Class size is limited. For more information or to sign up!
Call Shawn @ 515-988-8310 or got to:

http://www.IowaHoshin.com

http://iowahoshin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=1

As we have discussed before, though this is very practical and prudent advice, this in itself will not protect you from harm. It may help get your attacker to be apprehended and brought to justice, but it will NOT necessarily save your life. The simple fact that it only takes seconds to injure someone should prove my point.

How about inviting the new client into the office first for a buyers’ presentation where you copy their driver’s license?

This will weed out most bad guys, in my opinion and it makes for a stronger business in the long run as well but it in NOT always practical is it. Sometimes you just have to show a house to a stranger, so what then?

The answer is your intuition.

Have you ever followed your heart? Have you ever had a “gut” feeling? I would venture to say that at some point in your life you have. You might have “fell in love” over a beer only to later regret it over coffee? You might have bet on that horse that lost because you had a good “feeling”. Consequently, you might not think to highly of your intuition, but I am begging you to reconsider, for you life’s sake!

I’m sure you can also remember times where you, or someone near you, had a “gut” feeling and it proved to be right. Remember the time you “knew” that guy was going to ask you out, or when you “knew” your husband was upset about something he wasn’t telling you. In fact, I bet that this has happened in your life numerous times, and yet intuition still gets a bad rap. In fact we often actively ignore our intuition.

How many times have you said, “I knew that would happen” or “I knew I shouldn’t have done that”? We say this and yet we continue to ignore or intuition or worse consciously chide ourselves for “being silly” or not thinking logically. The reason we snub our intuition is simple: we’ve been taught to. Society frowns upon intuition. Being “rational” is the only way to gain others respect. How many times have you been told, “You’re being irrational”? How many times have you said the same thing to someone else?

Though intuition gets such little favor, you still use it daily. Think about the drive to work today. You were in control of a two ton piece of metal traveling at high speeds. You changed lanes while maintaining a safe distance from the car in front and still keeping an eye on the impatient guy tailgating you. You did all of this while listening to music or talking on your phone and, hopefully, while obeying the speed limit. Some of those things you did “consciously” but most was done “unconsciously” or “intuitively”. Whenever you are on “autopilot” your unconscious self is working for you. Have you ever thanked her?

An effective model for understanding how your brain works is to think of yourself as two selves:

Conscious: Who we “think” we are.  He/She is in control (mostly) when we are awake. He/She plans, makes decisions, learns, sets goals and reasons.

Unconscious: Our “inner child” that never sleeps. She/He is in control of our habits, our body, our memories, and communicates to our conscious self through dreams and symbols. She/He has limited reasoning skills but is a force of nature.

Your unconscious self is ALWAYS watching out for you. It processes vital information faster than the speed of light, faster, by far, than you can consciously make a decision. It changes lanes while you look up a phone number on your cell.  It drove you ALL THE WAY HOME when you zoned out because you were tired.

Let me make this perfectly clear. We must use logic but we must also trust our intuition, especially when it comes to matters of safety. Fear is your intuitions early warning system. The single most important thing you can do to protect yourself from violent crime is to learn to TRUST YOUR INTUITION! It is primal and knows how to keep you alive and will do so without fail, provided that you do not question it.

Back to animals for a bit: picture a rabbit. She’s casually hoping along and all of sudden; a dog comes running full speed toward her. Can you the picture the rabbit thinking, “Hmm, I wonder want that dog wants? He looks hungry. It can’t be me that he wants. You know he really looks like he wants to bite me. I’ve heard dogs eat rabbits. Oh, no I’m profiling. That’s just silly, I’m sure he’s a nice dog and just wants to talk.”

I bet you have a hard time picturing that. Rabbit sees dog, Rabbit runs.  No animal in nature would scorn their intuition.  They never think, “It’s probably nothing” or “I’m being silly” when it comes to their safety, yet we chide ourselves repeatedly for giving validity to feelings that someone is following or watching us. We feel afraid of the guy on the street corner, but we tell ourselves that we’re being silly or irrational, and continue walking toward them. No animal would do this. They would instantly and without question move to evade any sensed threat, as they should, as YOU should!

When you are afraid of someone you should ALWAYS take heed. That doesn’t mean that you have to freak out and call the police or spray mace on everyone that makes you feel uneasy. It means that you don’t allow yourself to be in situations where you are alone with that person. If your kid’s soccer coach creeps you out than find another coach or at least never allow you kid, or yourself, to be alone with him. It very well could be nothing, and being creeped out is not a reason to ruin someone’s life. However, you do NOT have to leave openings for potential bad things to happen.

