while allowing you to live in the house you want.
In this economy, owning a home also offers you some subtle protection from inflation. Inflation is an increase in the general level of prices for goods and services over time. So you notice that your grocery bill is going up and your dollars buy less, that is inflation, according to investopedia.com

According to inflationdata.com, in 2011 inflation was trending well over 3 percent while mortgage interest rates were the lowest in history at about 4.3 percent (30-year fixed.)
If you buy a home this year, and inflation continues to increase, you’ll soon be paying off your home with cheaper dollars. Your food will cost more; your luxuries will cost more; rent will cost more. But your mortgage is going to stay the same.

Meanwhile, inflation will also have some effect on home prices, forcing prices up. Right now, in most parts of the country, home prices are low because there are a lot of houses on the market and fewer buyers than five years ago. That means, right now you can get a lot of house for fewer dollars. In coming years, however, as the supply of houses for sale decreases, the pressure of inflation plus a reduced supply of houses, will force home prices up. In 10 years, your home purchase today will be a bargain and you will be living in a home you love while paying prices locked in the past!

John Miller's current Quick note very poignant people do not quit companies they quit managers

Managers: Get Trained!
Note: This QuickNote is longer than most, but covers a critical subject matter. So grab a cup of coffee or a Diet Coke and enjoy—and then forward to every manager you know!

I sometimes coach a pastor whose church is thriving. This man has many skills and gifts. He is an outstanding teacher with boundless energy. His passion is evident and there is joy in his heart. He genuinely loves people. His church meets in a terrific facility in an outstanding location. The word has gotten out and his "flock" is growing.

Over coffee he expressed frustration in one area, though. Staff. More specifically, managing staff. After he shared a few specifics, I asked this question: What have you done, in a formal way, to develop your skills and abilities in the area of people management? He looked at me with a face that said, I've never thought about that. Then he answered: "Nothing."

This pastor is not alone. By founding a church in his living room in 2006 and growing it to over 700 people—with God's grace—he has been placed in a manager-leader role. But, he has yet to purposefully equip himself with the fundamental "how to's" of managing people. This is no criticism of him. In organizations across the land people who are good at doing stuff get promoted to manager-leader all the time ... and receive exactly no training. Back in the day, when I was promoted to branch manager and sent from Montana to Missouri, the entire training program consisted of, "Go east, young man!"

I find almost thirty years later that little has changed in the organizational world.

We at QBQ, Inc. don't focus on management training, but sometimes we'll ask clients, "What good, solid people management training have you offered to help managers become managers?"

The common answer: "Nothing."

Curious, if you were having brain surgery tomorrow would you hope the surgeon has some training?! If you were visiting the dentist because your tooth hurt, would you want her to know what she's doing? If you invited a contractor to your house to help renovate, wouldn't you hope that he's done this before and has the skills and knowledge to do an outstanding job?

Of course.

So then who wants to be managed by an untrained manager? Do you? I don't. But actually—most people are.

What happens so often is the top salesperson becomes the sales manager, the sharpest technician becomes the manager of technicians, and the best burger flipper becomes the shift supervisor. But very rarely is training provided to help the salesperson, the technician, and the burger flipper make this critical transition. Yet, everybody knows that the most important person in a staff member's professional life is ... their manager. 

Furthermore, anyone reading this QBQ! QuickNote understands this:

Nine times out of ten, people do not quit the organization. They quit their manager.

Dawn Thomas blog about Willow Glen's food truck aka Moveable feast

Moveable Feast Launches Fridays in Willow Glen

by The Dawn Thomas Team on February 9, 2012

Moveable Feasts: Quality Street Foods in Your Hood! Makes its way to Willow Glen starting this Friday and will be a Friday fixture from 5pm-9 pm.

There is a great line up already of trucks, some coming all the way from San Francisco. If you aren’t familiar with Moveable Feasts, its a bit underground and all the rage. Follow them on Facebook or twitter to find out about the latest trucks, new locations and reviews of what everyone is talking about.

