with A.Z. Araujo - Episode 25:

Did You Forget

with A.Z. Araujo - Episode 25:

Did You Forget

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
I have been reminded lately of what I have forgotten. The fruits of my labors are all around me, but at times, I am reminded of the sacrifices and hard work it took to get where I am today. My marriage is thriving, but it wasn't always. My business is growing, but there was a time I was ready to walk away. You can't let the burdens and pressures of your every day dictate what your tomorrow will bring. Your journey has been long, but your future is on track to bring you what you want from it; you need to stay the course for that to happen. That job you left to be here; the reasons you wanted to go all-in on yourself are still present. You need to tap into the power you possess and claim what you have earned, and sacrificed for. Pressure creates passion and growth; or have you forgotten?
Did You Forget?
  • ​I had a lot of reminders today of how I should not forget about the journey I have had in my marriage and business; The journey I have been on to reconnect with my daughter and fight every day for what I have. 
  • ​I had an opportunity this weekend to take my daughters to 2 different colleges for volleyball camp. My ten-year-old was so excited because it was her first time staying at a camp and she got to stay in the dorms like a college girl. She will be there for three nights and everyday she has checked in with us; she is so elated and excited not only about volleyball but also the campus. 
  • ​I realized as we dropped off our eldest daughter at ASU that none of this would be possible if Carla and I hadn't fought for what we wanted. 
  • ​Any great achievement we have had is because of our sacrifices because we decided to fight, and that saddened me a bit. 
  • ​Everything you have, the income in your bank account, the status of your relationship is a culmination of fighting or conceding in retrospect. I had a lot of appreciation for what we decided to do because a few years ago we hit rock bottom in our relationship. It was a mutual agreement that we couldn't keep it together. It was too much history, too much resentment, and too many bad memories. 
  • ​We wanted more, and I think there was just too much entitlement. We felt like the other person owed us for all the sacrifices we made personally. It was rough and later on in January of 2014 I was walking out of my office after giving up close to 75% of my income, going from a realtor to trying to grow this brokerage; it was an immense sacrifice, and it put a lot of financial pressure on our relationship. 
  • ​We had been through this position before where money was not as fruitful as it had been and here we are doing it again as I decide to go and grow this brokerage. The money I was making as a realtor was much greater than the money I was making as a broker. I was heavily vested, and the energy and time that it took to grow this was tough; it didn't pay off very well. 
  • ​I remember walking out of the office and walking out into the parking lot, and I had forgotten why I had done this. I wanted out, and I was prepared to shut this down. I walked to my car and sat there for 30 minutes, pondering what I should do. My marriage wasn't where it should be, this business was going south quickly, despite all of my efforts, there was no fruit to my labor. It was a drought, and it was heavy, and bills were piling up again; I promised my family I would not put us in that position again. We have faced this before, and we thought we took the right precautions never to face it again.
  • ​But yet here we are again, as I follow this voice that tells me I must grow this brokerage. It made no financial sense, and it put more burden and chaos on my marriage; none of it made sense. I was more disconnected with my girls then I had ever been. The reason certain things don't make sense is that we forget. We forget why we took those steps, to begin with. Why we married our spouse, and why we got into this business.
What a Shame
  • What a shame it would have been to sacrifice it all; all of that pressure we endured, every day, and just quit. If I had not remembered why we would not be here today; We wouldn't be running as a group today. I think we fail to realize that we need to continually remind ourselves why we even started why we took on the pressure because there are many other things we could do with a fraction of the stress it takes to be in this business. 
  • ​Many of us left jobs that we hated that brought out the worst in us. We have a few bad months here, and we think that other job wasn't that bad, maybe you can go back. What a shame, right? I sat in my car, thinking about how far I'd come in my business and marriage. What a shame it would be to go through all of that growth and then stop. 
  • ​It was at that moment I decided to fight. I reminded myself of why I started, why I got married, and why I decided to go from an agent to a broker, to a broker-owner. My confidence was lost, and it was battered and bruised by my eternal fights and my external conflicts with Carla. 
