Summer officially began on June 21st. As a coach to business professionals, I’ve found that the people who design their summers end up having far better ones than those who just let it happen. So let’s design yours.

Choose Your Summer Theme(s)

Start by picking one or more words to represent how you want to experience the season. In 2020 (during the pandemic) mine was “survival.” This year there are three: “fun,” “peace,” and “travel.”

What are yours? _______________

Now, Design Your Summer

Take a few minutes to consider these questions. Your answers just might inspire you to create your best summer yet.

List three new places to visit:
1.
2.
3.

List five new experiences you want to have:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

List three friends you want to reconnect with:
1.
2.
3.

List three things to say “no” to:
1.
2.
3.

You may be surprised by what emerges. And, more importantly, you may discover what’s been waiting for your attention.

I’d love to hear what you come up with!

As for me, I’ll be picking roses in the garden, enjoying home-grown tomatoes, working with clients (of course!) and traveling.

T.S. Eliot famously wrote in The Waste Land that “April is the cruellest month.” That may be true, but I’ve always thought that February is the longest month.

Yes, we’ve had Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras. But here in Santa Fe — and in much of the country — it’s been bone-chillingly cold, and spring still feels a long way off.

February has a way of making us wait. Wait for warmth. Wait for motivation. Wait for later.

Yesterday the actor Eric Dane died after a year-long battle with ALS. In a Netflix interview titled Famous Last Words and recorded a few months ago, Dane reflected on what living with a serious illness had taught him:

“Live now, right now, in the present. It’s hard, but I learned to do that.”

That really landed. Because how often do we postpone our lives until conditions improve — until “it’s the right time,” or “I’m in the mood,” or the weather changes, or we feel more certain?

He also shared this advice he gave his children:

“Fall in love with something. Find your passion, your joy (and) find the thing that makes you wanna get up in the morning and drives you through the entire day.”

Yesterday, something small but important happened. We had a new cleaning person come to the house. She did such an extraordinary job that I texted her afterward to thank her again.

She wrote back: “Thank you. I love what I do.”

That stopped me.

Not because her work was glamorous — but because it was wholehearted. She had fallen in love with something. And I could feel it.

So maybe February isn’t just about enduring the cold or counting the days until spring.

Maybe it’s an invitation to live now, not later, and to reconnect with whatever you love enough to give your full attention to.

What’s the thing you’re falling in love with right now?

That Will Help You Grow Your Business and Build Momentum for the Future

Pick a few to start with!

Get More Organized – Financially

• Move all 2025 tax-related files, check registers and statements, paid bills and other financial information to one place (such as a file drawer) to make room for 2026 files.
• Start a 2025 tax file for the various 1099’s and other tax documents that are about to arrive.
• Summarize your 2025 income and expense information by category to give to your accountant for tax preparation.
• Prepare 1099-NEC forms for subcontractors to whom you paid $600. or more in 2025 or give the information to your accountant so he/she can prepare the forms (due at the end of January).
• Pay fourth quarter 2025 estimated taxes that are due January 15th.
• Set up new files for 2026. Examples: receipts for cash expenditures, paid bills, auto expenses, etc.
• Purge old business and tax files. Check with your accountant to see how long you need to keep the information. Usually six years are sufficient. You can also Google “record retention” and find the IRS regulations.

Organize Your Office Space

• Take everything off your desk. Clean the desk and only put back the items that you actually use. Do the same with your cabinets, drawers and bookshelves.
• Purge your files, both paper and computer. Throw out, shred and/or delete!

Update Your Systems and Learn New Technology

• Review your CRM. Add recent clients, as well as attorneys, loan officers, home inspectors and other professionals. Update addresses, emails, phone numbers, birthday and anniversary dates, and anniversary dates of property closings.
• Look into changing to a new, better CRM, if appropriate, as well as other real estate-specific systems.
• Learn to use more of the technology and marketing assistance available at your agency.
• Learn as much as you can (or want to) about the use of AI in your industry. AI is here to stay. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and others can automate many of your repetitive tasks, write compelling marketing messages, craft newsletters and property descriptions for you, etc. You can ask the bot questions about emerging trends, creative customer acquisition strategies and the like. The caveat is to double-check the information to ensure that it is accurate. There’s a term in AI called “hallucinations” — or false information that you need to be aware of.