The Location is the corner of Curtner and Canoas Garden Ave. and they expect 10-12 trucks. Basically, come on over and sample some of the best street street food and fantastic company. Here is a list of expected vendors:
SAVORY
Chairman - Baos
Curry Up Now – Indian
Grill Stars - BBQ
Hiyaaa – Korean
KoJa Kitchen – Korean/Japanese
Louisiana Territory – Cajun
MoGo BBQ - Korean/Mexican
O Mi Ninja – Vietnamese
Sanguchon – Peruvian
Wow - Silogs
SWEET
Project Cupcake – Cupcakes
Scoops - Ice Cream
Ok, you should have enough info to plan out what you are going to eat, but really- just head over there with some friends and start ordering!

This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-947-4661. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose!

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Merit pay for teachers where do you stand on this point?

February 16th, 2012

Eight brief points about “merit pay” for teachers

In today’s Washington Post is another story about “merit pay” for teachers. But this one, by national education correspondent Lyndsey Layton, spends some space on my own thoughts on the topic.

For those new to the issue, or coming to the Pink Blog from Tweets about the article, let me summarize my views as succinctly as I can:

1. Some rewards backfire. Fifty years of social science tells us that “if-then” rewards – that is, “If you do this, then you get that” – are great for simple, routine tasks and not so great for complicated, creative tasks. Since teaching is creative and complex rather than simple and algorithmic, tying teacher pay to student performance (especially on standardized tests) flies in the face of the broad evidence.

2. Contingent pay for teachers just isn’t effective. What’s more, the specific evidence – a cluster of recent studies that have examined “if-then” pay schemes in schools – has shown them to be failures. See, for instance, this piece of research by Vanderbilt University or this one by Harvard’s Roland Fryer or this study by Rand that prompted the New York City public schools to abandon its pay-for-performance plan.

3. Money is still important. The fact that “if-then” motivators often go awry doesn’t mean that rewards in general or money in particular are bad. Not at all. The research shows that money matters. It just matters in a slightly different way than we suspect. Paying people unfairly — say, when Jane makes less than June for the same work — is extremely demotivating. And, of course, low salaries can deter some people from pursuing certain professions. Therefore, the best use of money as a motivator, at least for complex work, is to compensate people fairly and to try to take the issue of money off the table.  That means paying healthy base salaries – and in the private sector, offering some non-gameable variable pay such as profit-sharing.

4. There’s a simpler solution. My own solution for the teacher pay issue, which I’ve voiced many times both in writing and in speeches, is to strike a bargain: Raise the base pay of teachers – and make it easier to get rid of underperforming teachers. Not only is this approach more consistent with the evidence, it’s easier to implement and doesn’t require a new bureaucracy to administer. (To her credit, Michelle Rhee launched some efforts to move in this direction.)

5. We’ve got the wrong diagnosis. The notion that the central problem in American education is lack of teacher motivation is ludicrous. The vast majority of teachers in this country are some of the most hard-working, dedicated people you’ll ever meet – folks who work their butts off in difficult conditions for little recognition. Pay for performance is a weak prescription in part because it’s based on a faulty diagnosis.

6. What really ails us. The real problems, at least in my opinion, are twofold. First, the American education system itself, which is based on 19th century principles and structures, is woefully antiquated. Second, we’re ignoring the issue of poverty and the overwhelming evidence that, absent comprehensive and expensive interventions, socioeconomic status is what drives much of educational attainment and performance. (This is one thing I actually liked about No Child Left Behind. It held someone’s feet to the fire for schools that were criminally negligent in serving low-income kids.)

7. Teaching isn’t investment banking. I find it peculiar that we single out teachers for “if-then” pay when we wouldn’t consider it for other public servants. Should we pay police officers based on how many tickets they write or whether the crime rate in their district drops? How about compensating soldiers based on whether our borders have been attacked or how many of their colleagues have been injured or killed? Would legislators, who are behind much of the bonuses-for-test-scores push, ever agree to hinge their own pay on whether budget deficits rose or fell?

8. Turn down the heat, turn up the light. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that the people on both sides of this issue are men and women with good intentions. Nearly everyone I’ve encountered is trying to do the right thing. Reasonable people can disagree about weighty matters. And most people are reasonable. The trouble is that much of our education policy — from how we finance it down to how we schedule buses — seems designed more for the convenience of adults than for the education of children. If we reckon with that unpleasant truth and have an honest conversation that places our kids at the center of our efforts, we can make a lot of progress.

