with A.Z. Araujo - Episode 52:

Slow It Down

with A.Z. Araujo - Episode 52:

Slow It Down

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
I was inspired to start something new with my family following an interview I heard with Jamie Foxx. Taking time to slow down and pay attention was a golden nugget of advice he gave to those listening. I realized that I needed to incorporate that into my own life and began recording, for our own purposes, a daily record of what our family experiences. Knowing my daughters have the ability and technology to speak to their future selves is priceless. when we get up, and aren't motivated and inspired, it's because we are not paying attention or showing gratitude and appreciation for where we have been and to those that have been there with us the entire time.
Wanda and the Four Hour Work Week
  • ​A quote inspired today's topic by a talented actor, musician, and comedian, Jamie Foxx. He was in a groundbreaking show called “In Living Color,” when I was younger and first introduced to his work especially a character named Wanda. I soon became a fan and was skeptical when he began to venture out into other areas, especially acting and music. After seeing him in an interview, I got a whole new level of respect for him. I encourage you to listen to the podcast he was on by Tim Ferriss. Tim Ferriss authored the book, “ The Four Hour Workweek.” It has been an instrumental part of my growth, reading how we need to approach life and our business.
  • ​He had Jamie Foxx on as a guest, and I was blown away. It took me a few days to listen to it, and I was intrigued; I didn't want it to end. Jamie Foxx knows how to communicate and convey his story, and he is one of the best. I think his talent is in the way he can tell a story, and that is a critical skill set that all of us as entrepreneurs need to have. That is the way your clients will be able to connect with you and how you will connect with them. We all have stories, and we can all produce similar emotions; happiness, excitement, pain, fear, and anger. We all have different experiences, but we have all been in those same emotions. 
  • ​That is what ties us together and bonds us as individuals. Tim Ferriss asked Jamie towards the end of the interview what he would tell himself, looking back now at his career? What hit me to the core was when Jamie said to pay attention and slow it down. I don't know what it was about that statement, but my skin crawled. It was so simple, and he was hilarious throughout the entire interview, but that phrase struck a chord, and I got a bit sentimental. I think we have all been in situations where we haven't paid attention, and we let life roll by; we look back and say we have missed the best years of our lives or our children's lives. We get so caught up in the obstacles, problems, and achieving great things in our business, and we forget to slow down and pay attention. 
  • ​Within the timeframe of the week, I started a new series of videos with my daughters, and I told them they were going to talk to their future selves. When I look back at photos of who I was, it planted a seed, and I started a series of videos with my daughters with day to day things that are going on in my life. I don't have many videos of what their experiences are like; I only have videos of special occasions. 
  • ​I took a different approach, and it has been a wonderful experience for us. We will sit in the kitchen, and I will ask my daughter what is going on in her life, and what would she like to tell her future self? They have gravitated towards the process, and they are usually shy about this kind of thing. Even though Carla and I are always on video, they don't want to do it. 
  • ​They have been like old school documentaries like we used to do with movie cameras. This will be amazing when I can show them these videos five and ten years from now — seeing their past self talking to their future self. We have that opportunity because we are paying attention and slowing it down. The energy is very different when you are asking them what is going on at that particular moment. As I record them, I save them in a special folder; the Abigail and Madeline folder. The participation and excitement from them is unreal.
No Disrespect
  • The girls went to bed early last night after a weekend of Volleyball Tournaments, and it was the first night we didn't record in eight days. This morning I am going through my normal routine, and my ten-year-old daughter walks in, and she is doing a selfie video. She was talking to her future self and telling her what she was about to do. I apologized to her for not doing the video the night before, and she said that was okay because she's got it. 
  • ​We continued doing the video together, and we were very real and candid. We weren't posturing for the camera; we were ourselves at that moment. We decided to slow it down and pay attention; I don't know what I would give to see my parents at this age and me and my siblings at ten years old. I don't have many of those memories, and they were not documented. I have no idea how my Grandpa was as a young kid and teenager. I have zero ideas, and we are only one generation removed. The memory of him is being lost because I don't know enough about him to pass onto my daughters. 
  • ​We have the ability right now to slow it down and pay attention, and I think we take it for granted. When we lose our motivation and kill it in business, it's because we haven't done that; we get caught up quickly in the things that won't bring us the happiness that we want when we slow down and pay attention to the paradigm of our lives changes. 
  • ​We have all seen these individuals that have performed and succeeded at a high level. This weekend I watched Connor McGregor, one of the greatest communicators as well, and he backs it up with his ability to fight, his work ethic to prepare. This time his approach was different, and his energy was different from his previous fights and interviews. Before he was brash and came off as angry, he achieved so much but failed to slow down and pay attention. 
