{"id":3214,"date":"2008-06-06T04:50:50","date_gmt":"2008-06-06T11:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=3214"},"modified":"2008-06-06T04:50:50","modified_gmt":"2008-06-06T11:50:50","slug":"i-can-think-i-can-wait-i-can-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3214\/i-can-think-i-can-wait-i-can-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"I can think. I can wait. I can fast."},"content":{"rendered":"

Back\u00a0\u00a0in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I read all the works of Herman Hesse. \u00a0 Some of them over, and over again.\u00a0\u00a0Siddhartha \u00a0stuck a deep chord.<\/p>\n

Siddhartha, after living three years as an ascetic, emerges from the forest and meets a beautiful woman. \u00a0In order to obtain worldly items to please woman, Siddhartha seeks employment with a merchant. \u00a0The merchant asks Siddhartha “What have you learned that\u00a0you can\u00a0give?”<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0Siddhartha replies “I can think, I can wait, I can fast.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The merchant asks Siddhartha, “What good is fasting?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Siddhartha responds “If, for instance, \u00a0Siddhartha has not learned to fast, he would have had to seek some kind of work today, either with you, or elsewhere, for hunger would have driven him. \u00a0But as it is, Siddhartha can wait calmly. \u00a0He is not impatient, he is not in need, he can ward off hunger for a long time and laugh at it. \u00a0Therefore, fasting is useful, sir.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I can think.\u00a0 I\u00a0 can wait.\u00a0 I can fast.\u00a0 Those three short sentences became a mantra.<\/p>\n

I can think. \u00a0I can offer ideas, I can create solutions.\u00a0 I can wait. \u00a0I can hunker down and stay the course.\u00a0\u00a0I can fast. \u00a0 One look at my waistline\u00a0could convince you not to take this answer in the literal sense. \u00a0But I can indeed \u00a0wait calmly, \u00a0in a position of strength,\u00a0unencumbered by impatience or urgency.<\/p>\n

I can remember repeating “I can think, I can wait, I can fast” to prospective employers a few times on job interviews back in those long ago days, to be met with blank, but polite, stares.<\/p>\n

Fast forward a few decades. \u00a0I write a post on Bloodhound blog exploring ideas about re-inventing a small real estate brokerage in the Web 2.0 World.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People correctly point out that I need to assess what I can give a prospective agent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I visualize myself sitting across from a new agent, conducting an interview.\u00a0 The agent is asking “so, what do\u00a0you offer?”\u00a0 I ponder E&O, desk fees, commission splits, niche marketing, contact systems, lead generation, vertical searches.\u00a0 Lions and tigers and bears.\u00a0 Oh my.<\/p>\n

But<\/font>\u00a0after all these years, I have come full circle.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What else can I give Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back\u00a0\u00a0in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I read all the works of Herman Hesse. \u00a0 Some of them over, and over again.\u00a0\u00a0Siddhartha \u00a0stuck a deep chord. Siddhartha, after living three years as an ascetic, emerges from the forest and meets a beautiful woman. \u00a0In order to obtain worldly items to please woman, Siddhartha seeks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-casual-friday","7":"category-real-estate","9":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4828,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4828\/and-now-no-reason-to-root-at-all\/","url_meta":{"origin":3214,"position":0},"title":"And Now, No Reason to Root At All","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"October 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, while watching the House contort itself in a self-serving round of navel-gazing over the bailout package, I pondered two connotations of their disconnect with the populace.\u00a0 Taken together they are a question really, that looks at the motivation behind politicians' decisions; the metaphysical understanding of a Representative if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13319,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13319\/giving-a-150-hitter-more-at-bats-only-leads-to-more-runners-left-on-base\/","url_meta":{"origin":3214,"position":1},"title":"Giving a .150 Hitter More At-Bats Only Leads To More Runners Left On Base","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"October 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The title is an analogy -- for the .150 hitter, substitute a real estate agent who couldn't sell a house for a nickel to a homeless person -- and for 'runners left on base' a sales board filled with prospects but no sales. Though unmentioned, it's the manager penciling the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flourishing"","block_context":{"text":"Flourishing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/flourishing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10038,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10038\/the-last-amend\/","url_meta":{"origin":3214,"position":2},"title":"The (last) Amend","author":"Geno Petro","date":"October 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Notion In my dream I'm always gasping for air; as if the trillion or so cubic inches of ozone I've already blown through in my lifetime somehow counts for nothing.\u00a0 I awake, step over the dog, and scramble downstairs in my boxers in search of a physical remedy to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5242,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5242\/pinching-pennies-and-blowing-the-big-bucks\/","url_meta":{"origin":3214,"position":3},"title":"Pinching Pennies And Blowing The Big Bucks","author":"Doug Quance","date":"October 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Another Installment In The Saga Of Unintended Consequences Most of us have been driving less, lately. Record high oil prices drove gasoline prices to over $4 a gallon - wreaking havoc on our personal budgets... and the nation's economy as a whole. Last Friday, I stopped in to visit my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5675,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5675\/the-just-exactly-how-clever-are-you-marketing-spam-of-the-morning-supercuts-shows-you-how-to-cut-your-database-marketing-costs\/","url_meta":{"origin":3214,"position":4},"title":"The just-exactly-how-clever-are-you marketing-spam of the morning: SuperCuts shows you how to cut your database marketing costs","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is pure spam, as far as I know, completely unsolicited. I read it and loved and now I'm sharing it with you: Here's a web-based version, if you're having trouble reading it. I read this as Harrah's-style database marketing at its best: I'm offering you an incentive to sign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18330,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18330\/overnight-news-shopping-from-behind-plexiglas-is-the-next-step-to-having-nowhere-to-shop-at-all\/","url_meta":{"origin":3214,"position":5},"title":"Overnight News: Shopping from behind plexiglas is the next step to having nowhere to shop at\u00a0all.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've never shopped from behind bulletproof plexiglas, your opportunity may present itself soon \u2013 but it won't last. I lived in Fun City, where the rule of thumb is, if it's not locked up, it's counterfeit. When I took my wife to my old home town in Illinois, she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}