Eliminate. Eliminate. Eliminate.

In every job we accept, we learn at least one thing. Right/Wrong, Good/Bad – as long as our brain is still sending impulses to the rest of our bodies, we must be learning something at work. Perhaps not everyday nor as often as we wish, but learning happens. In fact, I feel very comfortable that I would not be alone by stating that I learned more about how “not” to manage people and a company from my previous employers than learning the correct way to manage. Sound familiar anyone?

At the end of 2001, I made a bold personal decision to leave a 20 year career in Industrial Automation and jump into real estate – an industry that had long piqued my interest. My first boss in the business was an ear to ear grinner from the Bay State that provided me the basic platform of information needed to be successful in this arena. Dan Shattuck was one of those rare bosses whose teachings were actually valuable and had practical use.

My first gig was at Winding River Plantation in Brunswick County, NC. Our sales office, which was several attached mobile homes with a teal colored metal roof, is still located on the corner of Hwy 211 and Zion Hill Road. Dan had been with the Blue Green Corporation for about seven years and had recently relocated from a project at Fairfield Glade in Tennessee. Dan liked to teach and well, I needed to learn, so it proved to be a good combination.

Something Dan shared with me 11 years ago still rings very true today, and that is when people come down to Brunswick County to visit St. James, Sea Trail, Ocean Ridge, Brunswick Plantation, Winding River Plantation, Rivers Edge, Crow Creek, Brunswick Forest, etc., they are actually coming down to eliminate. In addition to eliminating communities/plantations, many of our clients have other destinations to preview such as Charleston, Asheville, Florida, Hilton Head, and so on. Dan explained that on someone’s first visit down, your #1 goal was to make sure you are on their list for their second visit down!

Whether it is a conscious thought or not, people are eliminating as they tour each area, home and community. And this is a good thing because if you don’t eliminate the possibilities, your search for that perfect community to retire to will stall.

 

So if you have yet to set out on your journey to find retirement utopia, do yourself a huge favor and write down a list of destinations and communities that are in the running. At the end of every day of your search, eliminate something. Could be just a home style, a community or a particular town, but make progress and you will be grateful as every strike of the pen gets you one step closer to the rest of your life!