  • ​It didn't matter how much money he was making because he continually put himself in situations that could destroy it all. I can't remember previous interviews where he brought up his children so much as well as his staff and family. He said that it didn't bring his best he wasn't respecting those who have put everything in on me. Not performing or doing what you should for your business means you are disrespecting your family and those that love and support you. You are too caught up in your thoughts and feelings, and it goes beyond that.
  • ​There is something greater for you. Connor came out and had a new appreciation for who he is and not only cocky and confident. One of the promoters said that he had never seen Connor this way; he is happy, and slowing it down and paying attention made him happy, not the money.
  • ​Sometimes when we get up, and we aren't motivated and inspired, it's because we are not paying attention and not showing that gratitude and appreciation for where we have been. We aren't documenting our lives and understanding that everything is a lesson to make us stronger, better, and wiser. We get caught up in how it's not supposed to be and how big the challenges are; we proclaim we don't know what to do. We all know what to do; you know what to do. You need to get around to doing it, and that is where the focus should be.
  • ​We have 100% control. It is good to see someone going all-in on every aspect of their life when before it was only about achieving wealth, belts, and championships. He has his priorities right, and we have a responsibility that is greater than our feelings; it's about getting it done, going after it, and understanding you have to position yourself as the authority. Stop sitting back and wallowing in the feelings of not knowing what to do and how to do it. 
  • ​I want you to take the time to listen to the Podcast with Jamie Foxx and Tim Ferriss ; it is simply amazing. I want you to be very aware of how he tells a story; it correlates with me hearing that I should slow down and pay attention, and then I began to document my daughter's everyday life. I don't think I would have come to this conclusion if I hadn't had those seeds planted. The things we are supposed to learn daily, I would say that 99% of it isn't absorbed. It is what goes into our subconscious that we base our decisions. 
  • ​I didn't correlate my actions to that phrase from Jamie Foxx until I stepped back and analyzed the whole thing; I think it was directly associated with that. He spoke about how he wished he had been more involved with his kids when they were growing up, pay attention, and slow it down. What greater way than to document it as a family? 
  • ​To see my daughter this morning, taking it upon herself to document it, not for social media but us. I want their kids and their kids to be able to see what they were doing as young people. Also, to see what we were doing in trying to change dysfunction and disorder generationally. You can start this now, regardless of how old your kids are. Think about your grandkids and how they can see what you are doing right now in the year 2020.
Fueling Your Ambitions
  • Let's fuel our ambitions by appreciating where we are at right now through documentation of it. It's a great time to be alive, in a great country that will go down in history as the greatest empire ever to exist. You are living in it, and the opportunities are endless, and the technology allows us to create more than we ever thought possible. You had to be famous to leave a legacy before; now, you only have to be yourself. 
  • ​As we go through our day, I want you to start thinking about how you can pay attention and slow it down. This will ultimately fuel the ambitions you have for your business, or it can destroy it. Connor McGregor was so close to destroying it, and he is still in some legal battles, not out of the dark 100%, but he is making great strides forward. He changed his mindset and began to appreciate where he is at with the right people around him. 
  • ​You have us in our corner and people that are rooting for you. A.Z. & Associates is that type of environment, and I want you to pay attention and slow it down and appreciate that. 
  • ​I am headed back out today to the third day of my daughter's volleyball competition, and we are learning so many lessons. You need to appreciate all of the obstacles that come your way and the lessons you are learning daily. Marketing will tough today; you will have a difficult client or another agent that brings their issues to your meeting. It is about being in power and being able to withstand the negatives that can come our way. 
  • ​Am I planting a seed with you so that you can gather more appreciation in your day so you can kill it in business? That is the fuel you need if you are feeling down. It's not about regret; it's about making the declaration to start it now. I’m not going to dwell in that place; I am going to start now. 
  • ​Becoming aware, meeting your goals is great, but there is always more to do. You are only scratching the surface, and there is more that we have to be; it is our responsibility to become greater. We need to become greater to show respect to those who put everything on us. It's our responsibility to be successful in all areas of our lives. It is our way of giving back to those who support us. 
  • ​If you begin to document your life, how nice would it be to look back when you're eighty years old and appreciate the way you hustled by putting yourself out there. I appreciate the guy I was five years ago, the guy that stuttered and couldn't look at himself on camera. I appreciate him for having the courage to continue to move forward and do it. I am different today, and I will be very different five years from now. It is our job to put ourselves out there, not for others; when you do it for yourself, others will appreciate you and will gravitate towards you. It will directly impact your bottom line. 
