Below is my email to my agents this morning Maybe it’ll be a catalystI meet with them every Monday Morning“HAPPY NEW YEAR!Let’s gather for our weekly check-in this morning @ 9:302020 is over – done – GONE!Does it feel different now that we’re in 2021?Was there a miraculous SWOOOSH of “Everything is better” energy washing over your heart and soul at the stroke of midnight 12/31/2020?Will 2021 be an AMAZING year with minimal discomfort and everything rosy?Pause for a moment and decide NOW to choose a fresh outlook – attitude – A MISSION – and COMMIT to being willing to do whatever it takes for you to manifest the best YOU throughout 2021.There are NO short-cuts! There will be disappointments and even FAILURES personal and professional. We’ll forge new relationships and choose to wander fr... 01/04/2021

“Try hard not to create too much hope and fear,” for they only engender more mental gossip.” (The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) “What stories are you creating in your mind as you tumble through your life experiences? When we construct this mental gossip, how attached to outcomes do we become? To what degree are we choosing to don blinders which deny us amazing possibilities? This work must begin within and work itself outward. Practice Practice Practice, and expect only to be surprised. Will you choose to spend 2021 just as you spent 2020? If so . . . Are you expecting different results? Seth Godin has some words of wisdom for us: Infrastructure “If you want to see wisdom and maturity in action, look for someone (or a community) investing in infrastructure before it’s too late. Part... 01/03/2021

When I was a kid (50 years ago) . . . our family vacationed on Cape Cod EVERY summer. We always stayed in East Brewster in Ellis Landing in the same Bay-front cottage (Channel View), and our cousins stayed in the (larger and fancier) Seabreeze next door. We loved every minute we had on those vacations . . . but the down-side was that we DROVE the 1200 miles there and back . . . PACKED into a station wagon – all 6 of us – Cartop carrier – Mom & Dad in the front, 3 of us kids in the back seat . . . and Amy or Liz in the “WAY Back.” We played games – 20 questions – counted state license plates – I spy and invariably hated each other until we saw the Cape Cod Bay in front of us as we topped the hill in Ellis Landing . . . and the 1200 mile trip home was veritable inhumane torture in our min... 12/16/2020

I wonder . . . How ’bout YOU? What’s the first thing YOU say to yourself each morning? To what degree does this first conscious thought frame in the whole day? Dread begets dread! Wonderment (Curiosity) begets energy and excitement. Begin with LET GO! and Let’s GO! Let every day be an exciting adventure, and don’t let Eeyore bring ya down.     Strategist-CEO of Pareto Realty Real estate sales Professional Inviter-Facilitator-Practicer of Open Space Technology Opening safe space for people & organizations to self-organize around issues & opportunities BarryOwen.US Invite-Listen-Love View more posts 12/15/2020

Enjoy your Bonus WeekI’ve heard more than a few people mention that this December seems less frantic than most. It’s as if time is stretching. Throughout my life, I remember a sense of frantic urgency to do all of the shopping, prepare for travel and/or visiting relatives, planning things to do . . . Is this because we’re all tired after all we have endured through 2020? Many of us are in self-imposed quarantine – not mingling IRL (in real life) with other people – avoiding crowds – ordering gifts on-line instead of shopping and mailing. What are the blessings of these circumstances? Can we cease our incessant whining about 2020 even for a few moments to embrace the relative silence . . . the space that has opened for us to BREATHE and smell the roses? Don’t be scared! It’s OK to enjoy ... 12/14/2020

Seth Godin does it again! Seth’s blog post today is Subconscious pre-filtering Seth says: “All of us get an endless supply of ideas, notions and inklings. Successful people, often without realizing it, ignore the ones that are less likely to ‘work’, and instead focus on the projects that are more likely to advance the mission.“ My commentary: “We can all learn to do this by simply knowing where we want to go and focusing on traveling the path of THAT azimuth. With this intensity, the ideas that won’t work are invisible to us“. Such a refreshing insight on this day  11/24/2020

Who is the REAL you? Which one are you in this moment? I sent an important message to a person about an offer I would be presenting. Some hours passed with no response, so I followed up with a short message: “Did you receive my message about 123 Main St I sent earlier today?” Her answer: “Yes, I received it. But you sent to the wrong email.  Instruction are on the MLS. We will let everyone know tomorrow” 6 hours pass . . . and I receive this message” URGENT-123 Main St “NO OFFER IS ATTACHED TO YOUR EMAIL…“ I check my Sent email . . . and it clearly has the offer attached. This is when I put on my Investigator hat . . . I was beginning to wonder about myself. Am I losing my mental capacity? AHA! turns out she has 3 email addresses – The one in MLS, the one on all of her automatically pop... 11/23/2020

