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If You Want More, Give more…First.

Posted on: June 11th, 2012 by Beth Heilman

If You Want More good things, in business or in life; give more first. Here's the reason I say that…

The other day I was having a phone conversation where the concept of "give more first" was front and center. It was with someone very close to me Ok…my oldest son) Shhh, don't tell him I told you, okay. He was complaining that his job had gotten boring and his bosses weren't giving him work that was challenging.

Mind you this is his dream job and one he worked very hard to get. I also want to tell you that he is MORE than capable of handling the more challenging (and fun) work.

After talking for a while and asking some pretty pointed questions, I got to the heart of the matter.

Because in his mind the jobs he was being given were tedious, even monotonous; he did them grudgingly. He'd even gotten a little slow about getting his work done and had been talked to about it.

Ah…here came my teaching moment. Love it when this happens ๐Ÿ™‚

Give more first is an age-old concept. I told him that to be trusted with more (the more challenging, fun assignments) he was going to have to prove to his bosses that he could ace the assignments he'd already been given. Those were the skills they'd hired him for.

He'd have to prove to them by not only doing his (boring)work and finishing it under the deadline, but by doing the other stuff in addition. He needed to do it well and finish that on time, too.

Luckily, my boy is one smart cookie and got what I was saying almost immediately. Yeah, him!!

It's like the story of the talents in the Bible. You remember the one. Here's the Reader's Digest version…

Three servants, master is going on a business trip and gives each of the some money (talents) to take care of for him and he'd see what they'd done with them when he got back. The first two servants rocked. They invested the talents, made a profit and the master was doing a happy dance. They both were given even more of the master's property to take care of.

The third guy hid his; buried it, in fact. He only did enough to keep his job and get by so the master wouldn't be mad if he took a chance and lost the talent. He did just enough…

You know what happened. The master got miffed that the servant wasn't living up to his capabilities and the trust he'd placed in him and POOF!! Out the door he went.

Like I said, my son got it. When he went back to work he'd already made plans to finish up the project he'd been working on and ask for the extra, fun projects that were coming available. He knew that to have more, he'd have to give more…first. He realized he had to give first and do a stellar job what he's been entrusted with before he could move on the the more challenging and interesting work he really wanted to do.

Heck, if his excitement keeps up (like I know it will), he may even get a raise out of it…cha-ching!!

What situations in your business have you been in where you had to give (sometimes a lot) before you could reap the rewards? Please share in the comment section below. I'd love to hear. Until then…

To Your Giving Success,
Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth ๐Ÿ™‚

 

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Are you Listening To the Voices In your Head?

Posted on: January 23rd, 2012 by Beth Heilman

Are you Listening To the Voices In your Head?

Well? Are you?

You know the one's I mean. It's the little whisper that say's "Why even bother trying that new business. You failed at the last one. What makes you think now will be any different?" or "Are you sure you want to try that? What if you mess up? Everyone will laugh at you"

You've heard it at least once or twice right?

Did it let it stop you? No? Good…

Because for quite a while I let it stop me. Until now…

This is how I finally (yes, I can be a little dense sometimes) caught on and how God taught me a lesson on how to tune it out.

God has such a great sense of humor…Let me explain what I mean.

A few days ago, I had a coaching call with one of my mentors. His name is PJ McClure and he's known as the Mindset Maven. He's a master at cutting through BS to get to the root of a problem and let me tell you my roots ran deep.

See, ever since I got down-sized four years ago, I've made many (and I do mean many) attempts at starting businesses. I'd start 'em, be going great guns and then I'd come to a screeching halt. Dead stop…stuck.

ACK!!

I always had my Real Estate business to fall back on so we didn't starve, but even that wasn't going so well. SO last year I decided to invest in some coaching, heavy duty business coaching and with it came the mindset coaching. Best thing I've ever done for my business. All I can say is Wow!!

Now comes the God's sense of humor part…

The day after a call with PJ came a breakthrough of ginormous proportions. I was taking a goal-setting workshop and by no small
coincidence I was sitting next to a lady who was very sweet, but also very "different" if you get my drift.

As good business people do, we introduced ourselves and I made the mistake of asking "what do you do?" She began at that point to tell me all about this weight loss product she sold that she'd lost 40 pounds on and that it was hard to get used to the taste at first but she got used to it and here's the brochure and here's her card and oh, by the way she also has a biofeedback machine at home to eliminate stress and she needed people to "practice" on so would I come over to her house so she could get the credits toward her certification and…Lordy!