  • ​I get as much fuel from all of you as you may get from us. The conversations I have with every agent I appreciate each one. Each conversation fuels me to be better.
  • ​Again I want to encourage you to listen to the Jamie Foxx Podcast, and you can find it on your podcast provider. Pay attention to the details, the dialogue, and how he tells a story. I think we can all benefit from it; if we could tell our stories in that way, it will gravitate our clientele and families to us. 
  • ​I called six individuals this weekend that all participated in a half marathon. We had six agents from A.Z. & Associates participate, and I am so proud to see them out there, pushing themselves beyond what they thought was possible. Some of them had it in their minds that they weren't runners, not athletes. To go out there and complete a half marathon, it will do something to you, and you won't be the same person. 
  • ​Embarking and shattering stories of what we believe is true; you are not the same person, and I am so happy to witness this in them. Seeing them push themselves in ways they never thought were possible. I told them to enjoy the pain because it was going to be painful. When we are in a moment of pain, and we want to quit, we have to remind ourselves of an important detail; be grateful you can feel the pain because you are alive. That is what pushed me through many obstacles in my life; the pain I felt reinforced in me that nothing could stop me. 
  • ​If I could fight for my life, I could do anything. Congratulations to those agents that participated in that. To document the journey is incredible, and you can use your CLOUD to store the recordings. Take that as a task, and I think you will appreciate it down the road. There is a lot of pride that comes from hearing your kids talk about who you were and who you are. We can get compliments from others, but when you hear your kids say they are proud of you, it does something to you.
  • ​We are all proud of our kids, but are our kids proud of us? We need to fall in love with this game, and the game comes with many trials and tribulations, the monotony and things we don't like to do. The rewards lie within the monotony. It sucks to put ourselves out there and not get any return, holding an Open House, and no one walks in. You try to do everything for your clients, and they still aren't happy, but it's our ability to keep going that will bring the ultimate happiness. 
  • ​This Friday is our Ignite Event, and I have a special guest flying in for that. He is a good friend of mine, and his name is Nick Long. He has done amazing things and has had overcome his fair share of obstacles; somehow, he keeps going, and he is an amazing guy and success. It will be a night of celebration and being able to see something more significant for ourselves, reminding you that it is all within our control. 

More Episodes

CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
I was inspired to start something new with my family following an interview I heard with Jamie Foxx. Taking time to slow down and pay attention was a golden nugget of advice he gave to those listening. I realized that I needed to incorporate that into my own life and began recording, for our own purposes, a daily record of what our family experiences. Knowing my daughters have the ability and technology to speak to their future selves is priceless. when we get up, and aren't motivated and inspired, it's because we are not paying attention or showing gratitude and appreciation for where we have been and to those that have been there with us the entire time.
Wanda and the Four Hour Work Week
  • ​A quote inspired today's topic by a talented actor, musician, and comedian, Jamie Foxx. He was in a groundbreaking show called “In Living Color,” when I was younger and first introduced to his work especially a character named Wanda. I soon became a fan and was skeptical when he began to venture out into other areas, especially acting and music. After seeing him in an interview, I got a whole new level of respect for him. I encourage you to listen to the podcast he was on by Tim Ferriss. Tim Ferriss authored the book, “ The Four Hour Workweek.” It has been an instrumental part of my growth, reading how we need to approach life and our business.
  • ​He had Jamie Foxx on as a guest, and I was blown away. It took me a few days to listen to it, and I was intrigued; I didn't want it to end. Jamie Foxx knows how to communicate and convey his story, and he is one of the best. I think his talent is in the way he can tell a story, and that is a critical skill set that all of us as entrepreneurs need to have. That is the way your clients will be able to connect with you and how you will connect with them. We all have stories, and we can all produce similar emotions; happiness, excitement, pain, fear, and anger. We all have different experiences, but we have all been in those same emotions. 
  • ​That is what ties us together and bonds us as individuals. Tim Ferriss asked Jamie towards the end of the interview what he would tell himself, looking back now at his career? What hit me to the core was when Jamie said to pay attention and slow it down. I don't know what it was about that statement, but my skin crawled. It was so simple, and he was hilarious throughout the entire interview, but that phrase struck a chord, and I got a bit sentimental. I think we have all been in situations where we haven't paid attention, and we let life roll by; we look back and say we have missed the best years of our lives or our children's lives. We get so caught up in the obstacles, problems, and achieving great things in our business, and we forget to slow down and pay attention. 