The big day is 6 days from today! No . . . I’m not ready, but then I cannot think of ANY year that I have ever been “ready” 6 days prior, but somehow we pull it together and give Thanks with all the trimmings just like every other year. How much preparation is required to give thanks appropriately? Driving to the office this morning, I heard news of a flipped car on I-440 just about a half mile after my exit, so it didn’t affect me, and I silently blessed the occupant(s) in that car . . . that they would be unharmed. When I got to the the end of the off-ramp at Murphy Road, I glanced to my right and there sat a car fully engulfed in flames. The driver was out of the car on his cell phone and the firetruck arrived as I departed. I thought of all that we ALL have for which to be thankful.... 11/20/2020

There’s always some assembly required in all things and pursuits. Whatever it is, there’s a learning curve. After all, this is the first time you’ve ever needed to assemble and learn how to use this thing. Straight out of the box, this appears to be a simple operation, so you get right to work without even a glimpse at the instructions . . . or in the case of many electronic devices, no instructions included other than how to plug it in and turn it on. The rest is up to you and youtube videos. You dive in and do your best. Things seem to be going well, until they’re NOT at which point you seek HELP, or you think you’ve completed the assembly, but there are 3 pieces left over . . . Uh-Oh! Do you simply discard these parts and hope for the best, or do you worry enough about it that that y... 11/19/2020

The “true experts” are worthy of us heeding their advice! After all, I would define “True Expert” as a person who has achieved Mastery in a specific field of expertise. Most experts in the field of Mastery knowledge agree that most mortals study and practice their art a MINIMUM of 10 years and 10,000 hours to build the solid foundation of knowledge and understanding. Yes! There are some (VERY few) prodigious people who are born with unexplainable mental capacity and soar through the stratosphere seemingly effortlessly. These people are conventionally described as “freaks of Nature” . . . More PC folks might call them “1%ers” When a person claims “Expert” status, where’s the proof that their pontification comes from a solid foundation? We look for clues! Most “true experts” aren’t out th... 11/18/2020

We must begin with cessation of our obsession with hating 2020. Every Monday morning, I create a theme for the week ahead. This week is: “Finding Flow” Essentially, this in response to my realization that I (and maybe YOU) have been running around like a beheaded chicken the past couple months as we have been orchestrating our many roles in our raplex lives. Coach, Trainer, Recruiter, friend, family member, psychologist . . . and myriad others. Likely, you’ve been as I’ve been most of this year . . a veritable frayed knot . . . off balance – out of flow. Finding healthy life rhythm has been enigmatic.  It is now time to settle in, regroup, rejuvenate, and focus on the people and things that matter most . . . No more new initiatives for a while . . . full focus on practicing what we prea... 11/16/2020

Green Hills homes are on fire with 42 closings for themonth of October an increase of 31% over October of 2019, the absorption rate is down to 2 months. 42 homes sold during the month of October compared to 32 for the same month last year. The median price of Green Hills homes sold was $1,165,000 compared to $692,500 for the same period last year the average price per square foot of homes sold was $289 compared to $274 last year The median size of homes sold was 3976 square feet The median days on market of homes sold was 6 days the list price to sales price ratio was 97% 80 Green Hills homes are currently listed in the Nashville MLS as available for purchase A lot of new construction home building is happening in Green Hills right now, and almost all of it involves displacing old homes... 11/11/2020

  Exasperating times, Eh? In times like these, we are quintessentially poised to do AMAZING work on ourselves and our relationships. Rise to these challenges. Embrace these opportunities to take stock in who we are individually and collectively. Mayhem, turmoil, CHAOS reduce pretty much everything in our experience to rubble. It's time to circle the wagons, re-supply, and spend some quality time noodling the largest question of them . . . WHY? Yeah! It's time for us to self-organize and make lemonade with these lemons. A good start might be opting in to my Invitation for you to explore your own personal Life Rhythm. This isn't "Life Balance" . . . It's better than that. Each of the next 6 Wednesdays (Beginning 10/14/2020) from 10:00- 12 (Or when it's over), we will meet virtually (Zoom)... 10/12/2020

