InHouse Winter 2020 – 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Direction, Not Intention, Determines Destination!

Not too long ago I heard one of my favorite leaders say these words: “Direction, not intention, determines your destination”.  That stuck with me.  I don’t know about you but seems daily I battle keeping my mind and feet on a path toward productivity vs just activity.  You may have heard me say in past newsletters that Your Routine = Your Results.  For me to ensure the right direction of being productive and valuing others each day I need to examine my habits.  As you know, we can create and establish effective and productive habits but also develop bad habits.

So, as I began working on HOW to better help myself, my team and you as we head in to a new year, I began by looking at MY habits.  It is amazing how you can start out with a great routine of good habits but over time – drift.  To hedge against that, I looked back at the habits of the most effective people.

You may or may not have ever read Stephen Covey’s best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, if not, you should get a copy and read it.  If you have, it could be time for a refresher… depending on whether you are happy with your direction or concerned your current path may not 100% end at your desired destination in life.

In the book, Covey presents an approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he calls “true north” principles based on a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless.  Most people believe they have good ethics, but again, if the outcomes or results we are getting from our daily routines are NOT what we want… we must realize something isn’t quite right.  How effective are you at obtaining desired results?

Effectiveness is the balance of obtaining desirable results with caring for that which produces those results. Covey illustrates this by referring to the fable of the goose that laid the golden eggs. He further claims that effectiveness can be expressed in terms of the P/PC ratio, where P refers to getting desired results and PC is caring for that which produces the results.

Covey promotes what he labels “the character ethic”: aligning one’s values with so-called universal and timeless principles. In doing this, Covey is deliberately and mindfully separating principles and values. He sees principles as external natural laws, while values remain internal and subjective. Our values govern our behavior, while principles ultimately determine the consequences. To better demonstrate this, Mr. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence through independence on to interdependence.  Bottom line… Daily habits that = desired results and then some.

However, as they say, old habits are hard to break, so the first step is to understand where success really starts:  how you think.  How much time do you sit and just – think? Really analyze, even meditate on where you are and where you want to go?  Tough to break a habit without knowing about it or understanding how/why you do it.

My first step to a better 2020 is to bridge the gap between knowing and doing.  In order to do that, let’s begin with what Covey introduces as the Maturity Continuum. These are three successive stages of increasing maturity: dependence, independence, and interdependence. At birth, everybody is dependent, and characteristics of dependence may linger; this is the first and lowest stage of maturity.

Dependence means you need others to get what you want. All of us began life as an infant, depending on others for nurturing and sustenance. I may be intellectually dependent on other people’s thinking; I may be emotionally dependent on other people’s affirmation and validation of me. Dependence is the attitude of “you”: you take care of me… or you don’t come through and I blame you for the result.

Independence means you are pretty much free from the external influence [and] support of others. … Independence is the attitude of “I”. … It is the avowed goal of many individuals, and many social movements, to enthrone independence as the highest level of achievement, but it is not the ultimate goal in effective living. There is a far more mature and more advanced level.

The third and highest level in the Maturity Continuum is interdependence. … We live in an interdependent reality. Interdependence is essential for good leaders; good team players; a successful marriage or family life; in organizations; in relationships. Interdependence is the attitude of “we”: we can co-operate; we can be a team; we can combine our talents; we can value each other.

Each of the first three habits in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is intended to help achieve independence. The next three habits are intended to help achieve interdependence. The final, seventh habit is intended to help maintain these achievements.

I am committing here and now, as you read this, to BETTER more effective habits! Those that help me be more productive and better at delivering value to others (like you).  Thankfully, there is a road map to follow: the 7 habits road map.  Here is a summary of my intended habits.  Feel free to call me out if you see me violating any of these.

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):

1 – Be proactive.

Talks about the concept of Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern. Work from the center of your influence and constantly work to expand it. Don’t sit and wait in a reactive mode, waiting for problems to happen (Circle of Concern) before acting. Be mindful of WHO I associate with, WHAT I watch and read.

