When I saw this video of Barbara Corcoran I had to share it. This lady is an amazing tycoon in real estate and bueiness and so beautiful, strong and successful - so logically as a Latina woman of power I look up to her. So much of what has driven me to help others is related to negative expereinces in my life and what I believe my purpose in life is. 

So when I ask what drives you right before I say what Barbara Corcoran and I have in common - it's because I really care about what drives you. It's part of my mission statement: "Finding out what drives you and connecting on a deeper level to help one another grow" I really mean this. Collaboration to lift people up and help them shine is important to me. I care about people. I care about the differences in personality, the struggles, the wins... and I want to know what's that one thing that fuels you to move in the direction of your goals. And a goal can be anything.

Do you move forward no matter what or do you use every little obstacle in life as an excuse to not move forward - or even move back? 

I've always had the mindset that whatever it is I do, no matter what - always put my best foot forward. When I've felt stuck in a place I hated I look beyond the moment and try to see it as a step on the ladder to where I want to be. Sometimes I can assimilate it myself and sometimes I may speak to someone else to be able to process it and move on.  

When you find yourself feeling stuck - this is the best advice I can give you - While you're there, begin preparing for your next season. If you can't accomplish a goal right now DONT let your mind make you believe you will never accomplish it.

When Barbara Corcoran began in Real Estate she came out of waitressing and formed a partnership to become a real estate agent. When that partnership came to an end without warning seven years later she was told something that fueled her to succeed. What she was told was not positive. She was not told she would do amazing and given a pat on the back. She was emotionally destroyed. She was suffering. But at that very moment in life where she coul've given up she made a choice and decided to use those words to fuel her path. 

I put this video of Barbara Corcoran because I identify with everything she says on it. I've been in rocky situations with partnerships and relationships in the past. I trusted the wrong people in business and in life and when things didnt go well I was told coutless times that I would fail, I was told that I would be living off of welfare in no time, I was told that if I took my children away from my beautiful Island of Puerto Rico they would amount to nothing, I was told no one would ever want me. I was treated like I wasn't valuable  and told that nothing I did would prosper. And what did I do? I did what Barbara Corcoran did  

I used it as fuel to make sure I proved them wrong! 

And kept going. It was not always the best route and I had to start someplace. I even worked in a place I absolutely hated for a while with people who looked down on me because I was Latina but I knoew that staying ther ewould help me pay the bills, attend school and keep moving forward. I've been depressed, broke and with nothing to show my efforts but I kept going. I trusted the process.

I had made a decision to never look back when I landed in Dallas in 2000 and declared it my home. Even with the ups and downs, the learning experiences and the choices that affected my life I never once thought of looking back, let alone allowing anyone's opinions based on their limited minds get to me.   

When I ask what drives you I want you to think about all the times where you've thought of quitting and kept going even where you had no idea where you were going, you only knew it was not an option to give up. Now pat yourself in the back. That's an accomplishment. It does not need to be negative like it was for me but it's something that really keeps you focused. Is it your kids? Is it something you would give anything to be able to do? What is it that fuels you? When you are clear you're ready to take the next step? 

Create a Plan

Now in order to keep moving forward this is what I did and I believe eveyone must do: You must create a plan! How do you want your life to look like? Take a few baby steps... start with three months, six months... one year.... two years... Get a journal, pen and paper or notes in your cell or computer to write it down and start thinking about everything you need to do to get to where you want to be and move in that direction - one step at a time.

What do you need? Do you need training? Do you need a better understanding of a process? Do you need to talk to a professional to help you develop a strategy? Do you need to become more organized? Do you need to polish your skills? Do you need to rewrite your resume? Do you need to go back to school? What do you need in order to be able to reach that step? How can you get there?

For example - You want to stop renting and purchase a home but your car payment is late, all your bills are overdue and you have no money. You get your tax refund - what are you going to do with it? Will you spend it in a new toy or will you make sure to pay your vehicle, which you need to get to work and move around?

You want to sell your home but you have not done any maintenance on it for years - what are you going to do? Do you ask ksomeone for help? Do you talk to someone who has helped people sell homes in distress? Do you sell it the way it is and take a loss on profit or do you look for a way to get it to increase in value? It boils down to choices. What choices will you begin making that will get you to where you want to be? It boils down to choices.

I purcahsed a home when I first moved to Texas and it needed a lot of work. I rented it out for a few years and recently decided to sell it. I had a conversation with contractors so that they would charge me a deposit to get started with the promise to pay them the difference at closing.

The increase in the amount I will make on the sale will cover all the expenses and will allow me to make some money on the sale. Sellig it as it was was going to only cover my mortgage so even though fixing it up will take money, time and efforts, it's the best choice. It's all about making the choice that's the best for your situation at the time.

Share your goals and GO FOR IT!

After writing your goals make share the with someone who understands where you are headed, not with someone that is going to want to shut your dream down. If you're a visual person you can create a vision board so that you can see yourself there. Glue pictures to a poster board or make a collage that represent where you want to be. Or you can also write an essay that talks about it if you are a writer. Expresing it outside of your head makes your goals start taking life. 

My goal is to be able to help individuals understand the home selling and buyng process and how the financial decisions they make today can help of hinder their future goals. To accomplish that I created this website and a blog in Spanish called  "My Big Fat Book de Lecciones de Bienes Raices" which gives me a platform to educate the Latino community about Real Estate and programs available to help them reach their goals.  

I would be lying if I said I've never made a mistake. How do you think I learned? I made MANY and still make them. That doesn't make me a loser or a failure - it makes me someone who has experienced many things and can see beyond what's in front of my face at the moment.  It makes me human.

We are all human. Making one wrong choice does not equate to crumbling your dreams completely by continuing to make wrong choices. it means getting up and picking up where you left off, maybe taking an alternate route or learning how to manage certain aspects in yourlife.

To me success starts by breaking the cycle of doing things the same way expecting different results.It means taking responsibility for ensuring the next decision you make takes you a step closer to your goal, whatever that may be. Are you going to do that? 

Live long and prosper!    

Need Help Creating a Roadmap?

I am passionate about helping you reach your homeownership goals. Do you need help to figure out what it will take to accomplish your home ownership goal. it's important to determine where you are and what you believe your situation is so that you can create a oath of how to get from there to where you want to be.

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