The secret weapons to success could be right at your fingertips Part V

My desk is a veritable treasure trove of weaponry… weapons of success that is. Having spent much of my working life at a desk in front of a computer I decided a few years ago that what I had with me at my desk was going to be vital in assisting me towards achieving my definition of success.

See previous weapons in previous blogs Weapon 1, Weapon 2, Weapon 3, Weapon 4.

Weapon 5.  Instant Memories

Sometimes I have a phone call that doesn’t go the way I want it to, or I receive an email that gets me a bit cranky. Bad moments happen to all of us at times, but I feel it’s what we do to get ourselves out of them that is really important. My secret weapons to get me back on track at my desk are what I like to call my Instant Memories.

The secret weapons to success could be right at your fingertips Part IV

My desk is a veritable treasure trove of weaponry… weapons of success that is. Having spent much of my working life at a desk in front of a computer I decided a few years ago that what I had with me at my desk was going to be vital in assisting me towards achieving my definition of success.

See previous weapons in previous blogs Weapon 1, Weapon 2, Weapon 3.

Weapon 4.  The book of knowledge

Ever been to a seminar, read a book, heard someone speak and been introduced to a great idea – only to realise that you’ve heard it before, thought it was great and then deleted it from your brain almost as quickly as it arrived!

My book of knowledge is what I use to avoid as many of those moments (which used to happen to me A LOT!) Any time I read, hear or learn something that triggers that light bulb moment for me – I write in my book of knowledge.

It’s a pretty simple concept and one which has greatly assisted not only in using one of my many groovy notebooks (I think I may have an addiction to them) – but also in tracking the best ideas that come into my brain (before they head out again!). While I truly think the human brain is an amazing thing, mine certainly doesn’t remember everything it needs to. By reading back over this book which contains ideas, business strategies, quotes, stories, articles I get an instant rush of inspiration. And if you’re someone (like myself) who can’t bear to deface a book by highlighting or writing in it – it just make work as a solution for you too.

"Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours." John Locke

The last weapon to come soon!

Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com

The secret weapons to success could be right at your fingertips Part III

My desk is a veritable treasure trove of weaponry… weapons of success that is. Having spent much of my working life at a desk in front of a computer I decided a few years ago that what I had with me at my desk was going to be vital in assisting me towards achieving my definition of success.

See previous weapons in previous blogs Weapon 1, Weapon 2.

Weapon 3.  The Wall

Years ago heading in to my local gym I always loved the little motivational quotes they blu-tac-ed onto the equipment and had on the walls. It made me realise that if one little quote that I saw while slogging it out on a bike for 5 minutes could give me a little buzz of inspiration then by changing what I was staring at each and every day in my workspace I could have that same impact multiplied many times over.

Over the years my walls have been covered with many things, here are four of the most important parts.

1. Shake it Off and Step Up

Simply google “shake it off and step up” to read this great little piece and I’m sure you’ll understand why I have it at my desk. Special thanks to Debbie MacQueen for introducing me to it!

2. My Burnie Ten Running Number

My running number from my first ten kilometre race (ran in October last year in under my goal time) is a great visual reminder of an important goal achieved this year.

3. Retired at 27 stats

We launched a new book this year and I keep a visual track of how sales are going. Our team gets to be excited when we add more sales to the list (as do I!)

4. My Personal Mission Statement

I wrote this mission statement for myself and my personal life when I sold my business last year. Without it I knew I’d run the risk of not heading in a direction of my choice.

Alice in Wonderland: …I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.

Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.

Alice: Oh, it really doesn't matter, as long as...

Cheshire Cat: Then it really doesn't matter which way you go.

My mission statement includes things like:

My lifestyle

• Is supported by passive income
• Allows me to see the world
• Allows me to spend a lot of quality time with my husband
• Allows me time to be fit and healthy
• Allows me to proud of and excel in my achievements

If however you can’t seem to get a start, feel free to contact us www.kirstydunphey.com/contact.html> for a template.

More weapons to come.

Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com

The secret weapons to success could be right at your fingertips Part II

My desk is a veritable treasure trove of weaponry… weapons of success that is. Having spent much of my working life at a desk in front of a computer I decided a few years ago that what I had with me at my desk was going to be vital in assisting me towards achieving my definition of success.

See weapon 1 in previous blog.

Weapon 2.  The Low-Tech Goal Box

I’ve always been pretty goal oriented even from as early as age 7 or 8 when I decided the best way to make my first million (one of my first goals) was in peddling pirated video tapes to my school mates (see my first book Advance to Go for some of my other childhood escapades)!

Obviously I’ve progressed into more legitimate means of achieving my goals these days. I used to keep lists upon lists of goals taking my cues from my mentors like John McGrath who laminates his list and has it in the shower and then mine was in my car under the sun visor (until I realised that I live in Tasmania and don’t need to use my sun visor all that often!) I’ve had lists taped up at my desk, lists in my wallet, lists by my bed, lists in my head. Until I realised that I didn’t love the idea of having a list at all for two main reasons:

1. Because I’m a pretty visual person – so I wanted to be able to incorporate pictures to really make my goals seem real
2. Because each time I updated my goal list and got rid of those things that I achieved, I lost that information. My “done” goals were done but also gone which meant I had no way of looking back and seeing what I’d achieved.

And then one day it came to me. I was sitting with a very special sales consultant, Jeff, from our real estate company and we were discussing the fact that although we had all this amazing technology and software for databasing his clients, if the best system for him was a file box with each client on a card then that’s what he should use.

It hit me that I could use an online goal program like www.joesgoals.com (which is very cool and I highly recommend it) – but maybe I just needed to get very low tech and invest in some file cards and a box myself.

