People ToolsA Blog By Alan C. Fox
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Alan C. FoxAuthor. Entrepreneur. Game-changer.
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G(oals) P(riorities) S(teps) for the New Year

by Alan C. Fox 1 Comment

 

2015_NewYear-PeopleToolsThe beginning of the year is the time when we each make New Year’s Resolutions.  I propose a shortcut that will help you make your resolutions come true.  I call it GPS.

Most of us already know that GPS stands for Global Positioning System.  All you have to do is to enter a destination into your GPS device or smartphone and presto! The route will be mapped for you.  So how can you find the most efficient route to achieving your New Year’s Resolutions (or any resolution)? It’s simple. Let’s use those same three letters for:

Goals. What are your goals for the year?

Priorities.  Which is your most important goal?  Your second most important?

Steps.  What steps do you need to take in order to meet each goal?

How does GPS work? To illustrate, let’s take one of my perennial goals – to lose weight, and, for this year, it’s seventeen pounds.  I should mention that during the past two years I have lost a total of more than sixty pounds, so GPS has worked.

To achieve that Goal, I have to make it my top Priority at all times – morning, noon, night, when I’m happy, when I’m tired, even when I’m really, really hungry. This year losing seventeen pounds will be my first and only Priority.

Next, I outline the Steps I need to take to achieve my goal:

  1. No buffets.  If I am at a buffet I will ask someone else to prepare one plate of food for me.  No seconds, ever.
  2. At each meal I will eat between two and six ounces of protein and never more than one slice of bread.
  3. At a restaurant I will either share my entree with someone else, or before I eat a single bite I will put half of my order in a box to take home.
  4. I will not eat more than two desserts a week.
  5. I will report back to you on my progress during the first week of April.

resolutions_happy-peopletoolsThese are the steps that I think will work for me.  Different steps might work better for you.

GPS. This morning I weighed 215 pounds. By April first I intend to be well on my way to losing 17 pounds.

I hope this year you achieve your own New Year’s Resolutions.  By using GPS, I am confident that you will.

Have a great year.

Alan

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Five Reasons to Make the First Offer Work

by Alan C. Fox 0 Comments

 

FirstOffer-Accept-PeopleToolsYears ago I bought a residential lot in Carmel Valley and hired a contractor to build a house which I hoped to sell at a profit.  The project took more than a year to complete, but I finally listed the home for sale at $420,000.

It took three months to receive the first offer, which was a disappointing $360,000.  I countered at $390,000.  The potential buyer came up to $370,000.  I countered again, this time at $380,000.  My counteroffer was refused.  “Oh, well,” I thought.  “Soon I’ll find another buyer, and at a higher price.”

A month went by, and after making another loan payment and paying the property taxes, I reconsidered.  I contacted my broker and asked her to call the first buyer and accept the $370,000 offer.  Unfortunately, during the month my potential buyer had purchased a different house.

I wish this story had a happy ending.  It doesn’t.  Nine months, and many loan payments later, I finally sold the house for $320,000, which was $50,000 below the first offer.  After that experience, I resolved that in the future if the first offer was reasonable, I would always try to make it work.

Here are five reasons, in life as well as in business, to make the first offer work.

  1. The first offer might be the only offer you receive.
  2. The first offer might be your best offer.  In my real estate business I have seen this happen time and again.  As they say in the stock market, “Bulls can make money, bears can make money, but pigs go bust.”
  3. By making the first offer work in a social setting you will develop a reputation for being reliable.  When I receive an invitation from someone I would like to spend time with, I accept, even if a better offer might come along later. This helps me to build relationships and also to develop a reputation for being trustworthy.
  4. Accepting the first offer will push you to make your decisions more carefully.  For example, if I am invited to a party on Saturday night two weeks from now I will think about whether that is something I really want to do and consider any possible conflicts before I say “yes.”  In this way I make a better decision in the first place.
  5. When I make the first offer work, I also make my life work better. This is true even when I later have misgivings.  Last week my wife and I woke up very early on the East Coast, worked all morning, and then flew back to Los Angeles to attend a Christmas party. At the party, by 8:30 pm, we both felt like tottering zombies and politely told our host that we had to leave early. He said, “Stay for twenty minutes – Ed is going to present his annual Christmas show, and he’s really good.”  We stayed.  Ed was really good. Daveen and I left the party an hour later with broad smiles and with more energy than we had when we arrived. I was grateful we had accepted our host’s request to stay.