Many people are ever in search of “life balance”. This is an excruciatingly elusive, fickle thing . . . Balance! Y’see! The problem is that balance is an illusion . . . because EVERYTHING is ALWAYS moving. It’s as if the entire Universe is conspiring to disrupt any and all appearances of balance forthwith. I have witnessed perfectly reasonable, intelligent humans obsess about maintaining a pristine life of peace, harmony, and balance only to find themselves being disappointed and frustrated about their inability to “Get it” . . . Just about the time you think you’ve got it – something moves. Be kinder to yourself than this! Acknowledge that you are NOT in control over everything within your field of vision and/or experience. Recognize that seldom does anything of significance happen acc... 10/09/2020

It seems the new way of dealing with issues . . . begins with inflammatory posts on Social Media. I think this cheats the possibility of coping with the grief that comes in response to unexpected circumstances. For sure, things going your way is eminently important, isn’t it? In this environment with the capability to publish in real time, the default for many people is to rip off a tirade of epic proportions regarding this egregious affront to all of humanity with the megaphone of twitter, Facebook, Instagram . . . Before you know it, the world is sure to be coming to a cataclysmic apocalyptical event. The gestation from the initial violation to the end of the world can be as short as 35 (or so) seconds as the Social Media post becomes viral. My observation is that this is a very unhea... 10/08/2020

Ah! the subtleties of perspective . . . Are you worried about things nobody knows? When will Covid settle down? Will this home inspection uncover a major issue? Will the house appraise at more than the selling house? For those who think from the perspective of: “That upon which we FOCUS EXPANDS”,the mantra is a rhythm of striving for “Better than before“ All the while, many others are experiencing the very same conditions/circumstances and are struggling to decrease their misery. The good news is that we all have the power of choice. If you are finding yourself doubting yourself and obsessing about all of these “HORRIBLE” things happening in the world, I hereby invite you to shift from these self limiting beliefs by choosing to believe that YOU are the architect of your own life while h... 10/07/2020

As of 10:30 AM yesterday 10/05/2020, . . .the race to win one of the 4 open seats on the 2021 Board of Directors for Greater Nashville Realtors The journey began with @ a dozen top notch Realtors who opted in by filing a nomination. These folks then followed a very smooth process which narrowed the candidates down to a “Slate of Six”. I was most impressed by the this process because the sole focus was to have boundaries to ensure a level playing field . . . There were no possibilities for unfair advantages (Believe me – I inadvertently pushed those boundaries twice and immediately was “called on the carpet”), No harm – no foul. This is akin to Lacrosse Referees and players on the field – Everyone knows the rules, and the real boundaries end up being defined by the tolerance of the Refs ... 10/06/2020

When inventory of available houses is near ZERO . . . Many Home Sellers get a little cocky. Some might even have the delusional thinking that this market is like shooting fish in a barrel. These unfortunate, misguided (or NOT guided) folks actually believe that they’ve got the Buyers by the horns and that they can throw the house on the market under-conditioned and over-priced, and SHAZAM – The Buyers will come running and participate in the ensuing Piranha frenzy resulting in multiple offers regardless of any and all defects (Obvious or latent). Well . . . That may work for some, but not most. Some of these houses DON’T sell quickly and end up lingering on the market thereby chasing the market DOWN (reducing the price – “New and improved pricing”) and end up selling for much less than ... 09/21/2020

It's worth doing well After 27 years of being a Realtor and member Of Greater Nashville Realtors . . . faithfully serving on many committees (professional standards and Professional Development), I decided to step up and run for the Board of Directors.Why?I believe THIS is the perfect time to be part of the solution for the myriad challenges we Realtors are facing daily. Greater Nashville Realtors, TN Realtors, and National Association of Realtors have been awesome defenders of our Livelihood and the American Dream of Home Ownership. My reason for wanting to serve on the board NOW is to do whatever possible to improve the quality of life for our members . . . This requires us to defend our livelihood, be consummate PROFESSIONALS . . . AND we must take care of our Self  so we can be full... 09/09/2020

Are you a Giver? Are you a Healthy Giver? Indeed, giving is noble and humbling when our gifts are received with gratitude. We givers don’t give to receive recognition . . . Most of us do this with anonymity. Is it possible to give too much or too little? Who’s the judge of gifting parity? Social and peer pressures come from all sides hoping to take our time, energy, and/or money. NO ONE knows how much you give each and every day because you are giving to, what you consider to be an important (worthy) recipient of your charitable contribution to their cause. Grant Hammond wrote this on his FB Timeline yesterday – It gave me pause “If you are a 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧, please learn your limits because most 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨 don’t have any.” As with all things (opportunities) be intentional – Follow your Heart – and s... 09/04/2020