Compound Interest

Hello all,

"Compound Interest"

When we were growing up we were taught the importance of saving our money because of the effect of compound interest. In it's simplest form the definition of compound interest is "earning interest on your interest". Getting out of the box for a moment if we really think about it building a real estate business is very similar to building a bank account for the long term so we can earn compound interest. When we we first got our license and started our business we made the initial deposit into the bank. Then we started doing money making activities, open houses, floor duty, client meetings, marketing, newsletters... Each activity was like putting a small deposit into the bank to help build our account. The activities led to clients, clients led to referrals then the cycle started. Activities (deposits) led to more clients which led to more referrals... our businesses started to grow and we were "earning interest on our interest", our business started growing exponentially.  The reason I bring this up and make the analogy is because of what we have seen happen with agents through this challenging market. On one end we have seen agents who have completely stopped doing activities (making deposits) to the point where their business have dried up. Metaphorically and in realistic terms they have gone to the bank to take all of their interest back out, they have been and will be leaving the business. Most agents let their activities (deposits) slip a little or maintain the level they were at, they kept working and their money stayed in the bank. The upper end and a good portion of you saw the need to make more deposits (activities) to keep your business going through the bad times. Coming into a new market it is so wonderful to see those of you on the upper end who have kept working through everything reap the rewards of your efforts, you are "earning interest on your interest" and your businesses are going to new heights. Everyday we wake up we have one simple decision to make, do we want to make a deposit or be forced to take a withdraw.

Enjoy the coffee,

Joe    

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Every conquered temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before."

- James Buckham

YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!

Ever noticed how great leaders often come from humble beginnings?  From the devastating depths of silence and inability to speak, Helen Keller inspired the world once she had overcome great adversity. 

Diagnosed with amyontrophic lateral sclerosis and standing before a full-house crowd in Yankee Stadium on July 4th 1939, Lou Gehrig proclaimed, "I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth!  I might have been given a bad break, but I 've got an awful lot to live for."  He spent the last two years of his life as Parole Commissioner for New York City, hoping to make a difference in the lives of young people in trouble.

Today, we use more contemporary quotes to explain the same concept.  We say, "No pain - no gain!" or, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."  No matter how we verbalize it, it is true that through adversity comes strength. 

Think back to the toughest times you've faced during your life.  Chances are you'll have to agree that you grew and became a better person for the experience.  As for temptations, they are more easily given in to than conquered.  Nevertheless, the value system to which you subscribe today probably evolved from temptations overcome.

As Richard Bach put it in his wonderful book "Illusions," "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.  You seek problems because you need their gifts."  Whether it be a physical or moral challenge you face, suffer if you must, but look also for its gift.  And remember another Richard Bach quote, "Here is a test to find out whether your mission here on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't."