San Antonio's Rockstar Turned Realtor®

"Daily Affirmations With Stuart Smalley"

Remember Al Franken's character Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live?  "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."  This has always been my opinion of daily affirmations.  A comedic turn on the power of positive thinking.  I don't wake up everyday and look myself square in the eyes as the fog fades from my bathroom mirror and tell myself how great I am.  Maybe I think it from time to time throughout the day, but not in the sense of your typical affirmations.

I've come to think slightly differently about affirmations, but I still don't flex my muscles in the mirror and tell myself how wonderful I am.  I do think much more positively these days though.

Affirmations with a twist.

We all know the power of compliments.  Telling someone they did a good job or thanking them for a task they helped us complete.  Sending thank you cards is alive and well in real estate.  Small gifts, kind words - these are things that real estate agents love to give (and receive).

During an office meeting at RE/MAX Access yesterday, we were discussing some motivational and aspirational ideas to help us all push through to the end of the year.  One suggestion really struck me as an excellent idea and although I felt it was something I do on a regular basis, I decided to be more mindful of it and pay attention to how, why, and when I did it.

Let's call it the "reverse affirmation."  Instead of constantly telling yourself how great you are, we as an office decided to help each other out and give our affirmations to each other (this doesn't mean we're not allowed to stand in the mirror and push ourselves to be all that we can be).  The challenge was to consciously thank a co-worker, praise someone's work, or just tell someone why you think they're valuable to our office.  Twice a week.  Just two moments within seven days where you stopped by someone's desk and pushed to motivate them.  To help them see what we see in them on a daily basis.  To make them know that the "little things" they do everyday don't go unnoticed.

We're a small office at RE/MAX Access and what I would consider a relatively tight knit group.  We work together and we play together.  We're friends and co-workers.  We share ideas, plans, tips, and tricks all the time.  We don't fear the others in our office will take our business, instead we thrive on the idea that if the office grows in stature, we get to rise up with it.

Personally, I think it's pure genius.  By focusing on each other, we create a happy, friendly office space where we don't spend on our time around the water cooler talking about how horrible the real estate market is or how we don't know what to do.  Instead, we focus on solutions, ideas, and ways to create business - even when we're not feeling our best (just look at me for a great example - my office rallied behind me when I struggled the most).

Positive affirmations may start at the individual level, but they work even better at the group level.

photo courtesy of romana klee