  • ​As I was at my lowest point, it seemed like comparison was all around me. Everyone is doing it better, greater, and no one had the same issues that I did. That was my thought process because I forgot. It comes down to a decision; it comes down to having that conviction and fighting for what you want. 
  • ​I sat there defeated, being pulled by my thoughts that were becoming a fact; I'm not good enough, my wife doesn't appreciate me, I can do other things and find someone else. We allow these thoughts to pull us to the point that we start to see it as fact when it is all a fallacy; a fallacy based on a story that isn't true.
  • ​I stopped those thoughts, and it took me a while. I was self-loathing, I was projecting, and it seemed like the good angel on my shoulder whispered in my ear, "Did you forget?" Forget what? The love you have for your wife, the love for your children, for your business and your higher calling; did you forget? The promise you made that your job would be to impact individuals, that your job was to love your wife and lead your family? The pressures of life will make you forget because we are caught up in our sad stories sometimes, defeated by a contract that goes south. 
  • ​When we think about how minor and insignificant one contract is or one bad client or one bad deal is; in the greater scope of life, how insignificant that it breaks it down. One small little failure, it breaks you down. No one walks into your Open House, and you start thinking you have to go back, forgetting how painful it was to work where you were previously. The insignificance of these battles we are in, but we magnify the issue when it is no problem at all. Because our focus is there staring us right in the face and it becomes a big issue. All we need to do is take a step back and realize, the problem is not as big as we thought.
What are You Fighting For?
  • When we forget it is because we lost the vision of why we got into this business. Why did you take on the turmoil of the pressures of marketing, sales, and systems? You're constantly trying to fill your pipeline; why? There is a reason, and if you don't keep that focus on "why" you will never have a clear plan of action, and you will lose the focus. It will reach a point where you get defeated by a simple contract. 
  • ​Now all of a sudden we discredit everything we went through and all of the sacrifices we made. Did we walk away from our careers only to come this far? All of the excitement we had and the reassurance that we would work our butts off every single day, go by the wayside as we pretend not to know what to do and how to do it. 
  • ​What a shame to end a marriage that we both wanted and not all marriages are supposed to last. What a shame to stay in a marriage that you both know you shouldn't be in. What a shame not to fight for yourself; I had to fight for what I believed in, and I believed in myself. Although financially I wasn't in that place, there were fights that broke out where Carla would say that I had to go back out and sell real estate. The bills were piling up, and we couldn't afford to go down that path. But I remembered why I did it, and it was beyond me, and it was a promise that I made. I was going to make a bigger impact than just to my own pockets, but to others lives. I made that promise.
  • ​When I was 17 years old laying on my deathbed, I made that promise. Years later I fell short because it was all about self-gain and selfishness. So much so that I was breaking up my family because I was out of integrity. It is essential that you start to think about where you are today and why you even got to this place. 
  • ​When you start to appreciate the journey that you have been through, the financial hardships, the pressures we face in business are just a fraction of what you have already surpassed. These marital problems are only a fraction of what you have been through, and we cannot forget the power we possess when the challenge is in front of us; that is the first thing that goes out the window. You need not forget the goals and ambitions, not to forget the power you possess, and not to forget the journey you have taken. 
  • ​This is it, and you have to declare it today; what is it that you want? Then fight for it. You can not let it go and then pretend that it isn't an issue. You can't pretend that things will get better when you make no effort to make it better. You can't be oblivious; you need to fight for yourself first and foremost and then decide what you want to do with the other aspects of your life. First fight for you, not in a selfish way but in a way that empowers you to realize why you got married, and why you are in this business and what your role is as a parent.
  • ​This business will leave you battered and bruised, and create a lot of havoc, and unhealthy habits; this business is tough. For those of you that have been in the game for over ten years, congratulations to you; You're still in it, and now it's your job to create the lifestyle so you can support it without burning out or giving up on yourself. This is the game, and I want you to declare that with conviction and be all-in. Decide what you want.
