Yes, I Am Still Alive. Thanks for Asking!
Monday, April 10, 2006
I woke up this morning and wondered how it could possibly be time to pay my taxes already. Then I looked back over my shoulder and realized two months had practically disolved behind me. Time sure flies when you're networking like crazy and trying to get three fledgling businesses of the ground after a cross country move. =D
In summary, I've been busy since the move. So busy I haven't been blogging.
Yep, THAT busy.
A bit more specifically, not only have I been out as the A & R man, meeting and greeting literally hundreds of new people in the community since our company, Plan B ReDesigns, joined the Chamber of Commerce and the Atlanta Better Business Bureau, but I personally also serve on multiple committees of my local real estate board and most recently ran for and was elected to be our Homeowner's Association President on March 7th.
Now wait. Before you all start throwing tomatoes or saying I've turned to the dark side let me first tell you that I thought long and hard before stepping up to the plate to help my HOA in this capacity. After all, I once went to battle with my HOA in California over the number of plants I was allowed on my front porch. (I wanted to have two instead of one.)
Why did I even consider tackling this, especially with everything else I had going on already? Our current President was stepping down and the rest of the group was moving out of the complex. I was struck with the thought, "If I don't do this, who will?" The answer to myself was almost immediately, "Probably no one." I didn't like that option at all, so instead of complaining about it, I decided the best way to improve or preserve the quality of the neighborhood I have chosen to live in was to get involved.
It's the best decision I've ever made. After my election, I heard comments ranging from, "Are you sure you know what you've just gotten yourself into son?" to "It's nice to see someone with naturally colored hair taking an interest around here." In spite of these comments, or perhaps because of them, my first move after being elected was to enhance what appeared to be a major lack of communication through the creation and location of a web site for my HOA, www.irwinplacehoa.com, the same day I was elected.
Hey now, don't laugh. I spent a fair number of hours hacking that together from my very, very basic knowledge of programming. I'm a REALTOR for a reason. Frankly, I'm quite proud of my reverse engineering considering I barely speak Spanish after multiple years of classes and 12 years living in San Diego, California. HTML isn't exactly a language you pick up through immersion.
Anyway, the site gets better everyday as my board members provide me more information and the residents become aware of the new communication tool at their disposal. The idea isn't new. In fact there are a number of companies who have been pushing the idea to HOA President's across the nation, some since the mid 90's before the dot com boom and bust.
It's funny really. People often complain, to me or the world in general, that everything "out there" is so messed up it can't be fixed and that if "people" would just change the way they are, it might at least improve some. The problem with that logic is that if we all expect everyone else to change first, then frankly no one ever will. It all has to start with...
You.
Yep. Hate to break it to you all so bluntly after being quiet for so long, but people, including both myself and yourself, make up what the world is or appears to be to the rest of us. With all of us so often looking outward for scapegoats or explanations for everything that is wrong with the world, we miss the broader fact that if perhaps *we* changed the way *we* are, things might actually change for the better overall.
I know, this is bordering on the FAR, far left flank of expectations for a free people toward their fellow man, but I see some value in this line of thinking in light of the polarization of our society of late. I really wonder sometimes how we have managed to strangle or kill objective thought and rational discourse in our modern day society. Yet I digress from my point...
I recently became a Rotarian after being invited to a Rotary meeting by a gentleman I met at a network luncheon that had nothing to do with Rotary. It came up in conversation and knowing my father is a Rotarian, I went more as a courtesty and out of curiousity, but once I got there, I was completely hooked by a simple banner hanging by the entrance to their meeting.
It read: The Four-Way Test.
The Four-Way Test was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.
Be honest with yourself right now. Is this really that difficult of a litmus test to apply to all situations and complex problems you face in your daily life? Imagine if everyone ran their possible actions each day through this filter.
To crib a former slogan from Dial, "I do now. Don't you think the world would be a better place for us all if everyone did?"
If you think so, then try to stop looking outside for answers and solutions to the world's problems. Start inside with yourself, in your own little corner of the world. Get involved. Get informed. Get happy.