I kept asking myself "what, does she think I'm fat?" Why they heck does she keep rambling on about this stuff. Does she know what she can do with those protein bars? Oooops…was I really thinking that?

Why was I getting so annoyed? At last, the class started.

And the real fun began…

Ever sit near someone who has a comment to say about EVERYTHING the instructor says? Ever sit right next to someone who talks to themselves for no good reason? And when they read, it's out loud in a hushed mumble WHILE the instructor is talking.

Let me tell ya, after about half an hour of that I was ready to come unglued. I've got zero tolerance for someone disrupting a class and especially one I paid good money to go to.

It was right about then I could almost see God smile. Then He whispered, "Tune out the voice and focus".

My classmate kept mumbling and I'd get aggrevated then I'd hear "Tune out the voice and focus".

Sometimes I'm a little slow on the up-take, but this time I got it. One of those ah-ha moments you hear about that stay with you for life.

It wasn't just my neighbor's voice I was being told to tune out, it was also the one I'd been listening to in my head. It was the one I'd let stop me so many times. The one that would always cast doubt or tell me I couldn't or why bother, it won't work anyway. THAT voice.

Finally, peace.

No, she didn't stop talking; but I was no longer listening. I really didn't hear her anymore. For the first time in a long time I was able to concentrate and really focus on the important things. The things I needed to take action on to move my business forward. And I learned that even though that voice may always be there, it's my choice to listen or not.

Next time your little voice of doubt or fear starts chattering, I hope you remember this story. It's always in your power to "tune out the
voice and focus".

Have you ever had an experience like that? A real ah-ha moment that changed the game forever? I'd love to hear your story. Please leave a comment below and share. Until then…

To Your Success,
Sonrisas(smiles),

Beth ๐Ÿ™‚

Beth Heilman is a 20 year Real Estate veteran and Owner/CEO of Red Leopard Marketing, a company specializing in using Social Media Marketing (and some other nifty cool things, too) to help Real Estate Professionals attract, engage and keep their ideal customers. After experiencing the devastating effects the housing market crash had on her and her fellow Real Estate peeps, she has made it her mission to get businesses back on track using innovative marketing strategies with an emphasis on Social Media. Business as usual just doesn't work anymore.

Beth has lived in fabulous Las Vegas for 30 years. She's a mom of four great kiddos and a "gramita" to 10 amazing grandmunchkins. Her philosophy in business and in life is "when you do the right things for the right reasons, things will turn out just fine". Do you believe that? You should… ๐Ÿ™‚

 

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Finding The Miracle in The Mess

Posted on: December 30th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

As I sit here in my office looking back at everything that's happened this past year, it's amazing to me how God works when we let Him.

There's been something going on in my life that I haven't been very vocal about because to be honest, it made me feel like a failure. I thought that if I talked about it and let everyone know about it then they'd KNOW I was a failure and then "who would listen to me".

That was my ego talking. And officially, here and now, I'm stuffing a sock in it's mouth. 

All I know is if I can share what I've been through, maybe just maybe, it will help you or someone else to see that there is always hope…there is always a way.

Let's start with how the mess began…

Many of you know of my years selling Real Estate for builders here in Las Vegas. It's no secret that the Las Vegas housing market has been the black hole of foreclosures and short sales for a few years now and doesn't look like it's getting better any time soon. The results have been devastating economically, from a numbers stand point.

What few people see is the day-to-day effect it's had on good, hard-working people.

It  was humiliating to be "down-sized" because of the market conditions. It was torture to find myself sitting straight up in bed at 3 in the morning for way too many nights, crying my eyes out because I didn't know how I was going to cover the bills that month. How was I going to take care of my son? With my income at 25% of what it once was,  I'd nearly run out of savings after not being able to get another job after over a year. The creditors were calling from morning till night. It was even more humiliating (for me) to do, but I had to declare bankruptcy.

I'm not proud of it, but it was the only to hope to salvage what I'd worked so hard for; to get some relief from the constant, sometimes overwhelming stress…and the saga continued. And so did the mess.

This past March, after nearly two years of working with what turned out to be an extremely incompetent attorney and still no bankruptcy confirmation in sight, I fired him. His work was so bad and he'd made so many mistakes that I figured I could do a better job on my own. So, for several months I was my own lawyer.

(Please do NOT try this at home…it sucked ๐Ÿ™‚ )

The bankruptcy originally started with the fight to keep my own house after every attempt to work with the bank failed. It was the home I lived in, the one I designed just the way I wanted. It's beautiful. It's mine and I wanted to keep it.

