In everything the ends well defined are the secret of durable success. – Victor Cousins

Another quote reminding us of the importance of goal setting.

Let the success team at PMI help you with your goals.

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
–Theodore Roosevelt  

Just as the best communicators are usually the best listeners, the most successful individuals are those who know how to get along with others. The road to high success is a bumpy one, so it is essential to have help along the way. Achieving success is not a mutually exclusive endeavor; rather, it is made possible only with the assistance of others. 

Certainly, there are those who would claim they reached their goals all on their own. Like Jimmy Stewart’s character from the film Shenandoah, they emphasize the hardships they’ve overcame by the sweat of their brow, and no one else’s. But when these people are honest with themselves, they’ll come to the same conclusion that Jimmy Stewart does in the film – we are not islands. We are always influenced by those around us. And we can’t get where we want to go without their help.

Make a game of finding something positive in every situation. Ninety-five percent of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself.
Brian Tracy

Great advice from Brian Tracy. Don’t let negative feelings or interpretations of situations keep you from achieving your dreams.

When most people think of wise individuals, they think of older folks who have lived full lives. It’s no surprise that we associate wisdom with these individuals, because the hallmark of wisdom is application. Knowledge is information gleaned through study and observation, but it doesn’t necessarily denote a direct benefit to the holder. Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowledge wielded by someone who knows how to use it. For this reason, those who have lived long lives and had the opportunity to learn and grow from the use of knowledge are generally considered wise. 

Some people preclude themselves from wisdom, thinking that it’s only something to be attained later in life. After all, when you say “wise,” the next logical word that pops into most peoples’ heads would be “old,” such as “wise, old sage.” But this is not to say that wisdom only comes with age. A wise decision can be made just as prominently by a teenager as an octogenarian. 

The process of converting knowledge to wisdom is not complex…we simply must take action. Wisdom is gleaned as you follow through with your ideas and take risks. And wisdom is not only derived from your successes; some of your most important lessons will come from your failures. This process can be painful, which is why so many people avoid it. The greatest leaders in history, the wisest of the wise, weren’t afraid to take chances. They were defined by their failures just as much as by their successes. If we follow their example, we’ll take some bumps and bruises, no doubt. But we’ll emerge each time wiser and more prepared for the next challenge.

PMI‘s e-learning curriculum is designed to give you the knowledge you need to build a business from square one.  As you’ve probably noticed from looking at the coursework, there’s a lot that goes into building a great business.  Enrolling in PMI’s courses is just like going back to school – there are quizzes, workbooks, and homework.  Learning how to build a future for yourself in real estate or on the internet is exhilarating, but it’s can also be overwhelming.  One of the best ways to help yourself learn and remember the things covered in the coursework is with mnemonic devices.

Mnemonic devices are psychological tools you can use to help yourself remember things you have learned.  You probably already know and use several mnemonics on a regular basis.  If you’ve ever tied a string around your finger to help you remember to run an errand, or made a grocery list to remember what to buy, you’ve used mnemonic devices.  Creating external reminders for yourself is a great way to remember lists of items like to-do’s, keywords to test, or property bidding criteria.  Lists and other physical reminders are the most basic form of mnemonic device, but they are effective and easy to create.

Any child that has taken music courses has learned how to use acrostics and acronyms.  Acrostics are sentences in which each word is indicative of an item to be remembered.  Acronyms are words in which each letter signifies something to be remembered.  The acrostic “every good boy does fine” is one that music students learn to remember the lined notes on the treble clef.  The acronym “FACE” signifies the space notes on the treble clef.  With a little creativity, you can create acronyms and acrostics to remember any series of items you like.

If you need to remember a person’s name that you’ve just met, a great mnemonic device is to create wordplay with their name.  If you meet someone named Courtney Brown, you could imagine her spilling a quart of chocolate (brown) milk on her knee – quart, knee, brown.  It sounds silly, but the sillier the better if you want to really remember something on the fly.  Then, it’s important to review the names and wordplays you’ve made within a few minutes of creating them to make sure they really stick.

Learning new information is always challenging, but mnemonic devices can help you recall and retain information easily.  The brain is like a muscle, the more you use it and challenge it, the stronger it gets.  The more you use mnemonic devices, the easier it will be to create them on the spot and to retain information in the long run.