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Learning too much

His education taught him to be “intellectual, cynical”.

And he learned. So well, in fact, that he lost himself. “Please tell me who I am,” he says.

In the process, he became cynical. A certain amount of skepticism is healthy. When it crosses that fine line and turns into cynicism, it’s unhealthy.

Learning the wrong lesson

He says, “Watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal. Won’t you sign up your name? We’d like to feel you’re acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable.”

We wonder … does that mean he’s a couch potato?

Bigg success is life on your own terms. However, the young man in this song has learned that the world doesn’t want you to live your life on your own terms.

Go along to get along.

That’s what we’re taught to do. We’re supposed to fall in line. We’re not supposed to think for ourselves. We shouldn’t be too “out there”. Don’t get “too creative.”

The logical end of creativity

We saw a great article on creativity from Scientific American Mind. In the article, the question was asked, “Why do so few people express creativity?”

Check out the answer by one of the experts:

He said that we “all express creativity when we’re young. But by the end of the first grade, very few of us do so.”

That’s what made us think of The Logical Song in the first place. Can you hear it …

“But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical.”

The expert in the article said the reason we lose our creativity is because of socialization. We learn to “stay on task.” We’re told to “stop daydreaming.” “Stop asking silly questions.” The result:

“… the expression of new ideas is largely shut down.”

2 keys to rediscover your creativity and reconnect with yourself

• Reconnect with your youth

“When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.”

Reconnect to your youth to rediscover your creativity. Think about another song – Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”.

See the wonder in the world. See the miracles around you. See the beauty that is ever present. See the magic as it happens.

View the world like a kid again and marvel.                   

• Reconnect to nature

“And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so happily, joyfully, playfully, watching me.”    

The first thing that jumped out at us was the very first word – “And”.

This second way to reconnect with yourself and your creativity is an extension of the first way. We must first get in touch with our child-like nature; then we can reconnect with nature.

Connect with nature personally. The young man in the song doesn’t just marvel at the birds singing. He hears them singing to him!

Of course, he turned into a radical!

Experts say creativity will be an increasingly valuable skill in the years ahead. There are a lot of opportunities to create the life you dream of living. Rediscover your creativity for bigg success! 

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Please join us next time when we ask … what if Elvis were an entrepreneur. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00423-062409.mp3

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I called Michael, our tech guy. I started talking about an issue with which we needed his help. Suddenly, the guy on the other end said, “Who is this?” I said, “It’s Mary-Lynn.” He said, “Oh, hey Mary-Lynn, how are things?” At that point, I didn’t know who was on the other end of the phone! It turns out I had called a different Michael, my old personal trainer.

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I called my parent’s house. A woman answered the phone. I said, “Hey mom, it’s your son.” I asked how she was doing. She said, “Fine.” I asked if dad was there. She said, “Yes, I’ll get him.” A man came to the phone. I started to explain why I was calling. He said, “What are you talking about?” At that moment, I realized I was talking to a dad, but not my dad. Even worse – I had also talked to a mom, but not my mom in the same conversation!

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Consequential conversations

These conversations made us think about how important it is to talk to the right person. In our stories, there weren’t any repercussions. However, there are times when talking to the wrong person can have major consequences.

Nothing gets accomplished by talking to the wrong person. It’s a huge waste of time – for both you and the person to whom you’re talking.

If you’re talking to the wrong person, you may get misdirected. You could become discouraged. You might even lose your focus.

So we want to discuss three situations where it’s important to talk to the right person.

Are you talking to an expert?

A friend of ours says this best. If you want to make a million dollars a year, don’t talk to someone who’s making $999,999!

Don’t seek advice from someone who hasn’t achieved everything you’re trying to achieve. A lot of people like to give their opinions. They may be family or friends. We love them dearly, but they can’t help us if they haven’t done what we’re trying to do.

It doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to offer. It just means you have to filter what they say.

Are you talking to the decision-maker?