You’re walking down the street. You see a group of young men and get an uneasy feeling. Don’t panic; just change your path to avoid them. Your neighbor wants you to let her son baby-sit for you but you don’t trust him. Just say, “No thanks”. There is no need to explain.

When you pull up in front of a home that you have been asked to show and you frightened or apprehensive by the new person waiting in the driveway, just keep driving! If your work ethic won’t allow you to drive by, then unlock the door and allow them to go inside but you stay outside or even wait in your car. You can pretend that you just got a call from a sick child or something but never enter a vacant home with someone that you are afraid off. It really is that simple.

What about open houses?

In short, they can be dangerous. Mostly the problem is theft of the homeowners’ valuables and prescription drugs, but agents have also been attacked in their own open house. We will go over how to protect yourself during open house in more detail later but for now: trust you intuition and now where the back door is, or better yet, have a partner there with you.

Here are some guidelines with regards to showing homes to strangers:

1.    Whenever possible, meet new clients in your office when other agents and staff are present. This will deter most criminals and help build a stronger business for you.
2.    If you can, bring along a friend. Here’s an idea, invite a new agent to go long and mentor them a bit.
3.    If you get to the house and you’re just scared, drive by. Call the client and reschedule when you can bring a friend along.
4.    If you decide to show the home alone (I love that movie) stay outside on the phone.
5.    If you go inside, keep them in front of you and let them check out the basement on their own.
6.    Take a flashlight. This can be used to temporarily blind an assailant and can be used quite effectively as a weapon.
7.    Learn to how to fight. Join a martial arts school or at least take a self defense class or two.

Please feel free to share stories on this thread of how you or a friend has used intuition to avoid danger. These stories help us all to live and work safer.

Now, go sell a house! : )
Mac

How many times did you hear that growing up? I’m sure that I wore out more than one of my teachers because of the lack of attention that I gave them. My attention was usually on daydreams and squirrels at the window.

As we grow this doesn’t really change much. We still tend to dwell on the past or dream of the future far more than we focus on what is happening at any given moment. We rehash the argument we had the other day. We think about what to make for dinner when we get home from work. We worry about our upcoming job interview. We fantasize about the new hottie in the gym.

We do all this and still manage to get to work on time. Some part of you, kept you between the yellow lines, slowed down at the appropriate times, and kept it close to the speed limit. SOME part of you is interested in keeping you safe.

That life saving partner in your mind will discussed a little later. For now, here is a story of how paying attention saved my friend and his wife from harm.

I had this friend, Tom. He always humbled me when it comes to awareness. I’m a martial arts instructor, I should always be aware of my surroundings, right? Well I’m actually pretty good at this but not by Tom’s standards.

Tom was “on” 100% of the time. He always knew where the exits are. He always knew where the next pot hole was. He ALWAYS knew where the next threat to his safety was coming from. He may have been wound a little tight but I learned a lot about awareness from my friend Tom.

Here’s a story about Tom.

Tom and his wife Karen stopped at a convenience store in an unfamiliar area late one night.  They had been out on a “date” without the kids. They were both dressed nice and somewhat affluently. Their car was nicer then most they saw in the part of town that they ended up. Karen was thirsty and wanted a drink.

While in the store, Tom noticed two guys acting suspiciously. He noted that they came in separately but were communicating nonverbally with each other; i.e.: eye contact, subtle nods and head gestures, etc..

At first Tom suspected that they might be planning on robbing the store but soon deduced (after one left the store to hide in the shadows) that they were instead, interested in him and his wife. Without saying a word to his wife, Tom proceeded to grab a couple of cans of tomato sauce and lead them both to the counter.

Tom asked the clerk to “double bag” his cans of tomato sauce and after receiving his new “weapon” he turned and made direct eye contact with the remaining guy in the store, who had followed Tom’s movement and positioned himself to step quickly behind Tom as he left the store. . He stared long and intensely, until the man turned from his gaze. Then he led his wife from the store.

Outside, Tom found the other man attempting to look nonchalant near the garbage can. As his wife got into their car, Tom stood staring; bag held like the weapon it was until this man nervously looked away. Then he got in the car himself.

His wife was oblivious to all of this but as they were leaving he explained what might have transpired. She was irritated because Tom didn’t bring her a drink  and skeptical of the seriousness of the situation until she witnessed the man from the inside exit, without having purchased anything, to confer with his accomplice nervously.

They read in the paper the next day that the convenience store where this occurred had been robbed later that night by two men fitting the description of the two that Tom and Karen successfully avoided.

