"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Right-Sized Homes -- Congratulations to Simonini Builders, the 2010 National Housing Quality Award winner and cover story of the October issue of Professional Builder. Their "Right-Sized Home" product aligns with the end of the era of the mega-mansion. More on their success and that of Ideal Homes and BOWA Builders below... but first:

Perils of Overconsumption -- for many in the U.S., tomorrow marks not a day of thanks, but a day of overconsumption -- a day symbolic of the deeper problems facing my home country. What we need instead is a gigantic fast -- to purge ourselves of the toxins that have ravaged our freedom and our psyche. Little did I know that the U.S. used to celebrate a spring fast to balance the fall feast -- and that fasting preceded and proceeded various feasts to keep us pure (vs. the further accumulation of "stuff" on Black Friday). Elyssa East's Tuesday NY Times Op-Ed entitled "A Movable Fast" is a must read. And for those with children, please share this important piece of history with them over the holidays.

Most Companies Die of Indigestion -- David Packard, cofounder of HP, observed that a great company is more likely to die of indigestion from too much opportunity than starvation from too little. Inspired by this insight, Jim Collins' team created Packard's Law which states that "no company can consistently grow revenues faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth and still become a great company."

Remembered for What You Allocate vs. Accumulate -- Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money, shared her Law of Sufficiency at our Growth Summit. In its most basic form "When you let go of trying to get more of what you don't really need, it frees up tons of energy (expended in that chase) to direct toward making a difference with what you already have." And she went on to suggest that we'll be remembered a lot more for what and how we allocate our money vs. how much we accumulate. Please take 2 minutes and watch my short post-keynote interview of Lynne Twist -- scroll down the right hand column to see the interview -- a fitting message for this week of Thanksgiving in the U.S.

When in Financial Trouble, Give More -- Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, noted toward the end of his book that whenever successful people got into financial trouble they would make a large donation "to get money flowing again." It had to be a sincere gesture without an expectation of return, but nevertheless it works. I've personally experienced the same phenomenon and it aligns with Lynne Twist's notion that money is like water -- it must flow vs. be hoarded. And money carries with it all the intentions for which it was used so they must be honorable.

Turning One Red Paperclip Into a Home -- and for a super dose of inspiration (and ideas), take 6 minutes and watch this story of how one young man turned a red paperclip into owning a home -- all with no money exchanging hands. Robert Kiyosaki has been showing people how having no money is very freeing -- and that you don't have to have much to create a lot! Another great video to show your children as well -- it has my sons (and me) thinking hard about what they might barter.

Triple Crown of Home Building Industry -- we couldn't be more excited that three Rockefeller Habits fans have won the Triple Crown of the Home Building Industry:

And this kind note from Bill Saint, President of Simonini Builders "I just had to send a quick note of thanks from our entire team. We are a luxury homebuilder in Charlotte North Carolina who has adopted many of your principles and guidelines in your Mastering the Rockefeller Habits book and wanted to pass along our gratitude for helping us grow and thrive. Recently, we were recognized for the second time, with the 2010 National Housing Quality Award, which is patterned off the Malcolm Baldrige award.

Several years ago, we were turned on to your book and while I'm sure we've modified to fit our culture, several key items have helped make the difference for us. The key takeaways that we adopted into our everyday business practice include (1) Rocks -- each quarter we identify our 3-4 Rocks and then each person writes a personal Rock plan to help accomplish these, (2) meeting rhythm -- daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and (3) key business drivers -- we call it the Big 6 (I come from a Big 10 school, but we only needed 6 key drivers!).

A great example of our Rock success is the reaction to today's drive of our buyers. The era of the mega-mansion is over and we heard loud and clear that our buyers wanted incredible luxury, but in the right size and price. Our Island Collection, introduced in only 8 months a record time for product development, marketing and launch, was all possible due to intense focus by our entire team -- and a constant focus on that ROCK!"

Fasting from Owning a Home, Car, Possessions -- speaking from personal experience, our trip around the world with our family was a year-long fast -- we left behind our home, possessions, cars, after school activities, and even the closeness of family and friends -- and it was cleansing. You find out from the experience what matters (friends) and what doesn't (stuff). It's good to fast every once in awhile so you can enjoy the feast.


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