This is particularly important when you’re trying to make a sale. By “sale”, we don’t just mean in the typical sense of the word. You may be trying to sell someone on giving you a loan. Can they make the decision? If not, find out who can and talk to them.

This also applies to buying. You may want to negotiate a better deal. Does the person you’re talking to have the authority to give you a better deal? If not, find someone who does.

Are you talking to the person who knows the person to whom you need to talk?

You may not know the person to whom you need to speak. Do you know a person who knows him or her? Do you know The Connector?

If there’s more than one person between you and the person with whom you want to have a conversation, it’s tough. It will probably be more productive to get a direct referral to the person who can help you reach bigg success!

Do you have a funny story of talking to the wrong person?

We sure hope we’re not alone!

Please share your story with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 888.455.BIGG or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

We thank you so much for reading our post today!

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Next time, a member of our community shares what life on his own terms means to him. Please join us. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00382-042809.mp3

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We’re hoping for some rainbows and butterflies from you, Jed. Are there markets where home prices are actually rising?

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There are a few. Right now, the market is in a process of stabilizing, which means that prices are down but sales activity is up in quite a few markets. Just to give you a few examples, prices are actually rising a little in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama, Stamford, Connecticut; and Amarillo, Texas. It varies around the country depending on a lot of local conditions. However, right now, we’re particularly interested in the level of sales. Obviously, a good level of sales can lead to an overall price rise in the future and, as your listeners probably know, both sales and prices have been declining for awhile. We’d sure like to see those level out and there’s some reason to believe that we’re getting to the bottom of the market.

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Real estate is still a local game, right?

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Yes. Every market is local. To give you an example, prices are way down in Prince William County, Virginia. That’s a suburb of Washington. Just across the way, up the street in Washington, D.C., prices are stable; and in Arlington, Virginia, prices are actually starting to rise a bit. So it varies from region to region.

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So, while we may be hearing doom-and-gloom about national real estate prices, it’s possible – depending on your local market – that the dream house you want to buy is getting more expensive.

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Well, prices right now are down. As I said, they are starting to turn a little bit in a few markets. Most markets are either declining a little or holding steady while they’re getting ready to turn. But I think if you’re thinking about a house right now, I don’t think you want to think about a short-term flip. There was a lot of flipping a few years ago during the rapid run-up in prices in 2006 and 2007. Right now, as measured in terms of affordability, taking into account interest rates which are at an all-time low coupled with reasonable prices, housing is actually a very good buy. If you’re not buying it to flip it, but rather to hold it for five or six years, I think you’ll be very pleased with the ultimate result.

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On average, Jed, how much have house prices fallen back nationally from their peak?

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Well, that will vary from area to area. I think we want to talk in terms of the last year. They’re down about 15 percent in the last year, probably down about another 10 percent above that from the peak. That’s not true everywhere. That’s just a national average, like my head’s in the furnace and my feet are in the Artic, so I’m comfortable on average.

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I like the way you explained that!

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We think that with the forthcoming recovery – there’s a lot of spending going on, a lot of economic stimulus, and a lot of effort to stop foreclosures – we project that prices will start to level out, certainly, by the fourth quarter of this year. That’s why, when prices are in good shape and you can get that $8,000 tax credit, right now is a good time to consider buying a house if you don’t own one.

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We’ve been hearing that prices in areas like Detroit are just astoundingly low. Is it wise to go into an area that has been beaten up and buy some property there?

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That depends on the long-term outlook for the area. Let’s put this into a little broader perspective than Detroit. Much of California, Arizona and Nevada have had prices that have been beaten up pretty thoroughly. Yet we all know that those areas are going to have vibrant job growth over the next four or five years and, right now, we see buyers flocking out to purchase property in that area. The prices are low, but the number of buyers showing up is substantial. I think for the longer term, these folks are getting a good buy.

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For people who are thinking about buying in some of those areas, do you have any recommendations for finding an area that is beat up but has long-term growth potential? How do people get that information?