The Power You Possess
  • This business is very profitable, and we need to be grateful for that. We have the potential to make a lot of money. I was used to making that kind of money, but it was all for self-gain, and I wasn't out there trying to change lives; it was all selfish, and I had to sacrifice a lot. A lot of you that were here at that time probably felt the pressure that I was under. The stress I was feeling I also put onto Carla. She wasn't in full power because she couldn't trust that I was going to make the right decisions. Even though I had a voice calling me to do this, I was often weakened by my thoughts. As breadwinners if our thoughts weaken us, we don't have the confidence of our spouses; and they feel the pressure because they know what is going on. 
  • ​We become defined by that one bad escrow, that one bad experience and we disregard all of the obstacles that we have overcome, all of the tragedies and trials that we went through. We overlook all of that, at that specific moment, and we define ourselves as a failure. I have been there many times, not realizing that I had an amazing journey. You have had an amazing journey. 
  • ​We are that small fraction of realtors that had the conviction to go all in. There is something special about small business owners, entrepreneurs, and self proprietors. A majority of the population would love to do what we do; only a small fraction decided to do what we did; to go all-in on all the pressures that follow suit.
  • ​The pressures don't only impact our financial situation; it goes way beyond that and impacts everything. The strains that it puts on our marriage, family, and relationships. It took me six months and a $180,000 escrow to bring my fire back. Those six months is something we have control over, and there are some things we will never have control over; obstacles we can not see.
  • ​A lot of it we can keep at bay, by doing the things that we know will make us better. There are sometimes things that rock us and are out of our control. The only thing we have control over is how long we decide to stay there; in that pit. That is the only thing we have control over. 
  • ​You make up a story that you aren't good enough until you decide to do something about it. You will face that again, but next time you will be wiser and stronger, and it won't take you six months, it may only take you six days, six hours or six minutes. That is what we have control over. Life will knock you on your ass; how long do you want to stay there? 
  • ​I want you to think about the remaining 5 and a half months you have, to create the best year that you have had. To mend relationships, to get in better physical health and start thinking more positively about yourself. We cannot forget why we began, and you need to take that time to reflect. You can't forget the power you possess, you have been through too much; you have dealt with your fair share of pain.

More Episodes

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
I have been reminded lately of what I have forgotten. The fruits of my labors are all around me, but at times, I am reminded of the sacrifices and hard work it took to get where I am today. My marriage is thriving, but it wasn't always. My business is growing, but there was a time I was ready to walk away. You can't let the burdens and pressures of your every day dictate what your tomorrow will bring. Your journey has been long, but your future is on track to bring you what you want from it; you need to stay the course for that to happen. That job you left to be here; the reasons you wanted to go all-in on yourself are still present. You need to tap into the power you possess and claim what you have earned, and sacrificed for. Pressure creates passion and growth; or have you forgotten?
Did You Forget?
  • ​I had a lot of reminders today of how I should not forget about the journey I have had in my marriage and business; The journey I have been on to reconnect with my daughter and fight every day for what I have. 
  • ​I had an opportunity this weekend to take my daughters to 2 different colleges for volleyball camp. My ten-year-old was so excited because it was her first time staying at a camp and she got to stay in the dorms like a college girl. She will be there for three nights and everyday she has checked in with us; she is so elated and excited not only about volleyball but also the campus. 
  • ​I realized as we dropped off our eldest daughter at ASU that none of this would be possible if Carla and I hadn't fought for what we wanted. 
  • ​Any great achievement we have had is because of our sacrifices because we decided to fight, and that saddened me a bit. 
  • ​Everything you have, the income in your bank account, the status of your relationship is a culmination of fighting or conceding in retrospect. I had a lot of appreciation for what we decided to do because a few years ago we hit rock bottom in our relationship. It was a mutual agreement that we couldn't keep it together. It was too much history, too much resentment, and too many bad memories. 
  • ​We wanted more, and I think there was just too much entitlement. We felt like the other person owed us for all the sacrifices we made personally. It was rough and later on in January of 2014 I was walking out of my office after giving up close to 75% of my income, going from a realtor to trying to grow this brokerage; it was an immense sacrifice, and it put a lot of financial pressure on our relationship. 
