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Page 1 of 365

January 1, 2015 by Peter Fletcher

Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 day book.

Make your story a good one. Image: http://www.thegirlcreative.com/a-new-year-free-printable/

There’s a meme going around on Facebook and Twitter. It says: “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” (Apparently, the quote is by Brad Paisley and was written in 2013)

I’m not sure that every day is going to provide a great story. That was definitely the case today, or it was until this afternoon.

The fact is today started out as mundane. I top-dressed the lawn, went to the gym, had a beer and some lunch and then drove to the shop with Rita.

As we’re running a fund-raising sausage sizzle for Victoria Park Soccer Club on Saturday we bought 10 boxes of bottled water. The trolley and our hands were full to overflowing so I put my mobile phone and keys in the top compartment of the trolley.

After arriving at the car we loaded the water into the boot and then drove home at a leisurely pace. And the moment I opened the car door to get out I realised I’d left my mobile in the shopping trolley.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt!

I panicked, realising that I needed to get back to the carpark. And fast!

I started the car and reversed down the drive like a maniac. The engine roared as I raced back to the shopping centre breaking all sorts of speed limits and road rules along the way. Then we got stuck behind a family out for a leisurely New Year’s Day drive. They were going la-la-la-la, I was going fa-fa-fa-fark!

After what seemed like an eternity we screeched into the carpark, getting almost airborne over the speed humps. Finally we were at the shopping trolley bay. As Rita got out I scanned the trolleys.

Nothing!

Then Rita lifted a small red flap on one of the trolleys, and there it was. My phone with all of my credit cards and money still intact.

I haven’t felt relief like that in ages.

I wish I could say that I maintained a detachment to physical possessions. I didn’t. I wish that I could say that I could do without my phone. I can’t. For me, it contains so much that’s important to how I run my life. Add to that I keep it in a phone cover that includes my main credit cards, office swipe card and driver’s licence. Lose my phone and I’ve effectively lost my wallet.

So I’ll take this little scare as a reminder to be more careful. Inattention, in all of its forms, can be costly.

Looking back, looking forward

December 31, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

2015: strength, music, results Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/viaggioroutard/15892502135

Today is the last day of 2014. Before it comes to a close I want to review what went well, what could’ve been done better, and set some goals for 2015.

2014 – the year in review

2014 has been a big year.

At the start of the year I set out to write a blog post every day for the whole of the year. As best as I can figure, I’ve done that. Although I’ve missed a couple of days there have been others where I’ve posted multiple times. You can find all of my blog posts here, here, or here. Many posts were not published to social media because they were either off topic – if I ever ‘had’ a topic – or they simply, in my view, didn’t add any value. If I blog this year – especially on this blog – I’ll need to decide why I’m blogging and who am I serving. If it’s me then I can say whatever I want, if it’s for an audience I need to decide who that audience is and what value I can deliver.

During the early part of the year I saw that it was going to be in my interests to obtain my settlement agents’ licence. I did that, completing the required TAFE course by around June. I was granted my license in (I think) November. I now have both a real estate agent’s license and a settlement agent’s license.

The lease we had on our office in Maddington was coming up for renewal and I determined that I wanted to move out of Maddington. I saw our address as a negative and, early in the year, started to look for a suitable location. I was keen to buy rather than rent and searched in Canning Vale and the suburbs surrounding Victoria Park. A property on Welshpool Road caught my eye but we ended up buying a property at 170 Burswood Road.

Purchasing the office in our superannuation fund was a new experience. I spent a heap of money on legal and bank fees as I was required to change from personal trustees to a corporate trust. I also had to get a bare trust and a custodian something or the other, none of which made any sense. When the bank manager or accountant asked me to do something I smiled, nodded and wrote out the cheque. The experience has taught me that I can – and do – take on challenges that are too big, but I got through, so I guess it wasn’t too big after all.

The purchase of the office also meant that I needed to do a fit-out. Initially I planned to hire an interior designer but instead hired an architect. It was probably a bit more expensive but I’m glad I did. I spent around $100,000 more than I budgeted for but I’m super proud of how it looks. Surround yourself with a great team and you’ll produce fantastic results. I intend doing just that with our marketing this year.