Get in Touch with Past Clients

• Review the CMAs that you’ve done in the past 24 months to see if there are listing opportunities. Contact all active buyers and provide them with the most recent market information on properties in their price range as well as a general market update. An in-person meeting is a great way to stay in touch and continue to provide value.

Create a Client and Customer Contact Program

• Make time each day to call or meet with former clients, customers and referral sources to generate business. Make five calls a day; send three texts; mail three handwritten notes or cards.
• Send handwritten notes or cards to buyers on the anniversaries of their property closings.
• Create a holiday contact program for emailings and greeting card mailings. These could include Valentine’s Day, Happy Spring, Happy Fourth of July, etc. Choose small gifts to be sent to your top referral sources on these holidays.

Expand Your Sphere of Influence

• Research and sign up for a lifelong learning class on a subject you are interested in, such as art appreciation, financial planning, cooking, photography or negotiation skills. This is a great way to meet new people and to expand your sphere.
• Research local community groups and nonprofits. Decide on one(s) you want to support and look into joining the board of directors, if possible.

Research Professional Continuing Education Courses

• Look into getting (another) real estate designation from your local or state association of Realtors or the National Association of Realtors.

Update Your Marketing Materials

• Review and update all of your marketing materials, including your website, your postcard templates and your listing presentations. Rewrite your bio, if necessary, and get a new head shot if yours is more than a few years old. Update your bio and photo on your agency’s website as well as on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere.

Expand Your Social Media Presence

• Create a 2026 social media content calendar for Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Make sure to post community-related events and personal pieces in addition to postings about your listings, general market conditions and your rankings.
• Take an online course on social media marketing.
• Learn to create your own videos. Practice! Practice! Practice!

Self-Care

• Begin an exercise program. Learn to cook healthy meals. Book monthly massages. 
• Get more sleep!

I hope you will choose a number of these things to do to grow your business during this slow (for some!) time in the market.

I have created a business plan template for 2026, based on the exercises in Beyond the Sale—for Real Estate Agents. Contact me if you would like a copy. The feedback has been great. It’s fun and easy to complete. 

If it’s time for a change; if you want to try something new but aren’t exactly sure what that is; if you want a new perspective and support to make 2026 a big success, contact me. Together we can make 2026 your best year — ever!

I‘m not a “cookie cutter” coach.  I‘m a master coach, and I offer personalized coaching. Contact me to see if we are a perfect fit. 

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”
— Singer Willie Nelson

“The only prayer you ever need is ‘Thank You.’”
— Theologian Meister Eckhart

As I sit here in my office on this beautiful autumn day, looking at the snow-kissed Sangre de Cristo mountains, my cat Mini curled up on the chair next to me, I am very grateful for the life I am privileged to live. I am so appreciative of my wonderful partner and friends, of my beautiful home, and of my clients who are truly an honor to work with.

Gratitude is one of the keys to happiness and abundance. Expressing gratitude is about acknowledging and being thankful for everything that you have in your life and everything that you are in the process of creating. Expressing gratitude brings more joy and positivity to your life and to the lives of those you touch.

In this season of Thanksgiving, I want to thank you for being in my life — as a client, as a friend, as a colleague or as a reader. Wishing you much joy and love in the holiday season ahead.

Time for Space Clearing!

Finally, after a long and challenging winter, it’s spring, the season of rebirth, renewal, and new beginnings.

Many people mark the season with spring cleaning, but I prefer to celebrate by spring clearing — making space for the new.

Just as you can’t plant seeds in a flower bed that’s overgrown with weeds and garden debris, you can’t create something new and meaningful — a thriving business, an expanded network, another income stream — if there is no room in your physical space, in your schedule or in your head for fresh ideas or new ventures.

