Is it true?

I'm excited to be reading a book by an author who I had been introduced to several years ago. Byron Katie is famously know for her process called "The Work"in which she asks a series of questions to unravel a person's misery and suffering. Interesting stuff!!

A few years back I was at a 2 day public speaking workshop in Campbell River. On the first day we had to think of someone that we admired and write a letter to them proclaiming all the wonderful things we felt for them. I thought of someone close to me and began to write a heartfelt letter of how I saw them and all the things I love and admired about them and how they operated in this world. We finished our letter, put them in an envelope and they were collected by our facilitator.

By the end of day 2, we had been through a powerful two day workshop where we practiced our public speaking, got to know the other participants and worked at pushing the edge of our comfort zone.

We were given our letters back and asked to participate in one last public speaking exercise. We were to take the letter, stand at the front of the room and read the letter out loud. Instead of speaking about the person we admired, we had to replace all the appropriate words in the letter so when we said it out loud, we were speaking about ourselves.

It's hard to explain how deeply profound this exercise was. Let's just say, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

"The turn around" as Byron Katie calls it. It was in this moment I realized that all the things we love or hate about other people, is merely a reflection of what we love or hate about ourselves.

I've been reading her book "Loving What Is" and "the work" I've been doing has been profound. If you can spend some time alone with your thoughts and go deep into inquiry, I would say it's highly worth the effort.

The only way to take a break is to get away

I love the notion that people who are self employed enjoy "freedom" and "flexibility" in their work. If anyone has owned their own business, you know it's a different story! While there are perks (I can take a lunch as long as I please and schedule daytime activities intermittently in my work day), there is also the overlooked down side - you can't escape your business, ever! 

Even on days off, you inevitably end up on your phone responding to texts and calls or checking your email.  Especially in real estate when your time/expertise/knowledge is on high demand.  Plus if you care about your clients, you don't want to leave them in the middle of a high stress time in their life.  

I imagine it's similar to having children - you think about them all the time, you want the best for them, and they also need you! And sometimes they need you right now, and no one else will do! It can be a bit overwhelming when you're in constant contact with umpteen clients/realtors/inspectors/lawyers/brokers a day.

This leads me to the conclusion that going on holiday is the only way to take "real" time off.  It's the only way we can totally disconnect from the demands of our business. So if you ever wonder why realtors are constantly flying the coup, it's not because we have excess money to burn - it's because we genuinely need a break!

Plus after a good holiday, when I get engaged with my business again - my productivity goes up, my road rage goes down, I feel less stressed and more happy which means better results! 

Everyone wins with Saira goes away :-)

Coachella 2014 or bust! 

Strength and Balance Takes Practice

Something that I've become very aware of in the last few years of being in business is the absolute need for work/life balance. My usual process was work non stop, burn out, recover and repeat. It got me through university and the first couple years of my career with only a few major melt downs. 

It's been a process to realize that we, as humans, are meant to work in intervals. Go hard, rest/recover, repeat. This is why we take breaks in every aspect of our life: recess, work breaks, weekends, etc. Last year, I noticed when I took time to completely disconnect from my phone/email/work every month, my productivity actually went up. I was able to accomplish more in less time because I was more sharp when I was working. Consequently I worked less, made more and was a happier human all around.

So it seems totally contradictory to my above logic that I would take on a 30 day hot yoga challenge at Hudson Yoga. Why would anyone put their body/mind/schedule through that kind strain for an entire 30 days straight?!  I remember thinking it was impossible - there was no way I could make it work because all the usual excuses: no time, my body couldn't handle it and no time.

Well, I'm happy to say I just finished the challenge and 31 consecutive days of hot yoga. I learned a lot over the course of the month. 

1. I shattered the belief that my body couldn't handle it. The reality was that every class was different (despite the same 26 postures). I never knew how my body would react to class each day.  Some days I could barely lift my arms, other days I felt super strong. I learned to approach every class with curiosity.

2. I learned that no matter how inconvenient it was to get to the studio or how stressed out I was about my schedule and daunting to do list, I always could make it to the studio. When I was there, the stress would melt away and I would enjoy the class. I realized my yoga practice was the break my mind and body needed from my crazy day and it helped my productivity.

3. When I was doing 60-90 minutes of hot yoga everyday, the activities that didn't serve my goal, dropped out of my schedule. I learned to make sacrifices and prioritize my personal time.

4. I also had to learn to be kind to myself and let things go. Being an overachiever my entire life - I expect to see progress and get frustrated when I don't! The reality is, I experiencd set backs in the room, just like in life! I had to let it go and show up the next day excited to see what class would be like.

In conclusion, I'm very happy I did the challenge. Doing yoga everyday provided me with a much needed break from my day that helped my productivity overall; It forced me to reconfigure my schedule to make time for what was important; And it reinforced what I have learned through life: no matter what happens, just let it go, be kind to yourself and approach tomorrow with curiosity and excitement.

Namaste! 

I finally figured it out!

I mentioned in my last post I would talk about figuring out my life purpose, a hefty topic for a single blog post. I figure as you read these blogs, you'll start to see how everything in my life fits together!

I was a few year into my real estate career before I started a Meetup group called Dollar Divas. It was here that I discovered I have a real passion for connecting with like minded women who were on the same quest I was: to be financially awesome, to continue on a path of personal development and inspire others to do the same. When we started hosting Meetups, it was as if a light bulb went off and the Universe gently whispered in my ear... "You're on the right track".

Fast forward a year of hosting Dollar Divas Meetups, I started working with my current business coach, Sharon Hall. I had to fill out an intake form to work with Sharon including the daunting question of what my life purpose is? It was a deep question to ponder...

I had to think back to all the times I felt totally alive and blissful in life and, without going into all the juicy details, it occurred to me there was a theme developing: to help women. This may seem like a very broad topic but you'll see how it all comes together soon.

Do you know what your life purpose is? Have you ever stopped to think about what makes you happy, blissful, or like you're on the right track?

Back and ready to blog!

It's been a long time since I've blogged. Today I realized I miss writing and connecting with people in an online format. My Twitter skills have fallen by the wayside and Facebook feels very "surface" sometimes. I want to write about the nitty gritty of what it's like to be a business woman trying to make it in this fair city.  My hope is that other aspiring young females will come to my blog for inspiration and encouragement.

Last year I'm pretty sure I got a handle on what my life's purpose is and since then, everything I'm doing in my life has made a lot more sense. I'm sure you're wondering what this life purpose is.. but I'm going to save it for my next blog post!

Stay tuned...

Blogger no more!

This will be my last post on Blogger as I have decided to just post on my website's blog from now on.

Here is the link to my website's blog

Balanced-Buyers Market in March

The Victoria Real Estate Board statistics for March are out!


The sale/listing ratio is 41.4%. When this number is at 50%, it means we are in a balanced market. A balanced market is when the supply of homes equals the demand for home. The above stats show we are leaning slightly towards a buyer’s market, where there are more listings than sales and therefore a greater supply. Overall this would have a slight downward pressure on prices.

So why is it that some homes sell quickly and for above asking price? Every area in Victoria and the Capital Region is different. For example, there are some places where the supply of homes is very low and there is a pent up demand of buyers waiting for listings to come up in that area. As soon as a listing hits the market (and is priced reasonably), people jump at the opportunity to own the home.

If you are interested in moving to a certain area of town and are worried you will miss an opportunity, please fill out my buyer request form here and I can set up an automated search that will send you notification when a new property hits the market that matches your criteria.