Moving was a big challenge. Because our lease expired on 31 December I wanted to move in late November. Unfortunately, we experienced some unexpected delays and that pushed the move date into December. For a settlement agency, that’s not ideal. But move we did, on the 12 December. With the exception of our fax everything worked perfectly.

Unfortunately, we didn’t hit our targets for the number of properties settled and that’s something we’ll be working hard on in 2015. I let sub-standard performance go unaddressed too often; and that’s something I need to address this year. Results, remember!

I also failed to hit any of my revenue and activity targets for Real Estate Tribe. The reduced activity can be explained by the other things that took up my time during the year. I’m not going to beat up on myself too much here. As much as anything my lack of results shows that I can be flexible in the face of competing strategic demands.

At a personal level, I helped start a new soccer club. In February Victoria Park Soccer Club was born. Like a newborn it had no clothes and was wobbly on its feet. Our first few pre-season training sessions were “under lights” which pretty much meant we were running around a local park using street lights. There was a mad scramble to get uniforms made, a permanent home ground, buy equipment and get some sponsorship. And, even though we didn’t have the numbers, we took a punt and registered a men’s and women’s team. The women’s team went well. Although they won only about a handful of games they played as a cohesive and co-operative unit. It was a joy to watch. The boys were different. They, too, won less than a handful of games but their performances, with a few very notable exceptions, were ill-disciplined and dysfunctional. As their coach I found it hard to watch. Still, we got through to the end of the season. The girls turned up for the end of year windup, the boys didn’t. 2015 is already shaping up as a better year because we have a single training and playing pitch, unlike what we had this year.

During 2014 I, once again, set myself a chin-up challenge. This time I reduced the number to 20. Once again I failed. Still, I’m not daunted. I know what I can do and I feel that I’m getting stronger. The key here is persistence. If I hadn’t started this challenge I probably wouldn’t have the focus for 2015 that I have right now.

2015 – the year ahead

My three words for 2015 are Music, Strength and Results. To bring those words to life I’ve listed my goals below.

Settle [number redacted] properties. I know the number. I just don’t want to publish it here.
Pay off [number redacted] of company debt.
Sell an investment property.
Complete 125 hours of saxophone and harmonica practice (half hour/day x 5 days/week x 50 weeks/year).
Lift more than 200 kilograms at the Deadliest Deadlift competition in November. (my current one-rep max lift is 150kg).

So that’s it. If you’ve got this far, have a wonderful New Year. May it bring you lots of happiness and contentment.

31 things I’m grateful for – The internet

July 6, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

I’m grateful for the internet

In 2006 I sold my real estate business. Most of my friends wanted to know what I was going to do next. The truth was I had no real idea.

One evening, shortly after the sale contract was signed, I was out for dinner in Fremantle. Quite by chance I got talking to a young man from Holland who was in Perth for an Ultimate Frisbee competition. He told me that he owned a web design firm.

“Do you have someone looking after it while you’re away?” I asked naively.

He appeared bemused.

“No,” he explained patiently, “it’s an internet design firm. It’s based on the internet. I can run it from wherever I can get an internet connection.”

It took a moment for what he said to sink in.

“Wow, that’s it! How awesome would it be to have a job that allowed me to travel. Now that’s freedom!” I thought.

Right there I knew I’d found the direction for my career.

Over the days that followed I came up with a recipe for my next job or business. First, it would nod it’s head to the past but embrace something new. For me, that meant being associated with real estate but involved with new technology. Second, it should allow me the freedom to travel.

Armed with that formula I began to look for opportunities. The principal of a large real estate firm called to offer me the job of running a large team of property managers. I politely declined. And, just when it seemed that nothing would come my way, I read an ad in, of all places, the newspaper. It was for a new course in internet studies being offered by Curtin Uni. This was my opportunity to add the technology ingredient to my career recipe.

Within weeks I was enrolled.

Over the next two years I experienced the joy of laying under the pine trees at Curtin reading the works of Deleuze and Foucault. I started a blog and began to tweet. I wrote a 20,000 word honours dissertation. And I came to understand the way the internet both shaped and was shaped by society. At the end of my studies, the internet was no longer just wires and routers but a means by which I could reshape who I was.

Today, there’s very little of my life that’s not connected with the web. I use it to get my news, my music, and the movies I watch. I use it to connect with new people, communicate with my friends, and market myself and my businesses.

For me, the internet means freedom and free expression and I’ll always be thankful to have it in my life.