Resolutions where do you stand? Coach Vicki shares

Big picture resolutions for lasting forward movement

by Vicki Garcia on February 14, 2012

I have a friend of a friend in the athletic club business. For many businesses January is a slow month, but not in his industry. He reaps the benefits of many people’s New Year’s resolutions. January through March is the busiest time of the year for him to sell club memberships.

But he’s not happy about that. “It makes me sad when all these people drop off of their resolutions and stop showing up. We’d rather see them stick it out and really see results.”

What New Year’s resolutions have you already abandoned? I heard the joke that NYR’s are really only a To Do List for the first week of a new year. I agree with the athletic club director; it is kind of sad.
What if you were able to achieve your dreams, begin activities that empower you, and stuck with them? What qualities would actions have if you could take them out of the realm of “resolution,” and insert them into the realm of “life activities?”

This begins with forming the “Big Picture” of your life — goals, dreams, and projects. Give yourself the benefit of some breathing space to formulate and dream your Big Picture. What are your ultimate goals? Don’t you notice those times that you really set your mind to attain a goal nothing gets in your way? You don’t interact with your life as a bunch of resolutions; you interact with activities as things that you must get done to forward you in achieving the Big Picture.
Sticking with the health theme, let’s say that you suffer from bone loss. Weight bearing exercise is known to increase bone mass, so going to the gym to lift weights is no longer a NYR to eliminate your holiday over-eating guilt. It becomes an actual lifestyle change to enable you to live long and healthy — accomplishing one aspect of your Big Picture!

If elevated blood pressure from your job is compromising your health, you don’t “resolve” to take medications and add some stress-relieving activities like yoga, walking or meditation. You look at your kids and decide to change your life with your Big Picture in mind.

Discovering your Big Picture may result from a trip to the doctor, or it may come during a relaxed moment on vacation. If you haven’t had a relaxed moment where you can think, stress free, allowing thoughts to flow to you, take a moment now. Or schedule it, and make it happen.
A client told me the story of a time she found her young son sprawled across the bed, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. She asked him what he was doing. “Nothing,” he said, smiling. “Just daydreaming.” She was so pleased that he knew how to take time out for himself, and she wondered where along the way she had lost that ability.
If you need help creating some down time, bringing your Big Picture into focus, and determining what life changing activities will become part of your life —not merely temporary resolutions— I would be honored to help you discover them.
Contact me at vicki@mykickasscoach.com for a special offer. Pay only $25 for a 45-minute phone consultation (a $93 value). Thereafter, if you choose to continue to work with me, receive $25 off the coaching package of your choice.

Goat Rodeo sessions I have seen them have you? Crossover Music

Goat Rodeo Sessions with 4 wonderful musicians of different genre's and Yo Yo Ma and Chris et al playing in James Taylor's barn. Listen and love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-31e8Nlujw

Location is critical in real estate a tool for school boundaries

New Tool Shows Exact School District Assignments for Homes

Location is so important to real estate buyers in part because of the quality of school district assignments associated with a home. Now, education.com has released a tool that allows users to find the exact school district assignments of any home in the United States.
School Boundaries, their creation, can be found on their website but also can be used as a widget on other real estate websites and blogs. This mapping tool is free, and uses the data from all 13,000 school districts in the country. It can also specify schools for 55% of the country.

Using Google Maps, users can view school boundaries, filter by elementary, middle, and high schools, and see the schools’ test ratings. This could be a great widget for homebuyers everywhere.

Moroccan chef from Aziza great piece from Carolyn Jung the Food Gal

Chef Mourad Lahlou’s Prawn-Kumquat Skewers

Friday, 17. February 2012 5:25 | Author:foodgal

If ever food on a stick could be drop-dead glam, this would be it.

I practically felt like lighting candles and artfully arranging silk pillows all over the floor to set the proper mood to enjoy them with.

“Prawn-Kumquat Skewers” will do that to you.

The irony is they couldn’t be easier to make, yet they look as if some fancy restaurant made them for a

fortune.

The recipe is from the new cookbook, “Mourad: New Moroccan” Artisan) by Mourad Lahlou, chef-proprietor of the magical Aziza in San Francisco, the only Moroccan restaurant in North America to boast a

Michelin star.