  • ​Within the timeframe of the week, I started a new series of videos with my daughters, and I told them they were going to talk to their future selves. When I look back at photos of who I was, it planted a seed, and I started a series of videos with my daughters with day to day things that are going on in my life. I don't have many videos of what their experiences are like; I only have videos of special occasions. 
  • ​I took a different approach, and it has been a wonderful experience for us. We will sit in the kitchen, and I will ask my daughter what is going on in her life, and what would she like to tell her future self? They have gravitated towards the process, and they are usually shy about this kind of thing. Even though Carla and I are always on video, they don't want to do it. 
  • ​They have been like old school documentaries like we used to do with movie cameras. This will be amazing when I can show them these videos five and ten years from now — seeing their past self talking to their future self. We have that opportunity because we are paying attention and slowing it down. The energy is very different when you are asking them what is going on at that particular moment. As I record them, I save them in a special folder; the Abigail and Madeline folder. The participation and excitement from them is unreal.
No Disrespect
  • The girls went to bed early last night after a weekend of Volleyball Tournaments, and it was the first night we didn't record in eight days. This morning I am going through my normal routine, and my ten-year-old daughter walks in, and she is doing a selfie video. She was talking to her future self and telling her what she was about to do. I apologized to her for not doing the video the night before, and she said that was okay because she's got it. 
  • ​We continued doing the video together, and we were very real and candid. We weren't posturing for the camera; we were ourselves at that moment. We decided to slow it down and pay attention; I don't know what I would give to see my parents at this age and me and my siblings at ten years old. I don't have many of those memories, and they were not documented. I have no idea how my Grandpa was as a young kid and teenager. I have zero ideas, and we are only one generation removed. The memory of him is being lost because I don't know enough about him to pass onto my daughters. 
  • ​We have the ability right now to slow it down and pay attention, and I think we take it for granted. When we lose our motivation and kill it in business, it's because we haven't done that; we get caught up quickly in the things that won't bring us the happiness that we want when we slow down and pay attention to the paradigm of our lives changes. 
  • ​We have all seen these individuals that have performed and succeeded at a high level. This weekend I watched Connor McGregor, one of the greatest communicators as well, and he backs it up with his ability to fight, his work ethic to prepare. This time his approach was different, and his energy was different from his previous fights and interviews. Before he was brash and came off as angry, he achieved so much but failed to slow down and pay attention. 
  • ​It didn't matter how much money he was making because he continually put himself in situations that could destroy it all. I can't remember previous interviews where he brought up his children so much as well as his staff and family. He said that it didn't bring his best he wasn't respecting those who have put everything in on me. Not performing or doing what you should for your business means you are disrespecting your family and those that love and support you. You are too caught up in your thoughts and feelings, and it goes beyond that.
  • ​There is something greater for you. Connor came out and had a new appreciation for who he is and not only cocky and confident. One of the promoters said that he had never seen Connor this way; he is happy, and slowing it down and paying attention made him happy, not the money.
  • ​Sometimes when we get up, and we aren't motivated and inspired, it's because we are not paying attention and not showing that gratitude and appreciation for where we have been. We aren't documenting our lives and understanding that everything is a lesson to make us stronger, better, and wiser. We get caught up in how it's not supposed to be and how big the challenges are; we proclaim we don't know what to do. We all know what to do; you know what to do. You need to get around to doing it, and that is where the focus should be.
  • ​We have 100% control. It is good to see someone going all-in on every aspect of their life when before it was only about achieving wealth, belts, and championships. He has his priorities right, and we have a responsibility that is greater than our feelings; it's about getting it done, going after it, and understanding you have to position yourself as the authority. Stop sitting back and wallowing in the feelings of not knowing what to do and how to do it. 
  • ​I want you to take the time to listen to the Podcast with Jamie Foxx and Tim Ferriss ; it is simply amazing. I want you to be very aware of how he tells a story; it correlates with me hearing that I should slow down and pay attention, and then I began to document my daughter's everyday life. I don't think I would have come to this conclusion if I hadn't had those seeds planted. The things we are supposed to learn daily, I would say that 99% of it isn't absorbed. It is what goes into our subconscious that we base our decisions. 
  • ​I didn't correlate my actions to that phrase from Jamie Foxx until I stepped back and analyzed the whole thing; I think it was directly associated with that. He spoke about how he wished he had been more involved with his kids when they were growing up, pay attention, and slow it down. What greater way than to document it as a family? 
  • ​To see my daughter this morning, taking it upon herself to document it, not for social media but us. I want their kids and their kids to be able to see what they were doing as young people. Also, to see what we were doing in trying to change dysfunction and disorder generationally. You can start this now, regardless of how old your kids are. Think about your grandkids and how they can see what you are doing right now in the year 2020.