And perhaps, there's a small chance everyone else will too.
In summary, I've been busy since the move. So busy I haven't been blogging.
Yep, THAT busy.
A bit more specifically, not only have I been out as the A & R man, meeting and greeting literally hundreds of new people in the community since our company, Plan B ReDesigns, joined the Chamber of Commerce and the Atlanta Better Business Bureau, but I personally also serve on multiple committees of my local real estate board and most recently ran for and was elected to be our Homeowner's Association President on March 7th.
Now wait. Before you all start throwing tomatoes or saying I've turned to the dark side let me first tell you that I thought long and hard before stepping up to the plate to help my HOA in this capacity. After all, I once went to battle with my HOA in California over the number of plants I was allowed on my front porch. (I wanted to have two instead of one.)
Why did I even consider tackling this, especially with everything else I had going on already? Our current President was stepping down and the rest of the group was moving out of the complex. I was struck with the thought, "If I don't do this, who will?" The answer to myself was almost immediately, "Probably no one." I didn't like that option at all, so instead of complaining about it, I decided the best way to improve or preserve the quality of the neighborhood I have chosen to live in was to get involved.
It's the best decision I've ever made. After my election, I heard comments ranging from, "Are you sure you know what you've just gotten yourself into son?" to "It's nice to see someone with naturally colored hair taking an interest around here." In spite of these comments, or perhaps because of them, my first move after being elected was to enhance what appeared to be a major lack of communication through the creation and location of a web site for my HOA, www.irwinplacehoa.com, the same day I was elected.
Hey now, don't laugh. I spent a fair number of hours hacking that together from my very, very basic knowledge of programming. I'm a REALTOR for a reason. Frankly, I'm quite proud of my reverse engineering considering I barely speak Spanish after multiple years of classes and 12 years living in San Diego, California. HTML isn't exactly a language you pick up through immersion.
Anyway, the site gets better everyday as my board members provide me more information and the residents become aware of the new communication tool at their disposal. The idea isn't new. In fact there are a number of companies who have been pushing the idea to HOA President's across the nation, some since the mid 90's before the dot com boom and bust.
It's funny really. People often complain, to me or the world in general, that everything "out there" is so messed up it can't be fixed and that if "people" would just change the way they are, it might at least improve some. The problem with that logic is that if we all expect everyone else to change first, then frankly no one ever will. It all has to start with...
You.
Yep. Hate to break it to you all so bluntly after being quiet for so long, but people, including both myself and yourself, make up what the world is or appears to be to the rest of us. With all of us so often looking outward for scapegoats or explanations for everything that is wrong with the world, we miss the broader fact that if perhaps *we* changed the way *we* are, things might actually change for the better overall.
I know, this is bordering on the FAR, far left flank of expectations for a free people toward their fellow man, but I see some value in this line of thinking in light of the polarization of our society of late. I really wonder sometimes how we have managed to strangle or kill objective thought and rational discourse in our modern day society. Yet I digress from my point...
I recently became a Rotarian after being invited to a Rotary meeting by a gentleman I met at a network luncheon that had nothing to do with Rotary. It came up in conversation and knowing my father is a Rotarian, I went more as a courtesty and out of curiousity, but once I got there, I was completely hooked by a simple banner hanging by the entrance to their meeting.
It read: The Four-Way Test.
The Four-Way Test was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.
His simple and easy to remember 24-word test was designed for employees to follow in their business and professional lives and became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers. The survival of his company is credited almost entirely to the following simple philosophy:
"Of the things we think, say or do:
-
Is it the TRUTH?
-
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
-
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
-
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Be honest with yourself right now. Is this really that difficult of a litmus test to apply to all situations and complex problems you face in your daily life? Imagine if everyone ran their possible actions each day through this filter.
To crib a former slogan from Dial, "I do now. Don't you think the world would be a better place for us all if everyone did?"
If you think so, then try to stop looking outside for answers and solutions to the world's problems. Start inside with yourself, in your own little corner of the world. Get involved. Get informed. Get happy.
And perhaps, there's a small chance everyone else will too.