Had Tom not been paying attention, who knows what might have happened?

Questions for discussion:

How did Tom indentify the potential threat?
What lead him to believe that there was a threat?
How effective would Tom’s “weapon” have been?
What really saved Tom & his wife?
How would you have handled this situation differently?

Please share any stories on this thread in the Real Estate Safety Group on how you, or an acquaintance, were potentially saved from harm by simply paying attention. These stories will help us all learn to pay better attention.

Now go sell a house! : )

We live in a society where we typically wait for someone else to deal with our problems. We were taught at a very young age that hitting is bad and if someone bothers you then you tell the teacher, your parents, the police, or someone else of authority. This carries over a bit to a general lack of self assertiveness. “Let someone else deal with it” is a mantra all too often heard today.

When it comes to personal safety, this type of conditioning can get you killed, or worse.

We are also conditioned to follow the rules. “Don’t cross the street without looking both ways.” “Line up for recess.” “Keep your hands to yourself.” This, in itself is not all bad, in fact we need this type of structure to survive in society.

However, bad guys break all the rules.

Those who commit crimes, outlaws, react differently to this conditioning. They don’t seem to have much of a problem breaking every rule that society has, even the most taboo. They rob, rape, and murder.

Those that follow the rules habitually are easy prey for these types.

The first step to living and working safely and without fear is to understand that your current conditioning is faulty and sometimes dangerous. Next you must learn to reprogram yourself to be able to do whatever it takes to protect yourself and your loved ones from harm. That may involve breaking some rules.

In order to save yourself, you may have to lie, scratch, kick, scream or even bite. I can still see my kindergarten teacher telling how bad all these things are. I spent a lot of time under her desk for breaking the rules then, but to save my life I will do them all and more.

You may end up crippling or even killing in order to save yourself.

Now before you get all freaked out, understand that the chances of an average person ever being in a life or death situation are pretty small. My intent is not to scare you or change you into an outlaw, but to make you aware of this faulty programming that we all tend to have and then help you to debug it.

To live confident and worry free, we need a software update; software that takes into account that no matter how fast the police come to your call, it is rarely fast enough when your life is at stake. We need software that clicks us into survival mode when needed and has no hesitation about breaking a few rules. We need software that is more aware, better at avoidance and willing to take action.

Awareness

Avoidance

Action

Remember these three A’s.

Awareness will keep you out of most trouble. You’ve already taken the first step by reading this far. I will be talking more about awareness next. Until then, think about what you have read. Go through your current programming and evaluate what is good and what is not so good. Start the process of rethinking and reprogramming.

Here is a simple exercise to get you started: Learn to say “No”.

For the next few days practice saying no to others’ demands. When a coworker asks to borrow a dollar for the candy machine, say “no”. When your friend asks you to cover their shift say “no”. When your kid asks for a ride to the mall, say “no”.

Of course use your common sense, this exercise won’t win you any friends, but understand that you have been conditioned to say yes to almost everything. We have been ingrained with manors and congeniality. We continually let others run our time and therefore our life. Criminals count on this conditioning. When the say “Get in the Car!” they expect you to comply. Doing so would be the last mistake that you ever make. If you can’t say “no” to some guy that you work with or your own kids then how will you have the guts to stand up to a hardened criminal?

Saying “no” is very empowering.

When I first got into Real Estate, someone told me to learn how to say no to other agents. They said that if I didn’t fill my schedule then others would fill it for me. Oh boy is that true. As a successful agent you know that you need to keep your day filled with activities that lead to your success. Helping other agents is nice and sometimes even pays off but every agent worth their salt eventually figures out that to get ahead, they need to write down their goals, plan out their days, and keep their schedule filled with things that matter most to THEM.

Just say “no”.

Say it firmly. Say it without explanation. Say it often.

Not only will it help your business, it will help in your reprogramming. It may help save your life.

Play with this.

I was recently in a continuing education class when the subject of real estate agent safety came up. My ears perked up as, in addition to being a Realtor® myself, I am also a martial arts instructor and this topic consequently, always gets my attention.

I was more than a little surprised at home MANY agents had stories of how they were assaulted or narrowly escaped harm. Women of course had the majority of the stories but even a few men spoke up about how they too had to deal with dangerous predators targeting them.

One agent shared her story with me on a break:

She received a sign call on one of her REO’s. Upon arriving at the vacant home she found not one but TWO scary looking men waiting in the driveway. The agent saw no vehicle and was immediately nervous. Against her intuition, she unlocked the front door and allowed the two men to enter. They quickly checked out the first floor and then asked the agent to go into the basement and wait for them.

