the mesh network | northern california real estate

April Wine Friday: $15 Challenge with Home made Pizza

Well you did it again!  The outstanding support from all our clients, friends, and partners continues to amaze and touch us deeply.  Of course we owe a special thanks to Chef Gil and Chef Candy for making over 20 custom gourmet pizzas with everything from anchovies to spinach!

As for the wine challenge, well I have to give credit where credit is due -- leave it up to the 2 French guys to bring the first and second place wines.  With 8 votes, the 2007 Ancien Pinot Noir and with 7 votes the 2006 CanBlau Mazuelo-Syrah-Granache blend from Spain dominated a field of 18 wines.  Surprising enough, my own entry of a 91 point Shiraz from Australia had only 2 votes -- wonder what that says about me?!  We hope everyone had as much fun as we did and we look forward to seeing you again next month.

Here is the wine lineup (from left to right) and results:

2005 Viano Vineyards Zinfandel - 1 vote
2006 Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz - 2 votes
2004 Castelmavre Corbieres - no votes
2006 CanBlau Red Blend - 7 votes
2004 Rodney Strong Merlot - 7 votes
2005 Roudon Smith Claret - 3 votes
2005 Tintara Granache - no votes
2006 Da Vinci Chianti - 4 votes
2007 Dona Paula Malbec - 1 vote
2005 Edna Valley Merlot - 2 votes
2006 Rare Earth Cabernet Sauvignon - 3 votes
2003 Santa De Maria Cabernet Sauvignon - 3 votes
2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc - 2 votes
2007 Ancien Pinot Noir - 8 votes
2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay - 4 votes
2007 Mirassou Pinot Noir - no votes
2006 Mirassou Cabernet Sauvignon - 4 votes
2005 Dancing Bull Chardonnay - 1 vote

-Mark

Week 2: Questions about where I am and where I am going

I’ve been through this exercise many times in seminars.  Before we can go anywhere, we need to take stock of where we are, who we are, how we got here, and where we want to go.  From there, we can begin to develop a map of the course it takes to get where we want to go. 

The first question is -- Where am I now?
o I am in the early stages of putting together a stable self-run business.
o I am having an incredible experience in personal growth, building close personal and business relationships, and for the first time in my life actually having a direction and goal where I can see the results of my labor.
o I am confident and committed to our success, and to building a better life/future together.
o I am happily married, but there are clear signs of stress in our relationship due to 2 years of life-work imbalance.
o I am committed to helping my wife find the inspired work she seeks that shows her talents and that drives her commitment and happiness.

Second -- How did I get here?
o I worked for 15+ years in high-tech through multiple positions and disciplines that increased over time and provided an incredible career and lifestyle.
o I ascended quickly to a plateau of position and responsibility, eventually growing more disappointed.
o I was unhappy and dissatisfied with my corporate career trajectory and distasteful business practices.
o I found the opportunity to grow myself into my own business and partner with my wife.
o I started working part-time in real estate while learning the business and establishing what our own small business would look and feel like.
o I have spent 2 years building an incredible foundation, brand, core values, and sphere of supporters.

Third -- What do I love?
o Working to build things -- houses, cars, business, relationships
o Designing something complex
o Solving a problem nobody else has been able to solve
o Inspiring people to believe in themselves, to see an incredible future
o Modern architecture, furniture, fine clothes, art

Finally -- How do I incorporate these passions into my daily life?
o Identify an investment group to buy, remodel, and flip houses I find
o Have Sabrina and I move into a new project home every few years, start over, remodel, …
o Start working with small builders on their projects
o Find a charity organization working on distressed homes
o Pursue my pre-fab housing interest and find a way to work as part of their business team

I guess that puts it out there for all to see.

-mark

Week 1: One Year To An Organized Work Life

The work begins for the first week of organizing my work life.  I notice that each month will start with a couple of new habits that I will need to incorporate into my life. 

This month, we start with 1) Making my bed every day.  Psychologically this allows us to bring the day to a beginning (when we get out of bed) and an end (when we roll back the covers to get into bed and go to sleep).

And 2, each day we need to carve off 5 minutes to get away from the desk (or workplace) and go for a walk, take the stairs, etc.  This is designed to snap our mind away from whatever we are so intensely focused on and give us the chance to recharge our mental batteries for a few minutes.  It has the added benefit of being a healthy activity!  For me, my schedule is so random with client meetings, running around viewing properties, and talking on the phone to all the folks it takes to pull a transaction together that I don’t think I will have the chance to fix a time for this.  I’ll have to see how it goes.

I’ve been told that it takes 30 days of repeating this same activity for it to become a habit / routine.  I’m sure Sabrina will be happy if I just make the bed 30 days in a row -- becoming a habit, that’s just too much for her to think about!

-mark

Getting Organized

Once in a while, Sabrina and I have our “date night” at the nearest bookstore.  We treat it like a chance to walk around and discover something new, then we sit down at the coffee shop and talk about what we found.  This time, an interesting title caught my eye so I began reading a few chapters -- One Year To An Organized Work Life by Regina Leeds.

As our business grows, I’ve been struggling to stay as organized as I want.  I’ve come to believe that personal and business organization is a key component to succeeding at the highest levels.  The reason I liked this book so much is that it takes a step-by-step weekly approach so that I can systematize things into habits.  It is kind of like giving out assignments instead of saying go do it this way.

So, this weekend I began a new journey that is expected to last ONE full year as I have committed to the process of One Year To An Organized Work Life.  As I enter this “get organized” journey, my expectation is how this is more of a “habits and routines” issue for me than some kind of cleanliness problem.  I know where everything is and I can put my fingers on anything I need very quickly, but, I need a better system for handling the massive amount of email, statics, clients, contracts, disclosures, reports, etc that it takes to run a thriving real estate enterprise. 

I have great expectations for this book and it’s results! And I will keep you posted.

-mark