  • ​We had been through this position before where money was not as fruitful as it had been and here we are doing it again as I decide to go and grow this brokerage. The money I was making as a realtor was much greater than the money I was making as a broker. I was heavily vested, and the energy and time that it took to grow this was tough; it didn't pay off very well. 
  • ​I remember walking out of the office and walking out into the parking lot, and I had forgotten why I had done this. I wanted out, and I was prepared to shut this down. I walked to my car and sat there for 30 minutes, pondering what I should do. My marriage wasn't where it should be, this business was going south quickly, despite all of my efforts, there was no fruit to my labor. It was a drought, and it was heavy, and bills were piling up again; I promised my family I would not put us in that position again. We have faced this before, and we thought we took the right precautions never to face it again.
  • ​But yet here we are again, as I follow this voice that tells me I must grow this brokerage. It made no financial sense, and it put more burden and chaos on my marriage; none of it made sense. I was more disconnected with my girls then I had ever been. The reason certain things don't make sense is that we forget. We forget why we took those steps, to begin with. Why we married our spouse, and why we got into this business.
What a Shame
  • What a shame it would have been to sacrifice it all; all of that pressure we endured, every day, and just quit. If I had not remembered why we would not be here today; We wouldn't be running as a group today. I think we fail to realize that we need to continually remind ourselves why we even started why we took on the pressure because there are many other things we could do with a fraction of the stress it takes to be in this business. 
  • ​Many of us left jobs that we hated that brought out the worst in us. We have a few bad months here, and we think that other job wasn't that bad, maybe you can go back. What a shame, right? I sat in my car, thinking about how far I'd come in my business and marriage. What a shame it would be to go through all of that growth and then stop. 
  • ​It was at that moment I decided to fight. I reminded myself of why I started, why I got married, and why I decided to go from an agent to a broker, to a broker-owner. My confidence was lost, and it was battered and bruised by my eternal fights and my external conflicts with Carla. 
  • ​As I was at my lowest point, it seemed like comparison was all around me. Everyone is doing it better, greater, and no one had the same issues that I did. That was my thought process because I forgot. It comes down to a decision; it comes down to having that conviction and fighting for what you want. 
  • ​I sat there defeated, being pulled by my thoughts that were becoming a fact; I'm not good enough, my wife doesn't appreciate me, I can do other things and find someone else. We allow these thoughts to pull us to the point that we start to see it as fact when it is all a fallacy; a fallacy based on a story that isn't true.
  • ​I stopped those thoughts, and it took me a while. I was self-loathing, I was projecting, and it seemed like the good angel on my shoulder whispered in my ear, "Did you forget?" Forget what? The love you have for your wife, the love for your children, for your business and your higher calling; did you forget? The promise you made that your job would be to impact individuals, that your job was to love your wife and lead your family? The pressures of life will make you forget because we are caught up in our sad stories sometimes, defeated by a contract that goes south. 
  • ​When we think about how minor and insignificant one contract is or one bad client or one bad deal is; in the greater scope of life, how insignificant that it breaks it down. One small little failure, it breaks you down. No one walks into your Open House, and you start thinking you have to go back, forgetting how painful it was to work where you were previously. The insignificance of these battles we are in, but we magnify the issue when it is no problem at all. Because our focus is there staring us right in the face and it becomes a big issue. All we need to do is take a step back and realize, the problem is not as big as we thought.
What are You Fighting For?
  • When we forget it is because we lost the vision of why we got into this business. Why did you take on the turmoil of the pressures of marketing, sales, and systems? You're constantly trying to fill your pipeline; why? There is a reason, and if you don't keep that focus on "why" you will never have a clear plan of action, and you will lose the focus. It will reach a point where you get defeated by a simple contract. 
  • ​Now all of a sudden we discredit everything we went through and all of the sacrifices we made. Did we walk away from our careers only to come this far? All of the excitement we had and the reassurance that we would work our butts off every single day, go by the wayside as we pretend not to know what to do and how to do it. 