Be-Open-Offer-PeopleToolsAs the saying goes, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”  I respectfully disagree.  Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth at least $50,000 in the bush.

Happy New Year.  I’m going to make 2015 work.

Alan

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Let’s Talk about Money

by Alan C. Fox 0 Comments

 

Love-Money-PeopleToolsTalking about money is a taboo for most of us. We talk about politics, current events, the weather, even sex, but for some reason the subject of money is usually off the table, even between family members.

For example, early in my previous marriage my wife approached about her parent’s financial situation.  She said, “I think my parents need financial help.”

“Why do you think so?”  I said.

“I don’t know.  It’s a feeling.”

“How much does your dad earn?”

“I don’t know.”

“How much do your parents have in the bank?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do they have any big debts?”

“I have no idea.”

“Have you talked to them about this?”

“No.  Maybe you could.”

I did.  They did not go into detail, but said their finances were fine.

Similarly, when my friend John told me that a friend of his had accepted a new job the first thing I asked was, “What’s his salary?”  And when another friend told me that his parents had purchased a new house, I asked, “How much did they pay?”

I seldom ask those kinds of questions anymore, because my friends usually say  they don’t  know, and “wouldn’t ask someone a personal question like that.”

Fortunately for me, my father talked to me about money freely, and I was a good student.  I knew how much he earned as a studio musician ($10.00 an hour) and how many hours the union allowed him to work each week (ten).  He told me how much cash flow he earned from his two apartment buildings, and I figured out it was $1.34 an hour, twenty-four hours a day.  This was when I earned the minimum wage of $1.00 an hour.  I knew that my parents had paid $6,800 for their home, and that $100,000 would buy the best house in town.  Of course, this specific information is useless today because it is entirely out of date.  But I learned the process. I learned how to think and talk about money.

Today it is easy to find out the price of almost everything.  You don’t have to ask anyone.  You can look it up on the internet.  You can locate the prices of houses, electronic devices, or automobiles.  You can quickly discover salary ranges for your type of job in your location.  You can determine the cost of living in any city in the United States.

Information about money is readily available.  But talking about money isn’t.

I recently asked an acquaintance how much she earned at her new job.

“I wouldn’t even tell my mother that,” she said.

“I won’t tell your mother either.”

She told me.

Why did she refuse to tell me at first?  Because she was uncomfortable talking about money.  I imagine that her family never discussed that subject, just as my family never talked about sex.

Why then, after my brief attempt at humor, did she ultimately tell me?  Because she realized that I was comfortable talking about money, even if she wasn’t.

I think you will agree that, like health, money is important in your life.  We talk with our parents and doctors about health.  But many of us are reluctant to talk with anyone about money, even good friends or family.

Family-Money-ConversationIf I told you that I was suffering physically, but I wouldn’t tell you or anyone else what was wrong, you might conclude that I wasn’t going to get much help for my  problem.

The same is true about money.  You might be uncomfortable talking about it.  You might be embarrassed or scared.  If you are, I encourage you to seek the counsel of someone who is comfortable with the subject, and practice.  It’s important to be relaxed in talking about money, if only to better ask for a raise.

Just as I was putting the finishing touches on this blog, two of my stellar employees appeared.  They politely pointed out that we have enjoyed a very good year, and gently suggested what they would appreciate as a “thank you.”  They have learned this lesson well.  We’re going to have lunch next week to talk about their request.

Alan

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