What?!?

Without hesitation, she replied that they were more then welcome to check out the basement and then she quickly exited the house through the front door and called her husband on her cell phone. After a bit of time had passed, she stepped back in the house to find that the two men had gone.

This agent was smart but also very lucky.

I decided to do a quick search on the internet to see what kind of incidents I could find and the link below was right on top. It’s the story of Sarah Walker a real estate agent from Texas that was MURDERED!

http://cbs11tv.com/local/model.home.real.2.494433.html

The killer was later apprehended and convicted but Sarah is still gone. (http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=39697)

I can’t stop thinking about Sarah and others like her. The police report says that it looks like she did try to defend herself but it wasn’t enough to save her.

I’ve been thinking about her and the stories I heard that heard in class. I decided that I have to do something. So I started offering agents self defense classes. I equate a self defense class to swimming lessons. A few short swimming lessons can mean the difference between swimming back to the boat or not.

Though the response has been very good I feel that I can do more. I need to reach more agents. I know that with a few basic instructions and a small mental click, situations like the one Sarah found herself in might turn out differently or be avoided completely.

I want Agents to make it back to the boat or better yet never fall in the water to begin with!

I’m in the process of creating program that agents can use on their own; A program that doesn’t require me to physically be present to teach. In order to do this right, I will need agents to give me ideas and feedback.

This is where my new Real Estate Self Defense group on Facebook comes in. I am inviting you to join simply because you are an agent like me. Let’s help make the world a little safer together. Click below to find & Join my group and let me know what you think.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=8236&uid=90150497496#/group.php?gid=90150497496

Sincerely,

Shawn McAninch

Realtor

RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts

Owner/Instructor

Iowa Hoshin Martial Arts Academy

http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-McAninch/1103391394

http://www.IowaHoshin.com

Hi everyone,

Iowa Hoshin’s regular adult classes will be starting up again this Saturday at 9:00am. Classes will be every Saturday from 9:00 to 11:00.

Also, I am putting together some Women’s Self Protection classes and possible a Mother Daughter six week course.

This program is specifically designed to help prepare young ladies for life on college campus. We know they want to have fun but we want them to be smart and safe. In this program they will be made more aware of the inherent dangers for women newly away from those that have watched over and protected them from birth. They will be drilled on basic techniques that have been proven to save lives.

I know that most women think that self defense classes for women are a good idea, but I also know that most women have never taken one. This saddens me.

A few short swimming lessons can mean the difference between swimming back to the boat or not.

As always, I will keep the classes light and fun. Past mothers and daughters who have attended felt that this program was packed full of vital information, as well as a pretty effective bonding experience for each other. It’s a lot of precious one-on-one time before they head of to school.

Now is the time to check your calendars and let me know which dates would work best for you. The options will be: Friday’s from 6:30 to 9:00pm, Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Talk to your friends and let me know.

Live Strong, Live Smart

Shawn McAninch

Iowa Hoshin Martial Arts Academy

http://www.iowahoshin.com

http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn_McAninch/1103391394

http://www.myspace.com/shawnmcaninch

http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnmcaninch

Here are what some of my past and present students have to say about Iowa Hoshin:

“Shawn is a fantastic martial arts teacher. His warm demeanor and infinite patience made learning from him delightfully easy. Being comfortable and effective with Self Defense is a must in today’s society. Shawn has given me the priceless gift of feeling confident that I can handle myself and protect my loved ones in any situation. If you get the opportunity to learn from Shawn, take it.“

Dana DeHart Atlanta, GA

“Shawn is a well-rounded, compassionate and highly capable martial arts instructor with excellent teaching and communication skills. His grounded, focused and innovative approach to teaching is exemplary. He is very effective at putting himself in his student’s shoes, and anyone instructed by him comes away with something new each time – not just about martial arts, but also about various aspects of self development. I have trained under him at many Hoshin seminars, and can unreservedly attest to this.”

Sonny Mookerjie, Senior Programmer, UPS

“Shawn provides instruction in self defense and martial arts. My son and wife have both studies with him, and both would love to take more classes and feel they learned a lot. With my son, I can say he has learned how to handle himself on the playground and feels more confident, as exemplified by how he not only recently stood up to a bully, but did so on behalf of a smaller younger person. Shawn is a great guy. My wife and the others at the seminar for self defense felt really comfortable with his instruction, and fee they learned a lot.”

Dr. Ehren Stover-Wright Professor of Sociology, Des Moines, Iowa

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