  • ​What a shame to end a marriage that we both wanted and not all marriages are supposed to last. What a shame to stay in a marriage that you both know you shouldn't be in. What a shame not to fight for yourself; I had to fight for what I believed in, and I believed in myself. Although financially I wasn't in that place, there were fights that broke out where Carla would say that I had to go back out and sell real estate. The bills were piling up, and we couldn't afford to go down that path. But I remembered why I did it, and it was beyond me, and it was a promise that I made. I was going to make a bigger impact than just to my own pockets, but to others lives. I made that promise.
  • ​When I was 17 years old laying on my deathbed, I made that promise. Years later I fell short because it was all about self-gain and selfishness. So much so that I was breaking up my family because I was out of integrity. It is essential that you start to think about where you are today and why you even got to this place. 
  • ​When you start to appreciate the journey that you have been through, the financial hardships, the pressures we face in business are just a fraction of what you have already surpassed. These marital problems are only a fraction of what you have been through, and we cannot forget the power we possess when the challenge is in front of us; that is the first thing that goes out the window. You need not forget the goals and ambitions, not to forget the power you possess, and not to forget the journey you have taken. 
  • ​This is it, and you have to declare it today; what is it that you want? Then fight for it. You can not let it go and then pretend that it isn't an issue. You can't pretend that things will get better when you make no effort to make it better. You can't be oblivious; you need to fight for yourself first and foremost and then decide what you want to do with the other aspects of your life. First fight for you, not in a selfish way but in a way that empowers you to realize why you got married, and why you are in this business and what your role is as a parent.
  • ​This business will leave you battered and bruised, and create a lot of havoc, and unhealthy habits; this business is tough. For those of you that have been in the game for over ten years, congratulations to you; You're still in it, and now it's your job to create the lifestyle so you can support it without burning out or giving up on yourself. This is the game, and I want you to declare that with conviction and be all-in. Decide what you want.
The Power You Possess
  • This business is very profitable, and we need to be grateful for that. We have the potential to make a lot of money. I was used to making that kind of money, but it was all for self-gain, and I wasn't out there trying to change lives; it was all selfish, and I had to sacrifice a lot. A lot of you that were here at that time probably felt the pressure that I was under. The stress I was feeling I also put onto Carla. She wasn't in full power because she couldn't trust that I was going to make the right decisions. Even though I had a voice calling me to do this, I was often weakened by my thoughts. As breadwinners if our thoughts weaken us, we don't have the confidence of our spouses; and they feel the pressure because they know what is going on. 
  • ​We become defined by that one bad escrow, that one bad experience and we disregard all of the obstacles that we have overcome, all of the tragedies and trials that we went through. We overlook all of that, at that specific moment, and we define ourselves as a failure. I have been there many times, not realizing that I had an amazing journey. You have had an amazing journey. 
  • ​We are that small fraction of realtors that had the conviction to go all in. There is something special about small business owners, entrepreneurs, and self proprietors. A majority of the population would love to do what we do; only a small fraction decided to do what we did; to go all-in on all the pressures that follow suit.
  • ​The pressures don't only impact our financial situation; it goes way beyond that and impacts everything. The strains that it puts on our marriage, family, and relationships. It took me six months and a $180,000 escrow to bring my fire back. Those six months is something we have control over, and there are some things we will never have control over; obstacles we can not see.
  • ​A lot of it we can keep at bay, by doing the things that we know will make us better. There are sometimes things that rock us and are out of our control. The only thing we have control over is how long we decide to stay there; in that pit. That is the only thing we have control over. 
  • ​You make up a story that you aren't good enough until you decide to do something about it. You will face that again, but next time you will be wiser and stronger, and it won't take you six months, it may only take you six days, six hours or six minutes. That is what we have control over. Life will knock you on your ass; how long do you want to stay there? 
  • ​I want you to think about the remaining 5 and a half months you have, to create the best year that you have had. To mend relationships, to get in better physical health and start thinking more positively about yourself. We cannot forget why we began, and you need to take that time to reflect. You can't forget the power you possess, you have been through too much; you have dealt with your fair share of pain.

More Episodes



A.Z. & Associates Real Estate Group - 2019