2 – Begin with the end in mind.

Envision what you want in the future, so you can work and plan towards it. Understand how people make decisions in their life. To be effective you need to act based on principles and constantly review your mission statement. Are you – right now – who you want to be? What do I have to say about myself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises to change your life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that you are the programmer! Grow and stay humble. All things are created twice. Before we act, we should act in our minds first, before we create something we measure twice. this is what the principle is about, do not just act, think first, is this how I want it to go and are these the correct consequences.

3 – Put first things first

There exists a matrix of importance vs urgency used in deciding where to invest efforts. I must understand the difference between leadership and management. Leadership in the outside world begins with personal vision and personal leadership. So, what is important and what is urgent? Priority should be given in the following order

(Quadrant I. Urgent and important (Do) – important deadlines and crises

Quadrant II. Not urgent but important (Plan) – long-term development

Quadrant III. Urgent but not important (Delegate) – distractions with deadlines

Quadrant IV. Not urgent and not important (Eliminate) – frivolous distractions

The order is important; after completing items in quadrant I, we should spend most of our time on II, but many people spend too much time in III and IV. The calls to delegate and eliminate are effective reminders of their relative priority.

If habit 2 advises that you are the programmer, habit 3 advises: write the program, become a leader! Keep personal integrity: what you say vs what you do.

The next three habits talk about Interdependence (e.g., working with others):

4 – Think win-win.

Genuine feelings for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a “win” for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way. Think Win-Win isn’t about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration.

5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving.

The Habit 5 is greatly embraced in the Greek philosophy represented by 3 words:

1) Ethos – your personal credibility. It’s the trust that you inspire, your Emotional Bank Account.

2) Pathos is the empathetic side — it’s the alignment with the emotional trust of another person communication.

3) Logos is the logic — the reasoning part of the presentation.

The order is important: ethos, pathos, logos — your character, and your relationships, and then the logic of your presentation.

6 – Synergize!

Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, to achieve goals that no one could have done alone.

7 – Continual improvement!

The final habit is that of continuous improvement in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence. Stephen Covey names it as Sharpen the Saw.  This is such a big deal, I have it as one of the Core Values of our historic real estate company, Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty.  I preach to our people the importance of balancing and renewing your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. I primarily emphasize exercise for physical renewal, good prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. And of course, service to society for spiritual renewal.

Covey explains the “Upward Spiral” model in the sharpening the saw section of his book. Through our conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, the spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. This Upward Spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do.  So, I must be increasingly educating my conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. This idea of renewal by education will propel me along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power (effectiveness at being productive and valuing others).  A direction to an intended destination.

Go Serve Big!!!

Leticia Almaro Nicolini

Your Home Sold Guaranteed!

Fall Quarterly Newsletter 2019

Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with them two.

Go Serve Big:

The Lifetime Customer System.

What is it that separates some from others in athletics or education or business or the arts, or in any endeavor? It is their drive to do more than is expected or required. One of our team’s core values is Second Mile Service.  When focusing on the second mile, we can’t forget there are two miles in play here. So before I show you what’s in it for you in the second mile, lets document the first mile.

The first mile is simply what is required of us. Yes, we are here to help people buy and sell the place they call home, but there is much more going on than just a real estate transaction.  There is LIFESTYLE CHANGE being pursued.

Our Lifetime Customer System starts when we first enter into a client relationship and seek to gain an understanding of what the FIRST MILE is.  For example, the first page of our Exclusive VIP Seller Agreement, we ask the Seller these 3 questions (you may remember them):

Why are you moving?

What is most important to you in getting your home sold?

What do you feel or think has to happen for you to get what is most important to you?

These 3 questions are essentially the Home Owner/Seller laying out their vision for LIFESTYLE CHANGE.  No one is better at selling homes faster, for more money and with less hassle than we are, but it is critical that we fully understand the WHY behind the change the client is making.  This becomes the FIRST MILE – what it is we must deliver on/what is expected of us (our mandated FIRST MILE).