Image: Kristina Alexanderson

I’m grateful for email

July 4, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

I don’t recall when I sent my first email. It wasn’t earth shattering or life changing. If anything it probably felt like a gimmick, like CB radios from the seventies. They were great for truckies and tradies but didn’t make for great business tools.

But if that’s what I thought about email, I was wrong. Since then I’ve sent thousands of emails and it’s become an essential business tool. I use it to communicate with colleagues and competitors, prospects and past clients. If ever business had a Swiss Army knife, email is it. Quite literally, if my email stopped working I would struggle to get anything done.

So I’m grateful to the people who had a hand in inventing email. I’m grateful that provides me with such a powerful communication tool. And I’m grateful that it allows me to leverage my time.

31 things I’m grateful for — the tap in my shower

July 3, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

Every morning, the tap in my shower gives me a choice. Push it to the left and enjoy a hot shower, push it to the right and endure the sting of cold.

It’s a choice that reminds me of the power of removing options. Options cloud our judgement and turn yes or no into maybe. In business and in life, making swift, meaningful decisions create purpose and direction. Yes or no? On or off? In or out?

By choosing to have cold showers I’ve removed the options. There’s no question about which direction to push the lever. There’s no wondering about how much hot water to add. There’s just cold, only cold, no questions.

My shower tap also teaches me that the choice is mine. I can choose the warmth and comfort of the easy road that always gets bumpy or I can choose the hard road that ends up smooth and scenic. That moment of choice defines who I’ll be for the rest of the day.

My shower tap also teaches me to lean into the pain. The secret to enjoying a cold shower is to be fully present to the sharp slap of cold water. By focussing on the the icy sensation the pain goes away. Soon the cold turns into something that’s indistinguishable from warmth.

That experience helps me to lean into the pain during the day. Sometimes business can be painful. Things don’t go to plan and relationships can become strained. But leaning into the pain helps me to remain engaged during uncomfortable moments and to keep my focus when I’d like to retreat to a more comfortable place.

And those are the reasons why I appreciate the tap in my shower.

31 things I’m grateful for – My Eddy Merckx bike

July 1, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

This bike helped change my life

When Rita bought a flash new Eddy Merckx bike for my 40th birthday in 2003 I never imagined how much it would change my life.

At the time I was riding a lot but then, in 2004, I set myself a challenge to ride from Kalgoorlie to Perth in under 24 hours. Except for my best mate Russell, none of my fellow riders thought I could do it. A lot said that I’d do the ride in a single effort but none thought I’d be able to do it in less than 24 hours.

So, at 12 noon on March 5 2006, Russell, myself and John Harmsen set off from Hannan Street Kalgoorlie. 19 hours 6 minutes later we arrived at the Paddy Hannah statue in Burswood. We’d done it, with hours to spare.

That ride gave me a direct experience of my power and determination – an experience that has continued to serve me to this day. Up to that point I’d been married – enslaved even – to my business. After the ride I felt a sense of freedom and possibility about my life that I’d never experienced before. 12 months later my business was sold and I’d set off on a new adventure that took me back to university full time.

That event will always be a defining moment in my life. And it was this bike that carried me through the journey. For that, I’m grateful.

31 things I’m grateful to have in my life

June 30, 2014 by Peter Fletcher

Tomorrow is the start of a new series of blog posts called 31 things I’m grateful to have in my life. 31 is the number of days in July. When I refer to ‘things’ I mean inanimate objects. People and pets don’t count. Technologies, art and possessions do. Spaces don’t count. I love Jacobs Ladder and San Francisco but they’re not objects.

Each post will explain how the object has changed my life and why I’m grateful to have it.

Here’s the start of my list.

My Eddie Merckx bicycle,
The cold tap in my shower,
Email,
The internet,
Facebook,
Twitter,
WordPress,
My wedding ring,
My Cliff Street sign,
My barbecue (even though it’s the worst designed barbecue in the world),
My passport,
An autographed poster of Jen Hawkins,
A book called I Only Love You,
Uncle Will’s military saddle,
My joggers,
Our gas heater,
My iPhone, and
My house key.

OK, that’s not 31 but it’s 18 and that will get me a start. I’m sure as the month goes by I’ll come up with new ideas. If you can think of something that I’ve forgotten, let me know.