Born in Marrakesh, Lahlou left his native land at age 17 to study economics at my old alma mater, San Francisco State University. But the flavors of his homeland beckoned him into the kitchen and it wasn’t long before he was running his own restaurant, Aziza.

Over the years, the food there has morphed from traditional to astoundingly progressive, with flavors that are hauntingly true and clear.

Read the rest of this entry »

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John Miller of QBQ sent this I like it! Are you an owner?

12 minute podcast with Dave Ramsey, all here: http://outstandingorganization.com/podcasts/
Be an Owner, Not an Occupier

One definition of the trendy word “occupy” is to “dwell in a space.” Too often, we humans do this—we just take up space.

Sometimes, we just take up … time.

Time, as we all know, can be measured in years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, or seconds. But I like the word—the unit of time—called a “moment.”

It’s certainly a common description of time. We say, “Just a moment!” “I’ll be with you in a moment!” or “Please wait one moment.” Or, if we demonstrate quickness of mind or humor, or we act fast, decisively, and perform deftly, we are said to be “in the moment." We are encouraged to “seize the moment.”

Moments are the essence of the adage, “Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.”

But it is easy to miss a moment. And what we’re really missing is the opportunity to own the moment. The truth is, opportunities come in moments and in moments there can be opportunity. When we fail to own the opportunities that come along, we diminish ourselves because—in that moment—we likely served less, contributed little, added no value, and eschewed practicing personal accountability.

On the flip side, when we simply OCCUPY a moment, we miss our chance to give, to help someone, to solve a problem. Occupiers of moments are often bystanders, watchers, observers. Quite honestly, sometimes they are complainers, whiners, blamers. Not always … I said sometimes.

Bottom line, I just think it’s better to own moments than to occupy them.

In Chapter One of the QBQ! book, there is story about Jacob, the Rock Bottom Restaurant server, who, as he was heading to the kitchen weighed down by a loaded tray of dirty dishes, spotted me, stopped, and met my needs. He didn’t think the thoughts of an Occupier such as, Not my department. Not my job. Not my problem.
   
He thought the thoughts of an Owner: I care. I want to serve others. I will be my best today.

Maybe a tad pedestrian, but because in the pedestrian we find the practical, here are the kinds of things people do when they own a moment:

• A manager stops debating with a staff member, trying to win a point, and pauses, saying, “You know, I think there’s more to this than I’m aware of. Can you share with me what’s really on your mind?”
• A parent, after instructing a child to stop engaging in a specific behavior, actually follows through, preventing disobedience and earning the child’s respect. (We call this “strong parenting” in Parenting the QBQ Way)
• A salesperson on a sales call stops blathering on about the product and asks the customer, “What problems are you experiencing?” and “How can I best help you?”
• A driver on the road responds to another driver—who just committed a mental error—with a rare-in-today’s-society friendly wave and a smile.
• A spouse arriving home from a long, tough slog at work rises above, saying to the other, “Tell me about your day.”
• A sibling, friend, or co-worker, when told by another that their words or actions hurt, stops and asks, “I am so sorry, what was it that I said or did?” instead of lashing out with defensiveness, justification, and blame.
• A twentysomething with a cell phone, good car, and some money in his pocket stops to help a stranger on a Colorado highway at midnight as all the other cars drive on by.

Now, I am not recommending anyone engage in that last one and there’s no need to email me about the risk. I understand. But when Michael, the only Miller son, informed us the next morning that he’d stopped to help a woman stranded in a decade old vehicle with only $10 in her purse, secured a tow truck for her by phone with his debit card, and waited for help to arrive—I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of him.

Choosing to own a moment—not just occupy one—is really an outstanding way to live. At its core, it’s what personal accountability is all about, asking The Question Behind the Question (the QBQs): “What can I do to own this moment?” and “How can I right now make a difference?”

Don’t be an Occupier. Be an Owner. Only then can we be outstanding!

Meanwhile, lots of good stuff happening with QBQ! If you believe in PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY, read on ...

