“What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your sox?”
As we complete another year of the “Great Recession”, a year filled with marching the ball down the field only to be denied at the 2 yard line, I look for stories of success, inspiration and motivation.
As a runner and triathlete with a healthy fear of the water (ok panic) I was inspired by a coach who talked about what to do if you were shipwrecked and had a cramp while swimming to safety. He said if you are going to drown from the cramp, you should bite your tongue or do something else that caused a greater pain in your body. The reason to do this is because your body can only feel one pain at a time and if you create a pain greater than the pain of your cramp, you will be able to swim to safety without allowing the cramp in your leg to stop you.
So now you are asking – what does this have to do with your property or business or the Holidays? Well it has everything to do with focus. Just like your body can only experience one pain at a time, it can only focus on so many problems at one time and these days every time you solve one problem, there is another one waiting around the corner. Let me tell you, you will always have problems, it is the nature of life and particularly the brokerage business. But there is a bright side – you are also always going to have people in your Life that you can be grateful for and appreciate. Now it is just a matter of which one you will focus on.
When I started in the business (hard to believe it was 28 years ago!), I remember hearing stories of how deals were created when times were tough. How people actually sat down and made things happen (a lesson for our politicians.) It is time to revisit that concept of “making things happen.” It is very easy to be negative right now and that is why it is our opportunity to succeed! You see, the easier it is to complain the more people do it and less productive they become. Yet positive people generate positive outcomes regardless of any situation! However, it is not just thinking positive thoughts or knowing how to do it that gets the job done. The simple lesson is that if you want it, you have to go get it.
Our team at CDC Commercial just has a passion for the business. They enjoy the business more than everyone else and this shows within their attitude every single day. NO matter what happens within daily business, we usually brush any disappointment aside and move on, convinced that we’re going to uncover another solid opportunity for you.
Let me share the good news with you. It may be slow but it is getting better. The USD Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County edged up, the tenth such rise in the past 12 months. Here at CDC Commercial our metrics are level or rising (inbound calls, # of showings, deals closed, size and volume of deals). On an even brighter note, we closed the biggest office transaction done in North County this year (Elizabeth Hospice for 25,000 sf for 10 years). More importantly, we have seen less requests for short term, “wait and see” leases. I’d like to remind you that it is always dark before the sun comes up and some of the greatest companies and booms were formed in recessions (Apple & Google). San Diego’s construction industry is up in 2012 and expected to keep rising in 2013 (maybe by double digits). Service / Retail, professional office, healthcare, leisure and hospitality will be the growth sectors. I like to say that somewhere someone is making money, it might as well be you. We’d like to share that passion with you.
During the Holiday Season more than ever, our thoughts turn gratefully to those of you who have made our progress and success possible. As we get to the end of the year, we once again realize it isn’t about what you own but who you know and I am happy that we have come to know each other this year and I hope that we both make an effort this coming year to talk, do business and build our relationship more. In the meantime, the entire team at CDC Commercial wishes you a holiday in which the opening of presents overshadows the closing of transactions and due diligence is reserved for finding just the right gift. A season in which time with loved ones is the most important appointment on your calendar.
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One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling, “Really?” she heard whispered. “I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!” and, “I didn’t know others liked me so much,” were most the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as a pallbearer came up to her. “Were you Mark’s math teacher? he asked. She nodded: “yes.” Then he said: “Mark talked about you a lot.”
After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. “We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.” Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.
“Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.” All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, “I still have my list. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.” Chuck’s wife said “Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.” “I have mine too,” Marilyn said. “It’s in my diary.” Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. “I carry this with me at all times,” Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: “I think we all saved our lists”
That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