Here are a few ways to embrace spring clearing:

Space clearing

If your office, desk, closets, or car are cluttered with items you no longer use or need, schedule focused time to declutter and get organized. There are really only four actions you can do with your belongings: keep, recycle/trash, sell/donate/give away, or move to another location.

Amazon lists over a thousand books on decluttering, so if you need guidance, start with one and go from there – or hire a professional organizer to help. By eliminating the old, worn or obsolete, you create space for new opportunities and draw in fresh energy.

Schedule clearing

Are you juggling too many projects?

Do you attend meetings when issues could be resolved with a quick phone call or email?

Do you say “yes” to social engagements when you’d rather say “no” and stay home and relax?

Do you long for free time during the day when you can sink your teeth into a writing or marketing project without being interrupted?

Take a close look at your calendar. It might be time to evaluate how you are spending your time and to pare down commitments. Perhaps you want to block off a two-hour period every Tuesday for concentrated work during which you cannot be interrupted. Maybe you want to take an afternoon off each week to pursue a personal passion or spend time with your kids. If you have control over your schedule, prioritize what truly matters and eliminate what doesn’t.

Also, learn to delegate wisely. This will free up your schedule and make room for the new and the important.

Head clearing

• Is there a decongestant for random or overwhelming thoughts? Not yet! But here are a few ways to clear mental clutter:
• Spend time in nature. A short walk outdoors can reset your mind and boost creativity. Put your phone away and enjoy the surroundings.Improve your focus. Using the two-hour time blocking technique mentioned above will help you avoid interruptions and improve your productivity.
• Limit social media distractions. Constant notifications and email checking can send you down a rabbit hole and lead to procrastination and time wasting. Turn them off when working on critical tasks.

Clearing your mind requires a commitment to creating new habits that will support your bigger goals. And the reward is more clarity, energy and time to focus on what truly matters.

Whether it’s space clearing, schedule clearing or head clearing, I encourage you to choose a few strategies from above and make room for the fresh, the new and the important.

Ready to clear the path to your success? I offer one-off laser coaching sessions – focused, powerful and effective. We can talk about your business, your goals, and how you can accelerate your progress.

The ink on the $418M NAR settlement is barely dry, and already real estate experts, economists, podcasters, and journalists are weighing in with dire predictions, speculation and misinformation.

Here are just a few of the headlines from the past week:

• “NAR Settlement Creates Daunting Challenges For Homebuyers, Agents”
  Daily News;
• “NAR $418 Million Legal Commission Settlement Could Save You Thousands On Your Next Home”
  Fox 26 Houston;
• “Powerful Realtor Group Agrees To Slash Commissions To Settle Lawsuits”
  New York Times; and
• “Realtors Re-Examine Their Careers After NAR Settlement”
  WSJ Podcast.

I’m guessing that the CEOs of most real estate brokerages have already met with their cadre of attorneys to figure out how to proceed in the face of the settlement.

We’re definitely in a period of uncertainty, confusion and misinformation. Some say housing prices will fall, as will commissions. Others say things will stabilize and that this is “no big deal.” The truth is: no one really knows what the fallout of this landmark settlement will be.

How can you, as a real estate agent, prepare for the future?

Here are a few ideas:

• If you have listings coming on this summer, it might serve both you and your sellers to bring the properties on during the spring market, before things change in mid-July.
• Figure out how you can enhance the quality, type, and number of services you provide to buyers and sellers. Your experience and expertise — and the level of service you provide — will be more important than ever, especially if you are competing for listings and also need to justify your commission to your clientele.
• Prepare a marketing piece that showcases both your expertise and the value you offer. Highlight the specifics that differentiate you from other agents (e.g., special designations that you have attained, your rank in the company, awards you have received). Even more important to emphasize are the services that you and your company offer. Examples are drone and 3D photography, assistance with staging, referrals to contractors and other service providers, professional social media marketing, international agent referral networks, home warranty offers, and presale renovation services.
• Make sure you get a signed buyer-broker agreement from all of your customers before it becomes mandated in mid-July. Learn a script so that asking for the agreement becomes second nature.
• Take a negotiation course that will enhance your skills. I recommend one that is in person, where you can roleplay with other agents and receive feedback from the instructor. Reading a book on negotiation is not as effective as practicing what you are learning in a classroom situation.
• Stay abreast of the news. Attend any meetings and trainings at your agency that will inform you of new policies, procedures and approaches that your brokerage is instituting as a result of the settlement.Stay in contact with your sphere of influence, and update your client and referral base as more information becomes available.
• This news calls for resilience, adaptability and innovation. You know you can do this! Keep calm and carry on!

