Barry`s Belize!![/size]Announcement to REIN Alberta – October 2008
Six months ago I was talking to my best buddy, and he said to me, "So, how are you doing? Still working too many hours? Still doing those 5:00am starts at the office? How does that fit into what you guys talk about, your personal Guatemala – how`s all that going? When are you retiring?"
I laughed and said, "It`s our personal Belize... Belize!!" Once we got the geography straightened out, I told him it was going fine. I love my work and I love my life. My friend is a no-nonsense engineer and he said, "I here a but in there - what`s the but?" He had to leave and we didn`t solve it that day but it got me thinking… what would I do or change to say I`ve reached my personal Belize? So I started really thinking.
As of October 22, 2008, I will have been a lawyer for 33 years! I enjoy it, and I`m good at it. But what I now know is that my personal Belize demands a change in how my life runs. It`s all about time, time for the passionate parts of life. After 33 years I`m going to spend my time doing those things that really bring out the passion. Do I still want to be a lawyer? Absolutely!! I am not retiring from the law. But, it`s time to move on from day to day file work.
It took a while, but now I`ve got it figured out. What REIN™ and Don Campbell have helped me discover about myself is that my passion in the law is teaching and education. On the home front my wife, Donna, would like to see a lot more of me. I want more time with her, more time with my niece Adrianna, more time in my backyard and more time working out. There isn`t time for everything. What`s the answer? Keep the passion. It keeps coming up. Again, graphically illustrated, you can see where this is going. Here`s what I`m passionate about:
· spend more time as a husband and Uncle Bu
· spend my lawyering time on teaching and education
· spend more time on fitness, gardening and simple pleasures
Once I figured this out and committed to it, what an amazing feeling of freedom and excitement! I`m totally stoked about life going forward.
Barry`s Belize starts November 30, 2008. I will not be handling day-to-day real estate files. Obviously, there are a lot more practical details when you`re make in these kinds of changes. For instance, what`s going to happen to your active or upcoming files? I will personally make sure that every file is in good order before I go anywhere. I`ll be available to discuss any matter by phone, e-mail, or in person.
What about my law firm, Ritchie Mill Law Office, otherwise known as RMLO? I`ve been at RMLO for 18 years. It`s been a great relationship and RMLO has been very supportive of both me and my relationship with REIN™. They unreservedly support me now, 100%, as I move toward my personal Belize. I won`t be there but RMLO is still in the law business if you choose to use them for your real estate transactions (and business law, litigation, wills and estates). Richard Bell and Sharon Fix, and our other lawyers and staff, will be absolutely delighted to assist you.
Now, as my personal Belize unfolds, one of the things that`s going to really make a difference is real estate. Lucky for me I met a very wise man in 1971 who help me purchase my first property. I`ve been investing in real estate ever since, through the ups and downs and cycles of the real estate market. I still maintain a substantial portfolio. But here I am moving on to new things. And guess what? My real estate portfolio and its positive cash flow will be a huge part of my life going forward.
So that`s it, starting November 30, Donna and I are going to take about three months and just enjoy our life. No plans right now, we`ll follow our hearts and see what comes up. So, that will be December, January and February. Come March 2009 I expect to be back, reinvigorated and brimming full of ideas. I`m already working on two new Focus Workshops and I`ll be hard-pressed to keep my nose out of those during our three months off. I`ll be back in March, if you and REIN™ will have me. As a lawyer, I`ll be doing the things that I`m passionate about:
· Focus Workshops
· Joint Venture consulting
· more involvement with REIN™, and of course,
· Tales From The Trenches.
So that`s it. Barry`s Belize has arrived! I want to thank Don Campbell and REIN™ for helping me reach my personal Belize. It is absolutely the most exciting thing for me and my family.
With sincere thanks,
Barry