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This is the type of information – specific market characteristics – that a Realtor would know. A Realtor could give you an idea of the outlook for jobs, income, population in a specific area, and how prices compare to the overall market for that area. That’s why we would recommend working with an expert – a Realtor – to understand the market because there are some good buys out there.

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And you probably know a Realtor or two, don’t you Jed?

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I probably do.

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I think you’re absolutely right. I have found in my life that it pays to turn to the professionals and let them help guide you through the process. With a Realtor, you know it’s win – win all the way through.

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We think that Realtors bring a real value-added to the market because they live in the community, they know the community, and they’re part of the community. They’ve been there for a long time and they’ve done a lot of transactions. They can guide you – just like a doctor or a lawyer does with their professional services – in making your largest purchase.

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Thanks Jed so much for sharing your time and wisdom with all of us! And a special thanks to Hilary Marsh and Sara Weis, Jed’s co-workers at the National Association of Realtors, for helping us arrange our conversation with him.

If you’re in the market to buy or sell your house, the National Association of Realtors is a great resource. Check out their tips for home buyers and sellers.

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Join us next time as look squarely at the four-leaf clover on St. Paddy’s Day! Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00351-031609.mp3

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Every business owner today is looking, more than ever, for ways to gain a competitive edge and stand out. Yet we’re reluctant to spend money. So if you can find a way to get publicity for your company, it’s like free advertising.

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Today, we specifically talked about getting on the radio as an expert. Barbara, you have some great strategies to become a regularly featured expert on a few high profile radio shows.

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It’s like anything else when you’re doing communications – you have to have a topic and someone to listen to it. What I’d like to cover is how to get a topic that will get a radio station interested. What is hot? Because when you’re contacting them, you need something that will grab them and their listeners. One way to do that is to diagnose the pain. What are people really having trouble with and how can you help them? I’ve found that there are three easy ways to find out what the hot topics are. Think of yourself as a newsmaker, a trend setter, and a talk tracker.

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I really like that – newsmaker, trend setter, and talk tracker – the three easy ways to get up to speed on your topic.

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Yes, and once you put yourself in the place of someone else, and give yourself some authority in your own mind, it’s easier to assume that position in front of people on the radio or even in your conversations with your clients on a day-to-day basis. Let’s talk about what it means to be a newsmaker. For me, the easiest way to be a newsmaker is to follow who’s making the news. One way to do that is with Google Alerts. Google has this service where you can sign up to track what’s going on with a specific keyword. So for any topic you want, you ask Google to track it for you. Then Google e-mails you a digest of sites and blogs where conversations are going on around your topic. It might be a survey, the results of a test, press releases and blog entries. There will be a summary, too. So you can look at those and collect each one of them so you have an idea of what’s going on right now.

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This is how you begin to be the expert who knows what’s going on. You can use Google to get all of these notes and have your finger on the pulse of whatever your specialty is.

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Exactly. That makes you really attractive to a radio show host or even media in general over time.

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So, Barbara, now that you’re a newsmaker, how do you find receptive radio stations?

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There is a site, Radio-Locator. If you go there, you can type in your zip code or your city and it will give you all the radio stations within the radius that you select. So that would be a good place to start.

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Visit Barbara’s web site, Wired PR Works where she has 500 articles on marketing and public relations. The articles are free and she’ll tell you more about getting free advertising!

In the Expert Session, Barbara shared so much more. She gives a tutorial on setting up Google Alerts, tips on alerts you might want to set up and an example of how to do it. Even better, she doesn’t use “techie talk!”

She also talks about:

• how to be a trend setter

• how to tap into the virtual water cooler to listen in on conversations about your industry

• what you need to promote yourself to radio stations

• the most important words to tell a radio host that guarantees you'll get more calls

• what you should have in your promotional package

• and much, much more in four tracks of about ten minutes each

The Expert Session is available as a digital download for purchase. Click here for The Bigg Success Show Expert Session with Barbara.

Thank you so much for reading our post today. We’ve all heard of “child’s play.” Check in next time when we discuss child’s work. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00269-112008.mp3

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