Boroughs & Burbs, the National Real Estate Conversation, presents Episode #121: “Beyond the Sale, Life You Love.” Join us for a show that is relevant for all agents, entrepreneurs and sales people who are putting together a business plan for 2024. Are we being strategic about our plans for growth? Are our business plans transactional, focused mainly on counting up the sales and hoping for a higher number? Jerri is an author and coach, while Ken has managed agents for decades towards a sustainable work-life balance. We thought January would be the perfect time to talk with these two experts on crafting a better plan for 2024!

Happy New Year!  Wishing you a joyous, prosperous, and peaceful 2024! Traditionally this is the time many of us make long lists of New Year’s resolutions. Often, however, only a fraction of these promises to ourselves is achieved. 

Instead of making the usual resolutions — which are often lists of obligatory “shoulds” and time-worn plans that we really don’t feel like starting, much less keeping (such as “lose weight,” “clean out my closets,” “give up caffeine,” etc.), how about creating a goal that you will actually enjoy working on? Here are a few exercises to help you create new and meaningful goals for 2024.

This morning I sat down to write a blog post about new ways to create more momentum in your business, but all I could think about was the war in the Middle East, the ongoing suffering and the devastation to come.

So, to distract myself, I scrolled through my emails until I came to a short podcast by Mel Robbins, a motivational speaker who I like. The podcast was called “Renew Your Spirit: Five Ways I’m Finding Hope and Strength Right Now.”

I listened to the podcast and found it to be very helpful. The message was quite similar to a blog post I wrote nineteen months ago (in March of 2022) when Russia invaded Ukraine. Today, as the tragedy in the Middle East unfolds, these words resonate again. I hope they will bring you comfort and hope during these dreadful, challenging times.

“Do not get pulled into the darkness…and forget to love one another and help one another in need. Do what you can to help yourself and to help somebody else see the good in you and in them. If you really don’t know what to do, just smile at people.”
—Mel Robbins

I recently read a new book by Marcus Buckingham entitled Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life. Buckingham is one of the creators of the renowned StrengthsFinder assessment and a leading researcher on strengths and human performance.

I’m a business coach who often works with people seeking career changes and with entrepreneurs wanting to transform their businesses to regain the joy and passion they once had. In reading Love + Work I was struck by the author’s concept of “red threads.” These are activities that we love and that we are either mastering or have mastered. When we are engaged in them we disappear. We totally lose track of time. Red threads are our superpowers, and because they come so easily to us we often downplay their significance. But when we are performing red thread activities, we are in the flow.

This concept is fascinating to me, because, as Buckingham has found, if you are engaged in 20% red thread activities during your day, “you are far less likely to experience burnout…(and) if you have a chance to do something you love each and every day (even if you aren’t good at it yet), you are 3.6 times more likely to be highly resilient.”

It seems that finding love in what you do is the key to happiness at work.

Here are a few questions from Love + Work (p. 78) to answer to help you discover your own red threads:

“When was the last time…

• you lost track of time?
• you were singled out for praise?
• you found yourself actively looking forward to work?
• you came up with a new way of doing things?
• you wanted the activity to never end?”

From Love and Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life (hbr.org) by Marcus Buckingham. Harvard Business Review Press, 2022.

Once you’ve uncovered your red threads, see if you can incorporate them at work and at home. If there are no red threads at work, maybe it’s time to reassess your career.

One of my red threads is helping clients get to the essence of a situation or problem quickly. Another is helping people generate new, creative solutions in areas in which they’ve been stuck.

If you are ready for coaching, contact me. I’d love to have a conversation.