In both your appraisal business, as well as your life, are you focused on the fluff and the crap? Do you major in minors? Or, do you focus on, do you accentuate, do you prioritize the positive, the important, the relevant?
Essentialism by Greg McKeowan is well worth your time and effort. It’s a great reminder that we need to focus on what is important, what is relevant, what is essential, and then to get rid of the fluff, the trivial, and the artificially important. It was a great motivator to get me back on track, because we all know how easy it is to get off-track.
McKeowan uses the metaphor of cleaning out your closet. This may mean cleaning out your relationship closet, your mental closet, your spiritual closet, your ethical closet; in other words get rid of the clutter and fluff you have to wade thru in your life. Why? So you can focus on what is important to you, to your family, to your business, as well as to the others in your professional and personal lives.
Can this cleaning be hard? Yes! Go into your closet. Look for a shirt you have not worn in a long time. You know you need to jettison it because it is just taking up space. But you hesitate since that little voice at the back of your mind says, "Well, I might wear it again". McKeowan asks you to ask yourself if you really need to keep it. If there is any hesitation at all in your answer, if your answer is not a resounding, "YES, I DO!", then dump it! If you saw that shirt at a garage sale, would you buy it? If your answer is no, then get rid of the shirt! Get rid of the clutter in your closet on the road to getting rid of the clutter in your life - in all of your lives.
Now, what is it that is clogging up your appraisal business? This applies not only to the clutter on your desk, but to the clutter in your appraisal practices, too. Are your holding on to outdated software simply because "it works"? Are you still using a legal pad, clipboard, and tape measure simply because you're comfortable with them? Then it may be time to clean out your professional closet to take advantage of the opportunities new technology now offers you.
What is the crap you do that costs you precious time? What is the crap you do (or should do, but don't) that causes you stress? What is the crap you do that takes you away from your family unnecessarily? What is the crap you do that costs you money? As you answer these questions, you come to know which shirts you need to throw out.
When you focus on only the essentials (in other words, when you learn to say "No" more often to the non-essentials, so you can say "Yes" to the essentials), you'll be shocked to learn how much more you can do in your appraisal office. You'll be shocked to learn how much more time you can spend with your family. You'll be shocked to learn how much more time you have for hobbies. You'll be shocked at how much more time you have for yourself.
Go thru your closet. Find the shirts you no longer wear (or that don't fit anymore!) and get rid of them. Donate them to a charity. Give them to a homeless shelter. Anything! But get rid of them.
For more information on this subject, please listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:
