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Sales of existing homes dipped a tiny 0.7% in August, the third straight month of declines. Tight inventory is the culprit, both hurting sales and nudging the median price up modestly, now 3.9% ahead of a year ago. New Housing starts sank 11.3% in August, mostly due to a 26.3% drop in multi-units. Single-family starts are actually up 2.4% the past year, as more buyers turn to new builds. And permits posted a gain, so the future looks good. Buyer demand continues. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports purchase loan applications rose last week a seasonally adjusted 2.0% versus the week before, the second week in a row of increased mortgage applications.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On!” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ~ Calvin Coolidge He was rejected by more than 130 publishers, but persevered and became a worldwide sensation. When others might have given up, he just pushed on—just as he advises others to do. “People told Elvis he couldn’t sing. People said the Beatles were no good,” he says. Jack Canfield’s “Chicken Soup for the Soul”, a collection of 101 inspiring fables, parables and real-life short stories, was finally published in 1993. Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, his collaborator, fed a grassroots marketing effort that made the book an international best-seller and spawned about 200 spinoffs. Chicken Soup titles have sold more than 112 million copies and been translated into 40-plus languages. Canfield says persistence is the single most common quality of high achievers. “The longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that something will happen in your favor. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist the more likely your success”. As founder and chairman of The Canfield Training Group in Santa Barbara, Calif., he has helped more than 1 million people through his personal and professional development seminars. He draws blueprints and shares techniques for achievement with the unemployed, wealthy executives, struggling and comfortable entrepreneurs, prison inmates, and Mr. and Ms. Average Reader—all who wish to follow their passions to successful, goal-directed lives. It was Chicken Soup for the Soul that thrust Canfield into the spotlight and, through touching, funny and relatable stories, introduced millions of readers to self-improvement content. Without teaching or being preachy, the books’ message inspired people to be the best versions of themselves. Author, television personality and relationship consultant Barbara De Angelis says the power behind Chicken Soup for the Soul is that it “helps us remember the important things in life: love, connection and gratitude.” Canfield rose to celebrity (he has appeared on Oprah, Larry King Live, Today and numerous other TV shows) from a modest upbringing in Wheeling, W.Va. Education played a large role in his ascension, beginning with an aunt who paid his tuition to a high-quality military school. “My high school Latin teacher there believed in me and told me to apply to Harvard. I said I wasn’t smart enough, and even if I was, I didn’t have enough money. She said, ‘I think you can get scholarships.’ ” In true carpe diem spirit, he applied and was accepted to three top universities. “I picked Harvard because it was in a big city and a lot of girls’ schools were nearby. And I liked President Kennedy, who went to Harvard.” Canfield followed his bachelor’s degree in history with graduate school at the University of Chicago and the University of Massachusetts, where he earned a master’s degree in psychological education. While in Chicago, he attended seminars and workshops led by Herbert Otto, director of the National Center for the Exploration of Human Potential, and W. Clement Stone, who built an insurance empire by following Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and co-founded SUCCESS magazine. Canfield, then teaching at an inner-city high school in Chicago, went to the seminars to learn how to motivate his students. But the training inspired him as well. To help people attain their dreams, he counsels them to write down goals, visualize and share them, find a mentor, persevere, maintain personal balance and continue to learn. To maintain momentum, he suggests two tactics: monthly mastermind sessions with supportive people who share practical ways to progress and solve problems, and his Rule of Five. “Whatever your No. 1 dream is, every day, do five specific action steps toward your dream. Keep track each day. Have accountability to another person. Get on the phone and share the five actions that you did or didn’t do. It works for me. I can’t stand telling people I didn’t do it.” Through his books and seminars, Jack Canfield has taught millions of people worldwide. But he credits Inga, his wife of more than 10 years, with teaching him a few things. “She’s a model for spontaneity and transparency. She’s real. She enjoys life. She taught me to let go, relax, have fun and share my feelings.” Most important, Canfield says, is that she helps keep him grounded. ~ Mary Vinnedge Cindy Glynn |
@AgentCindyG
@AgentCindyG