• Enjoy two new QBQ! interviews, as well as a 12 minute podcast with Dave Ramsey, right here: http://outstandingorganization.com/podcasts/
• Parenting the QBQ Way, an e-book by John G. Miller with Karen G. Miller, written to answer the question moms and dads have asked, “How can I best utilize the QBQ at home?" is available. For your convenience, all e-retailer links can be found here QBQ.com/parents and enjoy this radio interview focusing on the new parenting book.
• The "new and improved" version of the QBQ! book is available! Learn what's new: http://qbq.com/whats-new-in-the-new-qbq-book/
• Believe middle and high schoolers can be more accountable? Take more ownership? If so, check out our new I Own It! Building Character Through Personal Accountability program for schools: http://qbq.com/schools/
• And QBQ! for churches and small groups is right here: http://qbq.com/churches/

Thanks for believing in QBQ!

John G. Miller

Wartch this video from Patrick Lencioni

http://www.tablegroup.com/pat/videos/thematic/index.html

Wartch this video from Patrick Lencioni

http://www.tablegroup.com/pat/videos/thematic/index.html

avoid first time buyer mistakes

Common First Time Homebuyer Mistakes

Many first-time homebuyers make simple and common mistakes that are easily avoidable.
They face multiple challenges anyway, such as finding the right home, the right agent, getting approved for a mortgage, and staying within their budget. By avoiding these common mistakes, the process of buying a home can be much less stressful.

1. Overlooking extra costs of homeownership
While some see themselves as ready for homeownership once they can afford a mortgage payment, it is important to remember the other fees that come along with owning a home. Property taxes, home owners association fees, maintenance, higher water and electrical bills, and property insurance are among the extra costs of owning a home, and should be calculated into your budget.

 2. Not getting preapproved
It is very important to get preapproved for a loan before you go out searching for the perfect place. That way, you will be making financially sound decisions versus unrealistic emotional ones as to what you can afford.

3. Spending your entire savings on your down payment
This is one of the most common mistakes first time homebuyers make. Homebuyers who put 20 percent or more down don’t have to pay for mortgage insurance when getting a conventional mortgage, which often translates into substantial savings on the monthly payment. However, it is smarter to keep your rainy day savings intact instead.
photo credit: opensourceway

Great piece from Paul Kingsman a wonderful speaker

January 2012 – Do the Bare Minimum

AdvisorBlast – Quick Tips to Accelerate Your Practice
In this issue: If it doesn’t actively move you toward your goal, it’s a distraction!

How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? If you’re still going strong, congratulations! Most resolutions have already fallen by the wayside, though. Often the problem is that we try to do too many things, get overwhelmed, and so ignore everything. We’ve bought into the fallacy that the more activity we create, the more successful we’ll be. We spend tremendous time and emotion accumulating and processing more and more information and making grand plans of things to do, but a lot of that effort can be simply wasted effort on the path to success.
How do we succeed sooner? The challenge isn’t so much finding the pathway, but staying on it! We so easily get distracted, even by good things, which pull us away from where we really want to go.
We are overloaded with information constantly bombarding us. There always seems to be another article to read, another podcast to listen to or webinar to watch. Clients I’ve worked with have felt huge stress at the thought that they might miss something important they need to know, but are overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information they have to process just to “keep up,” much less become “the expert.”
Once you have more information than you can realistically process, further information actually becomes counter-productive and impedes your progress.
Often I encourage groups I speak with to do the bare minimum required to wildly succeed. The instruction “do the bare minimum” shocks people – we’re used to hearing we need to do more! But stop and think: if you do just the things that will lead to your success, the other activities are really a waste of your energy.
Be careful here! You want to know and do the bare minimum activities needed to achieve the success you want, not simply to do the bare minimum activity, full stop! The first is wise, the latter is just lazy.
Doing the bare minimum to succeed makes sense. The issue then becomes knowing exactly what it is you need to do to succeed.
So, for the first month of this year:

1. Identify your key activities: What works best for you to move you toward your goal? (This might be different than the activities of your associates.)
2. Schedule these activities into your calendar: Ensuring they become the central activities you begin and complete.
3. Don’t get sucked into thinking that all ideas are helpful to your pursuit: No matter how sensible it might seem, if it doesn’t specifically contribute to your end goal, quickly move on. Otherwise, you’re just getting distracted.

