Author Archives

Garrett Scanlon

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Have You Discoverd Your Rancho del Cielo?

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The great success of the show, Yellowstone, tells us that millions of Americans still yearn for the great outdoors. For Kevin Costner it is the Dutton Ranch. For Ronald Reagan it was his Rancho del Cielo. It might be time for you to discover yours, because he beauty of the land and the mountains, the rivers and oceans, still resonates with our primal desire to be in touch with nature.

10/10/1981 President Reagan horseback riding at Camp David Maryland. Attached to a blog post by Garrett Scanlon: Where is your Rancho del Cielo?

Rawhide! President Ronald Reagan loved working with his hands, and being outdoors. And, you can see from this photo, taken at Camp David in November of 1981, that he loved to ride horses.

Photo Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library

“I’ve often said, there’s nothing better for the inside of a man, than the outside of a horse.”

 – Ronald Reagan on many occasions.

Rancho del Cielo

This picture of Reagan was taken 7 months after the 70-year old entered George Washington University Hospital to have a would-be-assassin’s bullet removed from his chest. Horseback riding at Camp David was therapeutic for Ronald Reagan. But, Rancho del Cielo was his true sanctuary.

He called it his “Cathedral in the Sky” (Rancho del Cielo is Spanish for Sky’s Ranch, or Heaven’s Ranch).  It is where he could sort out problems while riding his favorite seventeen-hands-high

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Single Page Checklist for Buying Apartments

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A checklist for Buying Apartments

My book, Single Page Life Plan for Realtors explains how you can extend single page planning to all of your important projects and ventures. Single Page Checklists are a ‘catch-all’ for special projects that you can review regularly to stay focused.

Click here to enroll in my online class, Buying the Apartment Next Door at 50% off (Coupon Code is Plan2022) and receive a signed copy of the book: https://bit.ly/3rqBquh

For example, the Single Page Checklist for Buying Apartments summarizes on a single page the 4-color, 6 page laminated flyer I created that explains:

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32 Questions To Ask When Buying Apartments

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I was in my office one day, when a real estate investor called me on the phone. He said, “Garry, I just had one of my tenants move out – and they took the refrigerator with them! They said it was theirs.” Uh oh.

Image of a Multifamily investment property checklist for buyers of apartments

They took the refrigerator!

I immediately called the seller, who explained that those particular tenants had previously sold their home, and so they had brought their own refrigerator with them. He had simply forgotten, and there was no mention of it in the lease.

Download 32 Questions PDF

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What They All Have in Common

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Image of the shoes of 3 different people, 1 of which is wearing clown shoes.

What they all have in common. This was what I wanted to know. In my first book, Walking and Talking – 57 Stories of Success and Humor in the Real Estate World of Business, I recounted stories from some of the top real estate professionals in the Midwest. After observing their careers and listening to their stories, I asked myself this: Other than their sheer success, what do all of these winners in real estate have in common? This is what I learned:

Photo courtesy of @iStockphoto.com

4 Characteristics of Top Real Estate Pros …

1. They create structure in an unstructured environment.

Real estate is not your typical 9 to 5 job, where opportunities are clearly identified and day-to-day responsibilities are well-defined. It is up to the real estate professional to identify the problems and opportunities; to set a plan of action that will bring success. They are not told how to allocate their time, or which deals to pursue or ignore.

The successful ones create a great framework for activity.

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The Five Elements of a Single Page Life Plan

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single page life plan

It has been said, in a lot of clever ways, that people who do not care where they are going, don’t need a map. But CEO’s need a business plan, coaches need a game plan, pilots need a flight plan, and leaders need a life plan. Here are 5 things to include in yours …

Single Page Life Plan™  2013 Ballylongford Books, LLC

The Five Elements of a Single Page Life Plan™:

1. Mission or Vision Statement:
This is the overarching vision you have for your life. All other parts of your plan synchronize with this.

2. Life Categories:
Your Life Categories are the six major highways that lead a path towards your Vision Statement. These Life Categories are the most vital aspects of your life.

To see an example of a Single Page Life Plan™ that has already been created, click here:

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Simple Isn’t Easy … Only Better!

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Einstein often commented that unlocking the greatest mysteries of the universe would be useless unless you could make them be understandable to a young student.

math

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto.com

Don’t mistake simple for easy

It takes a lot of effort and creativity to reduce things to their most simple form.

The genius of Albert Einstein was not that he could comprehend so many of the complexities of space, time, gravity, and light. All scientists can do that. His genius was in his ability to simplify those complexities into an understandable theory of relativity.

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Your Single Page Life Plan Should Not Be P.O.S.H.

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Image of a white-gloved hand holding a wooden frame with the words Single Page Life Plan

The brilliance of a Single Page Life Plan© lies in its simplicity. It must never be P.O.S.H. – Perfect, Overloaded, Set in stone, or Hidden.

Photo courtesy of @iStockphoto.com

Perfect

Your life plan is not the Magna Carta! It is an important document—but it’s different. Your life plan is a blueprint of how you want to live your life. It forces you to identify your goals and strategies, and it makes it easier for you to gauge results and to stay accountable. However, it is not meant to be all-inclusive or perfect.

Mark Twain once said, “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” So, don’t get mired down searching for a grand epiphany here. Just get things going in the right direction.

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“I Wish I Had Smoked More Cigarettes!”

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When I volunteer-speak to 7th and 8th graders, or to high school students, I make them this promise:

Cover of Seeing Past Friday Night

Nobody ever looks back on their high school years and says …

“I wish I had smoked more cigarettes. I’d be up to a pack-a-day smoker by now!”

“I wish I had stayed out more often, drinking until  2:00 am in the morning.”

“I wish I had bought a bunch of drugs while in school.”

They don’t. And you won’t either.