These days in my funky little low tech box of goals I have everything categorised:

P             for those goals already Planned and waiting to happen (like my trip to             Cambodia in January)

G            for Goals that don’t fit into any other category (my dream wardrobe, the         world’s largest shoe collection, a Bugatti Veyron for my husband)

B              for Business goals (subscribers to my weekly email, income goals etc)

T              my favourite, Travel goals (this category has by far the most cards)

E            Experiences I want to have (seeing a volcano erupt, going zorbing)

L               Things I want to learn (waterskiing, dancing, piano, sign language, reading     52 books this financial year)

A            Affirmations, these aren’t so much goals as just things I like to remind             myself of – seeing as I check through my goal box at least weekly I thought     this would be a good place to put them!

D           DONE! The best section! (includes completed goals like indoor skydiving,          speaking in Las Vegas, launching my new book Retired at 27)

U            this is my Undone section. Goals I thought I once wanted but have now         decided aren’t a priority for me (being flexible is good – I just kept them         here as a reminder in case I change my mind again!)

This system works really well for me because I’ve got room to write in detail where I need to, I can add pictures (which gets me much more excited than words) and I also have room to write when and how I achieved the goal.

Checking back through my Done section gives me reasons to celebrate, moments to remember and a great record of what I’ve achieved for the past year.

Now of course, good things don’t come cheap! I think you can pick up your very own goal box in any office supplies store for the princely sum of less than $10. And if the low-tech goal box isn’t for you, write a list, paint your goals on a wall, tattoo them on your leg – do whatever you need to do to make it work for you!

The secret weapons to success could be right at your fingertips Part I

My desk is a veritable treasure trove of weaponry… weapons of success that is. Having spent much of my working life at a desk in front of a computer I decided a few years ago that what I had with me at my desk was going to be vital in assisting me towards achieving my definition of success.

Weapon 1.  The What Rocked Journal

I’ve always been envious at the amazing diaries my Mum has been able to keep over years. Envious, yet seemingly unable to replicate this feat! Until this year that is… instead of attempting to match my Mum’s feat I simply start a “what rocked” journal on the 1^st of January, 2007. One small entry per day of something that was awesome (aka that rocked) about my day.

I’ve listed completely unrelated things for each day, like having John Anderson (legendary Contiki founder) agree to write the foreword to my book Retired at 27, having a great dinner with friends and a promo launch of a new business.

By focussing on the good in each day the aim is to attract more of that great stuff into my life rather than focussing on the dull or down side of each day.

"Life is not so much a matter of 'finding' ourselves as it is a matter of making ourselves." Alan Loy McGinnis

More weapons to come in the following blog.

Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter here www.kirstydunphey.com

What Does Your Business Card Say About You?

I’ve just recently returned from speaking at a real estate convention in Las Vegas (baby) where I had the opportunity to network with 30,000 real estate professionals (I said opportunity – not ability!)

As per usual at these events the business cards were a-flyin’. I got quite a few comments on my card – which I usually do because it’s a little different. It’s half the size of a normal card and has a large rhinoceros beetle (our company logo) on one side. Just the mere fact that it’s smaller and a little different makes people comment (and as you’ll see below we still have a way to go towards making ours really memorable).

While in Vegas I received a business card from a lovely chap from the UK. I looked at it and thought, classy, half fold out style, matt finish – nice. But then when I opened it up, there was a printed message that said “In case Las Vegas was all a blur, we met at NAR 2007”.

How bloody clever I thought! A small print run of cards for an event like this completely made him stand out in my mind.

Does your business card do that for you?

What about these cards – who do you think the recipient is more likely to remember – you from your card, or one of these?

http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/graphicsblog/2007/11/11/the-coolest-business-cards-use-of-cool-shapes-textures-creativity-talent/

http://humorpix.com/images/2843-Cool-business-cards.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailypoetics/sets/72057594104389710/detail/

Kirsty Dunphey is one of Australia’s most publicised young entrepreneurs and is the founder of www.reallysold.com - the ultimate tool to help real estate agents write amazing advertisements. The youngest ever winner of the Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year award, Kirsty started her first business at 15, her own real estate agency at 21, was a self-made millionaire at 23 and a self-made multi-millionaire at 25. For more information on Kirsty or either of her books – Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can, or to sign up to her weekly newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com

Narrowing down what you REALLY want in a property

Bright eyed and bushy tailed I arrived at work my first day as a real estate sales consultant aged 19 and full of all the confidence in the world. The other more experienced agents were so nice and handed me scores of buyer leads to chase up on my first day. I was over the moon and so I glued that phone to my ear and got to work.

It didn’t take me too long to twig onto why the other agents were so keen to offload some of these buyer leads. These were people, in some cases, who had looked at HUNDREDS of homes over the space of, again in some case, years.

Naively I set off thinking I would be the one to convert them to a real fair dinkum buyer, not a time-waster which they currently were! I must admit that in my early days I didn’t succeed all that well with that plan! I ran up a lot of mileage in my car and I made some great friends, but didn’t convert too many of these long term lookers into buyers.

In looking back know I feel like one of the main things holding me back as an agent then, was that I’d ask what the buyers were looking for in a property, get a huge list of requirements and then head off blindly into the fray without figuring out what was REALLY important to them.

In a session a few years ago a fabulous trainer – Deb MacQueen – showed me this simple little method. You might want to use it if you’re a sales or rental agent suggesting properties to prospective buyers or tenants. Or maybe you’d like to use it if you’re looking to buy or rent and can’t seem to narrow your requirements down! Strangely you can even use it to narrow down the features you really desire in a prospective partner, employee, job and more!

Step 1.

Write down the features you think you want in a property in no particular order (just as they come to you):

Step 2.

Then go through and select a preference for each of the above question. Select your preference by saying which of these is more important to me, 1 or 2?, 7 or 6? etc.

Step 3.