Focus your time on doing those things that will lead to your success sooner so you can get the money you need, the clients you want, and more time to do what you love!
To your wild success in 2012,
Paul
Copyright Paul Kingsman 2012
______________________________________________________________________________
As a motivational speaker and executive coach, Paul Kingsman helps financial services professionals successfully grow their businesses by taking practical daily steps to achieve outstanding long-term results. Combining his experiences as an Olympic medalist and his background as an adviser, Paul understands how to stay focused over the long haul, as well as the unique business challenges faced by advisers. Through his professional speaking and executive coaching he equips them to overcome distractions so they can get the money they need, the clients they want, and the time to do what they love.
To find out more about how Paul can equip you or your team to achieve outstanding results, visit paulkingsman.com/coaching or email him at Paul@PaulKingsman.com

From my friend Vicki garcia aka your kick ass coach

Sometimes we just don't believe or trust that we can be successful in a particular area.  We tell ourselves things like, "I can't" or "I've never been good at that" or "I don't make good decisions for myself" or "I need help.  I can't do it by myself"..  

The truth is, you can find whatever evidence you need to back up any claim.  You find what you are looking for.  So, why not focus on finding the evidence that says you can be successful in whatever you endeavor?

What proof do you have that you CAN do it?  Think of examples from your past when you did something even though it was challenging.  Things like, graduating from college - that took perseverance and focus.  What about raising kids?  That takes immense skill and commitment.  What about a past job that you excelled at?  What about a physical obstacle that you overcame or a physical challenge that you stepped up to?

I know if you think about it you can find evidence that shows that you have what it takes to do anything you set your mind to.  Yes, you have experienced setbacks and failures.  We all have.  Don't focus on the times it didn't go the way you wanted. You learned from it and now you're even more prepared to be successful this time.

Practice building evidence that you have what it takes and with it, self-trust.  I challenge you to find at least 10 pieces of Success Evidence.  If you're having a hard time with it, enlist the help of a friend or family member who knows you well.  I promise you have way more than 10 pieces of evidence to the fact that you are awesome and can do anything you set your mind to.