Fueling Your Ambitions
  • Let's fuel our ambitions by appreciating where we are at right now through documentation of it. It's a great time to be alive, in a great country that will go down in history as the greatest empire ever to exist. You are living in it, and the opportunities are endless, and the technology allows us to create more than we ever thought possible. You had to be famous to leave a legacy before; now, you only have to be yourself. 
  • ​As we go through our day, I want you to start thinking about how you can pay attention and slow it down. This will ultimately fuel the ambitions you have for your business, or it can destroy it. Connor McGregor was so close to destroying it, and he is still in some legal battles, not out of the dark 100%, but he is making great strides forward. He changed his mindset and began to appreciate where he is at with the right people around him. 
  • ​You have us in our corner and people that are rooting for you. A.Z. & Associates is that type of environment, and I want you to pay attention and slow it down and appreciate that. 
  • ​I am headed back out today to the third day of my daughter's volleyball competition, and we are learning so many lessons. You need to appreciate all of the obstacles that come your way and the lessons you are learning daily. Marketing will tough today; you will have a difficult client or another agent that brings their issues to your meeting. It is about being in power and being able to withstand the negatives that can come our way. 
  • ​Am I planting a seed with you so that you can gather more appreciation in your day so you can kill it in business? That is the fuel you need if you are feeling down. It's not about regret; it's about making the declaration to start it now. I’m not going to dwell in that place; I am going to start now. 
  • ​Becoming aware, meeting your goals is great, but there is always more to do. You are only scratching the surface, and there is more that we have to be; it is our responsibility to become greater. We need to become greater to show respect to those who put everything on us. It's our responsibility to be successful in all areas of our lives. It is our way of giving back to those who support us. 
  • ​If you begin to document your life, how nice would it be to look back when you're eighty years old and appreciate the way you hustled by putting yourself out there. I appreciate the guy I was five years ago, the guy that stuttered and couldn't look at himself on camera. I appreciate him for having the courage to continue to move forward and do it. I am different today, and I will be very different five years from now. It is our job to put ourselves out there, not for others; when you do it for yourself, others will appreciate you and will gravitate towards you. It will directly impact your bottom line. 
  • ​I get as much fuel from all of you as you may get from us. The conversations I have with every agent I appreciate each one. Each conversation fuels me to be better.
  • ​Again I want to encourage you to listen to the Jamie Foxx Podcast, and you can find it on your podcast provider. Pay attention to the details, the dialogue, and how he tells a story. I think we can all benefit from it; if we could tell our stories in that way, it will gravitate our clientele and families to us. 
  • ​I called six individuals this weekend that all participated in a half marathon. We had six agents from A.Z. & Associates participate, and I am so proud to see them out there, pushing themselves beyond what they thought was possible. Some of them had it in their minds that they weren't runners, not athletes. To go out there and complete a half marathon, it will do something to you, and you won't be the same person. 
  • ​Embarking and shattering stories of what we believe is true; you are not the same person, and I am so happy to witness this in them. Seeing them push themselves in ways they never thought were possible. I told them to enjoy the pain because it was going to be painful. When we are in a moment of pain, and we want to quit, we have to remind ourselves of an important detail; be grateful you can feel the pain because you are alive. That is what pushed me through many obstacles in my life; the pain I felt reinforced in me that nothing could stop me. 
  • ​If I could fight for my life, I could do anything. Congratulations to those agents that participated in that. To document the journey is incredible, and you can use your CLOUD to store the recordings. Take that as a task, and I think you will appreciate it down the road. There is a lot of pride that comes from hearing your kids talk about who you were and who you are. We can get compliments from others, but when you hear your kids say they are proud of you, it does something to you.
  • ​We are all proud of our kids, but are our kids proud of us? We need to fall in love with this game, and the game comes with many trials and tribulations, the monotony and things we don't like to do. The rewards lie within the monotony. It sucks to put ourselves out there and not get any return, holding an Open House, and no one walks in. You try to do everything for your clients, and they still aren't happy, but it's our ability to keep going that will bring the ultimate happiness. 
  • ​This Friday is our Ignite Event, and I have a special guest flying in for that. He is a good friend of mine, and his name is Nick Long. He has done amazing things and has had overcome his fair share of obstacles; somehow, he keeps going, and he is an amazing guy and success. It will be a night of celebration and being able to see something more significant for ourselves, reminding you that it is all within our control. 

More Episodes

A.Z. & Associates Real Estate Group - 2019