"No Road is a Wrong Turn if it Leads to More Road" -
Basic skills , lessons and sayings apply to everything.... think about it... What have you learned somewhere that is non-real estate related that you can apply to real estate as well as your everyday normal walk of life??
For me - There is a lot I have learned and apply from a Motorcycle Riders safety class...
Yeah crazy isn't it?? But true.. read on:
These are some of the highlights of the class that I apply to every day business and life as well as motorcycle riding...
Confidence - sitting in the seat without even starting the bike. Getting a feel and familiarity with the bike.
Getting familiar with the controls - knowing your bike, how things work and where they are
Shifting - Coordination along with practice, practice, practice. The more you do it, the easier it will come and the better you will be. (yeah I've hit neutral accidentally once or twice. Haven't we all?!).
FINE - Fuel, Ignition, Neutral, Engine. Those are the steps in starting your motorcycle.... (hmmm they are also good steps to start your day!)
See - Search, Evaluate and Execute. That is a constant rule of riding... always be looking for events ahead and around you. You need to look as far ahead as you can and anticipate....Once you see something, evaluate the decision and EXECUTE the decision. Execution and not faltering is crucial!
Ride defensively - Too many factors come into play that we do not know what the other driver(s), pedestrians, dogs, whatever are going to do... Defensive driving - Don't rely on others to save your butt or let them choose your destiny....
You are in control of the risk- (hm I think I just wrote a blog about that). You control your speed and your risk. The more speed - the more risk. (Maybe we should all slow down for a minute and smell the roses and not just "speed" into something....you control your destiny as well).
Slow, look, press and roll - this applies to cornering on a motorcycle - slowing down before the curve, looking through the curve, pressing in the direction of the curve and rolling on the throttle (my favorite part)...
TURN YOUR HEAD - turning your head in the direction you want to go is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! The motorcycle goes where you are looking!! (Trust me I ended up in the field my first go round because I was not looking where I wanted to go!) We get scared or nervous and freeze up and instead of looking where we want to go we look at what we are trying to avoid! On a motorcycle this is a surefire way to get into trouble! TURN YOUR HEAD AND LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO! This was a BIGGY FOR ME!
Keep your eyes and head up - don't look down! (Trust me you'll scare the crap out of yourself.)
Cover the brake - this goes back to defensive driving and knowing when to cover the brake being ready to stop at a moments notice being prepared.
Respect the Ride - not everyone loves the noise of a Harley going by with an open throttle... (geeshh that's sad.... how can you NOT love that noise? But okay I respect that).
How can you apply these simple but powerful lessons?? I know I use these skills and lessons throughout my day not just when I am on my motorcycle...
"No Road is a Wrong Turn if It Leads to More Road" --- -
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Ride Safe!
My title comes from the H.O.G. Members Website.
Thanks for stopping in!
~~Valerie~~