That house is a dream house. It's not overly fancy, but it has stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, gorgeous dark wood floors and plantation shutters. I chose every detail. Lovingly, painstakingly. It has custom paint and a custom made patio with brick pavers. I hung every ceiling fan and installed every custom light fixture.

And now…someone else is living in it.

No, I haven't lost it, but it was pretty darned close. The only way to save it was to move out of it and make it an investment property, to rent it out. Crazy isn't it that I own five (used to be six, but remember the bad attorney? Nuf said.) investment properties and can't live in any of them.

I know some of you won't feel too sorry for my situation, after all I get to keep most of my "stuff", right? That's very true. I consider myself very lucky. However, since all of this began, I've had to hold on to them by a thread at times. In the past three years, ALL of my houses have been trashed by tenants who felt they were entitled to a free roof over their head, or to steal the appliances, or to steal cabinets. They left disaster in their wake ( they were mad that I evicted them for not paying rent, go figure) and the houses were left beyond filthy. Sometimes it was so bad, it made those people on the TV show "Hoarders" look like neat freaks. I'm not kidding.

All that mess took money, lots of money ( and new, responsible tenants) to put right again.

Financially, things kept going from bad to worse. Why didn't I just throw up my hands and walk away? I asked myself that question…a lot. Every time I didn't think I could take one more thing (like three air conditioners going out in a 30 day period), I'd ask God "why?". He'd say "Hold on, keep the faith, there's always a way".

You know what? There always was. Sometimes it showed up at the very last minute, but it always showed up.

Like the thing with my own house. After many head-to-head battles with opposing attorneys, I had a heart-to-heart with my new attorney ( I might be stubborn, but I'm not dumb. I knew I needed a professional so I hired a good one) I made the decision to move and rent it out. It was the only way; or I stood the risk of losing everything. It was heart-wrenching. Not to mention scary. Since this thing had dragged on so long, my once-stellar credit is now beyond horrible at this point. Who on earth is gonna rent to me? (Ego talking again. Shut up ego)

Not only was I moving me, but I had to move my 8 year old son out of the only school he's ever known. For any kid it's tough, but Emanuel has learning disabilities and a change in his routine can throw him into a tail-spin for quite a while. 

At one point he said (crying) that he wasn't going to move and would live in the empty house. I wanted to crawl under a rock.

But here's how good God is. Within one week's time of making that decision, I put my house up for rent and it rented within a day, found the house (my miracle) I'm living in now and moved. What a whirlwind!

My biggest concern when I started looking for a house was finding someone who would rent to me with my current credit…mmmm…status. I had visions of living in Motel 6 or a refrigerator box under a bridge somewhere. Overly dramatic, I know but unless you've lived it, it's hard to imagine how scary things can get.

Another miracle was in the works…there was this house listed on Craig's List that I was absolutely drawn to. I was looking at other one's, but I always kept coming back to that one. It had been on the market for two weeks in a neighborhood literally one minute away from my youngest daughter and her family. It's in the same neighborhood I lived in for 11 years and loved.

I called on it and was told that there had been NO ONE else that had looked at it or even called on it. I thought that was a little strange since the pictures of it were beautiful. Two story, 3 car garage, three bedrooms, a loft and an office (with doors…bonus) and a POOL! The price was perfect. What the heck was going on?

I made an appointment to see it. The pictures didn't do it justice. It was gorgeous, spotless and unbelievably perfect for what we needed. My son and grandmunchkins would even be going to the same school!!

OK, I thought. Now I have to tell them the credit situation. Better to be up front and get rejected now than get my heart set on it and have them tell me to take a hike.

I didn't have to worry. The owners are lovely. My credit didn't matter. (Huh? This was definitely a God thing) They gave me the keys five days early and even offered to let me split the deposit into two payments. They wanted someone who would take good care of the house and pay on time. Yes folks…that would be me ๐Ÿ™‚ We were approved without question. Everything just fell into place. It's like it was meant to be…

At first I couldn't believe it, but then I just smiled…

I know that God was keeping this house for me. Even though I couldn't stay in my dream house, He guided me to one that is absolutely wonderful. No worries about getting a "knock at the door". The stress is gone and the peace I  feel is almost unreal. I know in my heart that even if the worst happened and all my "stuff" got taken away, we'd still be secure and comfortable.

God made a miracle out of the mess.

I said it earlier and I'll say it again. When the world feels like it's caving in around you and you just want to quit, be very still and
listen. "Hold on, there is always a way". He'll lead you out of your mess if you'll let Him. The key is to Trust Him and Let Him. You'll
never have to worry again.

