Humans are wired for comfort. Almost everyone enjoys it when things in their life are predictable, when what’s going on around us follows a well-worn path. That’s not to say that we don’t enjoy the occasional surprise, but we’re quite content when our lives play out exactly like we expect. There’s comfort in familiarity. We know what’s going to happen …
Lessons Learned
We all know that exercise is good for us. It helps to keep our bodies (and our minds) healthy as we age. Unfortunately, for many of us, making a conscious decision to exercise is difficult. It’s easy to reason that, instead of exercising, we could be working and making money, or relaxing from all the work we’ve already done (and …
Some (of the) People. Dealing with Unhappy Clients
There’s an old saying that applies to customer satisfaction in your business. Is says that if you make an honest effort, you can please about 90% of your customers. Of the remaining 10% of your customers, it will take twice as much effort to please half of them. Of the remaining 5% of your customers, it will take twice as much effort …
Learning the Lessons You Don’t Want to Learn
Funny thing about being a home inspector: you can never be 100% certain what’s going to happen on an inspection. Just when you think it’s shaping up to be a perfectly normal day, and you’re looking forward to a relaxing weekend; BAM! You get blindsided by a hay-maker. And you’re down for the count. That’s exactly what happened to me …
Defendability: Things that you can do now to help defend yourself in a lawsuit later (and possibly lessen your chances of being in a lawsuit to begin with)
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone you dealt with in your businesses (and your life) saw things from your point of view? Whenever there was a problem, you would talk it out, they would quickly see things your way and the issue would miraculously disappear! Unfortunately, that’s not the way that things work in the real world. You are certain …
Cheat (Sheet) Your Way to Success. Simple Steps to Make Your Job Easier
Every entrepreneur knows that the startup phase of a new business can be the most difficult one to survive. A lot of different things must come together simultaneously for your business to prosper. Often, this proves to be too much for the burgeoning new business, and it ends up going under. One of the more difficult things to deal with …
Planning for Failure. How to Approach the Inevitable.
At every level of engagement in your life, from business and personal relationships to the cellphone that is in your pocket, you will experience an event that can be termed a failure. Your business will encounter hardship, someone that you care for will be hurt and your cellphone will die an untimely death (maybe in a toilet, Eddie). But, …
Stress Buster! How Setting a Routine Can Help Lower Your Levels.
We are all subject to stress throughout our daily lives. Some people in the world are faced with life and death decisions every day, while most of us must deal with less powerful stressors. Regardless of the intensity, stress is bad for our health. Since we know this to be true, it is easy to see how the stress generated …
On the spot. How to use uncomfortable situations to your advantage.
I recently received a question from an inspector that got me thinking about the different ways that we can handle an uncomfortable situation. The inspector was marketing in a real estate office, and one of the agents cornered him with a question about another inspector’s report. The question was whether he would have noted a problem with an attic conversion …
Love your snooze button? Don’t let procrastination ruin your day
Procrastination. It’s defined as intentionally putting of something that needs to be done. It’s one of the biggest problems facing a small business owner. Without a boss looking over your shoulder, the temptation to procrastinate can be overwhelming. It’s a common human condition: we all like to avoid things that are difficult and uncomfortable, so we put them off for …