Thursday, May 12, 2011

Oh NO! I waited til the last minute... just like you!

I waited until the very last minute! I couldn't sleep. Nothing else consumed my thoughts. I knew I shouldn't have waited so long. My heart was beating so hard! I was such a fool! Why did it put it off?

On May 5th last year I finished the US Coast Guard Masters Training course. It cost over $1200 and took months. I am a boater and I took the training to learn as much as possible. Maybe my boat will be a wedding chapel.. or I'll charge for trips. Who knows? The final exam was painful because it was so difficult. To get my Captains license I had to turn it in with an application and 10 other verifications and forms. Most of them complete from First Aid Training to a copy of my passport. A current drug test and fingerprints were also required. I had one full year to get the paperwork to the US Coast Guard to get my license. When did I get it in?... You guessed it. The day it was due... the deadline date! UGH!

All I could think about is that I am just like the real estate agents that contact me daily! Because I can relate to the desperate agents, I try to respond to them right away. I am fortunate my assistant, Sarah Jean is so great at following up with your emails!

I don't know why we procrastinate. We know we have to get something done by a certain date. It seems so basic that we can finish it within the time frame. But, it does seem to be human nature.

I had a couple speed bumps. I had to find the first aid card from the class I took. The lab sent my drug test results to someone else. My fingerprints were just impossible to document! Then I let those get in the way of finishing my paperwork.

But, this is no different than agents that lose their certificates or have to have fingerprints redone. (Evidently, about 30% of the real estate agents who get fingerprints have to have them retaken.)

So, I will continue to understand when you contact me needing your certificates right away because your license has to be renewed ASAP!

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I hope your summer is full of sun!