There can be no second mile service without going the first mile, so what does this Second Mile look like?

Exceeding clients expectations has to be built in to the very fabric of the business from the peoples mind set to the systems to the culture. Anything short would be cutting corners. There really is no Life Time Customer System without being committed to Second Mile Service. They go hand in hand.

At The Almaro Team, our Life Time Customer System (part of our second mile service) breaks down into THREE Programs.

1. YOUR REFERRALS HELP THOSE WHO NEED HELP THE MOST

On the last page of this this newsletter, you will see what I mean by Your Referrals Help Those Who Need Help the Most.  As part of our GO SERVE BIG mission, we donate a portion of our income from EVERY real estate sale to a very worthy cause.  We want you to be part of that. It’s likely as you read this, you have received other newsletters, emails, texts and videos about this.  So whether its Donating over $20,000 to Children’s Hospital, pushing a Toy Drive for the marines, writing a big check to B Walker Ranch so they can remodel the Ma & Pa Kettle Ranch house, or going with Rotary to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria to install water filtration units, you can rest assured that anyone you send to us wanting to make a move will benefit from our award winning service and a very worthy cause will benefit as well.

2. WE WILL HELP YOU GROW YOUR WEALTH

We bring to our clients opportunities and education to Create More Wealth by INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE.  I became a Multi-Millionaire NOT from my job, but by investing in real estate.  We want you and others to have the same opportunity so we built this in to our Lifetime Customer System. Inside this newsletter you will see a presentation of great deals to consider investing in. These are just a sample of the REAL ESTATE available for you to invest in.  Contrary to popular beliefs, you do not need a lot of your own money to become RICH investing in real estate, but, you do need money. We are experts in helping you learn how to use other people’s money to buy distress sales and bank foreclosures, unlocking the equity in your own home to buy 3 houses for the price of one and partnering with others for Apartment Building investments that CASH FLOW every month.

3. WE ARE A RESOURCE FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE NEEDS

You need a resource like a Dry Cleaner, Florist, or Painter?  We have an APPROVED VENDOR DIRECTORY of 100 businesses in the area vetted and eager to help you.  As I type this, one of our approved vendors is working on my house to remodel one of our bathrooms.  The workers will come and do what they do best… install tile, flooring and counters. They have been vetted through many projects so I know they will do a great job and it will be a fair price. This is obviously just one example.  If you don’t have our Approved Vendor Directory, reach out to us and we’ll send it right over.

Approaching each day with an attitude of ‘good enough never is’ translates into a steady look at questioning the status quo, keeping us dedicated to helping the great people at this fabulous team over deliver to our most valued people… our customers.

Deliver MORE value than what is/was/will be received = over deliver = Lifetime Customers.

As you may have heard, B Walker Ranch is front and center in creating a place where adults with autism can work and learn skills.  We are thankful to have such a wonderful facility close by, doing such great work to help teach and care for young adults.

So even as we are eager to enjoy life, others are simply hoping they can be here to live it.  This is why we here at Your Home Sold Guaranteed have resolved to do what we can to help.

For homes we sell this year, we are donating a portion of our income to B Walker Ranch. Our goal is to raise another $10,000 to help them in their quest to develop a day program for adult people with Autism.

This is where you can help!

Who do you know considering making a move you could refer to my award-winning real estate sales team?

For anyone considering a move that we help, you can rest assured that not only will they get the award winning service we are known for, but that a solid portion of the income we receive from the transaction will go toward a very worthy cause.

I want to make it easy for you to refer your friends, neighbors, associates or family members considering making a move, so you can pass along our business card to them, I have enclosed a couple here for that purpose. Of course you can always call me direct as well at 925-216-7720.

You and your referrals mean more than ever to my team and I.  As we move forward in this new season, please know we are extremely thankful for you and you being a special part of our business.

With all my appreciation,

Leticia Almaro Nicolini

& The Almaro Team