Talk talk interest and financial markets talk get an update

This Week’s Market Commentary

There are only two pieces of monthly economic data scheduled for release this week. Neither of them is considered to be highly important, so we don’t have much to pin our hopes on or to be concerned with this week.
There are two Treasury auctions on the calendar that may influence mortgage rates the middle part of the week and the second part of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony to Congress, but no important economic data.
Nothing of concern is due tomorrow, so look for the stock markets and news from Europe- particularly Greece, to drive the markets tomorrow. Fed Chairman Bernanke will speak to the Senate Budget Committee at 10:00 AM Tuesday. I don’t expect him to say anything different than he said last week to the House Budget Committee, but the Q&A portion of his appearance could lead to something new. It is worth watching, but it will probably not lead to a noticeable change in the markets or mortgage rates.
The two important Treasury auctions come Wednesday and Thursday when 10-year Notes and 30-year Bonds are sold. The 10-year sale is the more important one as it will give us a better indication of demand of mortgage-related securities. If the sales are met with a strong demand from investors, we should see the bond market move higher during afternoon trading the days of the auctions. But a lackluster interest from buyers, particularly international investors, would indicate a waning appetite for longer-term U.S. securities and lead to broader bond selling. The selling in bonds would likely result in upward afternoon revisions to mortgage rates.
With little monthly and no quarterly economic reports being posted, Thursday’s weekly release of unemployment figures may end up moving the markets and mortgage rates more than it traditionally does. The Labor Department is expected to announce that 370,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, rising slightly from the previous week’s total. The higher the number of new claims for benefits, the better the news for the bond market and mortgage pricing as it would indicate weakness in the employment sector.
The first monthly report comes early Friday morning when December’s Goods and Services Trade Balance data will be posted. This report measures the U.S. trade deficit and can affect the value of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies, but it usually does not cause enough movement in bond prices to affect mortgage rates. It is expected to show a $48.2 billion trade deficit.
February’s preliminary reading to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment will be released late Friday morning. This index measures consumer willingness to spend and usually has a moderate impact on the financial markets. If it shows an increase in consumer confidence, the stock markets may move higher and bond prices could fall. It is currently expected to come in at 74.0, down from January’s final reading of 75.0. That would indicate consumers were less optimistic about their own financial situations than last month and are less likely to make large purchases in the near future. Since consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, this would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage pricing.
Overall, despite being a fairly light week in terms of economic releases and relate events, it is still relatively crucial for the mortgage market. We saw the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note spike higher Friday as a result of the stronger than expected employment data. Stocks rallied as a result of that data, extending the 2012 stock rally that has pushed the Dow up over 5% and the Nasdaq up 11% year-to-date. Both indexes are at their highest levels since May 2008 and December 2000 respectively. This has me believing we are due to see a pullback in stocks fairly soon. If/when this happens, we should see funds shift back into bonds for safety, leading to lower mortgage rates. Keep in mind that this is more or less just speculation, but I am expecting to move to a less conservative approach regarding short-term mortgage rates in the near future.There are only two pieces of monthly economic data scheduled for release this week. Neither of them is considered to be highly important, so we don’t have much to pin our hopes on or to be concerned with this week.
There are two Treasury auctions on the calendar that may influence mortgage rates the middle part of the week and the second part of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony to Congress, but no important economic data.
Nothing of concern is due tomorrow, so look for the stock markets and news from Europe- particularly Greece, to drive the markets tomorrow. Fed Chairman Bernanke will speak to the Senate Budget Committee at 10:00 AM Tuesday. I don’t expect him to say anything different than he said last week to the House Budget Committee, but the Q&A portion of his appearance could lead to something new. It is worth watching, but it will probably not lead to a noticeable change in the markets or mortgage rates.
The two important Treasury auctions come Wednesday and Thursday when 10-year Notes and 30-year Bonds are sold. The 10-year sale is the more important one as it will give us a better indication of demand of mortgage-related securities. If the sales are met with a strong demand from investors, we should see the bond market move higher during afternoon trading the days of the auctions. But a lackluster interest from buyers, particularly international investors, would indicate a waning appetite for longer-term U.S. securities and lead to broader bond selling. The selling in bonds would likely result in upward afternoon revisions to mortgage rates.
With little monthly and no quarterly economic reports being posted, Thursday’s weekly release of unemployment figures may end up moving the markets and mortgage rates more than it traditionally does. The Labor Department is expected to announce that 370,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, rising slightly from the previous week’s total. The higher the number of new claims for benefits, the better the news for the bond market and mortgage pricing as it would indicate weakness in the employment sector.
The first monthly report comes early Friday morning when December’s Goods and Services Trade Balance data will be posted. This report measures the U.S. trade deficit and can affect the value of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies, but it usually does not cause enough movement in bond prices to affect mortgage rates. It is expected to show a $48.2 billion trade deficit.
February’s preliminary reading to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment will be released late Friday morning. This index measures consumer willingness to spend and usually has a moderate impact on the financial markets. If it shows an increase in consumer confidence, the stock markets may move higher and bond prices could fall. It is currently expected to come in at 74.0, down from January’s final reading of 75.0. That would indicate consumers were less optimistic about their own financial situations than last month and are less likely to make large purchases in the near future. Since consumer spending makes up over two-thirds of the U.S. economy, this would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage pricing.
Overall, despite being a fairly light week in terms of economic releases and relate events, it is still relatively crucial for the mortgage market. We saw the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note spike higher Friday as a result of the stronger than expected employment data. Stocks rallied as a result of that data, extending the 2012 stock rally that has pushed the Dow up over 5% and the Nasdaq up 11% year-to-date. Both indexes are at their highest levels since May 2008 and December 2000 respectively. This has me believing we are due to see a pullback in stocks fairly soon. If/when this happens, we should see funds shift back into bonds for safety, leading to lower mortgage rates. Keep in mind that this is more or less just speculation, but I am expecting to move to a less conservative approach regarding short-term mortgage rates in the near future.

get a second opinon on financing

Getting a Second Opinion on Your Home Financing

Your home purchase is one of the most important financial decisions of your lifetime. Taking a few minutes to verify your existing lender’s offer in regards to loan structure, rates, and cost is time well spent.
The #1 reason that real estate transactions don’t close is due to financing issues, and transactions can fall apart very quickly.

Getting a second opinion is a win-win scenario. If Princeton Capital can provide a better loan value, you win. If we can’t, we can verify the validity of the other offer for you, and you win.
Contact Princeton Capital or your loan officer about it. We want you to realize the difference a second opinion can make for your home financing.