As 2011 closes out and 2012 is on the horizon, I'm super excited. Financially, I'm no where near out of the woods but I have my Plan written down and my priorities in place. I have my own business now. No one is ever gonna get the chance to lay me off again. I'm working with not one, but two awesome coaches for the entire year. Both are successful in their own right, and together this mess will truly become a miracle. I believe that with everything in me.

In order to create that miracle though, I know I have to change. I have to once and for all get over my "stuff" (my excuses). God will only do His part when I do my part. I'm ready to do what it takes and make the changes to turn this mess into a miracle. If you're facing your own "mess", it's my hope that you're willing to make a change, too. You deserve every success.

Folks, there's nothing material that can't be fixed or replaced, we all know that. It's our relationship with God and our family and friends that matters. Those are your everyday miracles.

Maybe you have a story of how a mess became a miracle. I'd love to celebrate it with you and everyone who visits here; so please share your story in the comment section below. Take care. Talk with you soon. Until then..

 

Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth ๐Ÿ™‚

 

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Ask and it shall be given…

Posted on: September 19th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

Ask and it shall be given…

Ever have something virtually smack you in the face every time you turn around. It could be a song, a book title or in my case this past week a Bible verse.

"Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened"

Must have seen or heard that verse or seen a reference to it at least a half dozen times between Monday and Thursday.

Coincidence? Possibly, but God has talked to me in weird ways for years and sister (or brother)… I know when to listen. There are three parts to that verse. Let's look at each one.

First, when you need something and there's a burning desire in your heart, do you ASK (boldly), believing that what you've asked for will be coming your way?

Or do you ask (with small letters) hoping (or more accurately wishing) that you might, just maybe, be lucky enough to receive what you're asking for? You have to ask boldly to get what you want.

Second, do you seek what it is you're wanting or do you wait for it to drop in your lap? Always be on the lookout for a way to fulfill the
desire that's been put in your heart.

Maybe it's the new business you want to start, or the new house you want to buy or it could be something really cool like funding your favorite charity. Whatever it is, there's always a way to do what you want or have what it is you're meant to have, but if you don't know the "how" you have to ask. The answer will always come.

The last part of the equation is knocking. If after you ask, and the answer doesn't seem to be anywhere on the horizon…keep asking. That's the knocking the verse is talking about. I love the phrase "Don't give up before the miracle". Your answer is usually right around the corner.

"Ask and it shall be given, seek you shall find, knock and the door will be opened".

Keep asking and never give up. Sometimes it takes persistence to get what it is you're after, but if you're not willing to be persistent is what you want really worth the effort anyway?

Just sayin'…

What's your experience been with asking, seeking and knocking? I'd love to hear what's going on in your life. Talk soon ๐Ÿ™‚

 

Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth ๐Ÿ™‚

 

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How to Overcome “But-I’m-Not-Good-Enough-itis”

Posted on: September 8th, 2011 by Beth Heilman

We've all have had times in our lives when we felt we weren't good enough.

Maybe it was in school and you thought the other kids were prettier or smarter or more athletic.

Maybe as you got older, you got passed over for the promotion at work or perhaps all your friends were getting married and you were still sitting home alone on Friday nights eating Ben and Jerry's and watching reruns.

Oy!!

You might have even started thinking that the way things are, is the way they are always going to be because you're just not like everyone else.

They're special, they're lucky or they know something that you don't. You're thinking maybe you're not good enough.

When those nasty thoughts creep in your head and you're really starting to feel sorry for yourself…STOP!!

You are good enough…always.

You've heard the phrase, "God don't make no junk"? Well, He doesn't.

Whatever is stopping you from going full out for what you want is nothing that can't be overcome.

"But my situation's different" you might say. And you may be right. I don't know.

What I do know is this. You are here for a reason and your life has a purpose.

There's also a reason you're reading this right now. There are no coincidences, my friends.

If there's a dream in your heart, pursue it. If there's a business you want to start, start it. If there's a trip you want to take, take it.

If you think you're not good enough or you don't deserve to go after what you really want, let me tell you you are and you do.

Are all the circumstances perfect to move forward? Probably not. They never are.

Do you have what it takes to pursue the dream God has placed in your heart? Absolutely!! Otherwise it wouldn't be there.

You are enough…

As always, leave me a comment below and share your struggles and your triumphs. I read each and every one. I'm on your side…always.

To Your Success,
Sonrisas (smiles),

Beth 

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