May your days be merry and bright!

Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

Wishing you all a very peaceful Memorial Day!

Perform, then, this one act of remembrance before this Day passes - Rememberthere is an army of defense and advance that never dies and never surrenders, but is increasingly recruited from the eternal sources of the American spirit and from the generations of American youth.  ~W.J. Cameron

“But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for,
Is their monument to-day, and for aye.”
~Thomas Dunn English

Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

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Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

I have this book sitting on my desk that I received for Christmas from my father. It has been sitting there for weeks and I was finally prompted to open it by a high stress, down in the dumps situation. We all have those, don’t we? The book is “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff”. Most of the principals in the book are incredibly simple, yet powerful.

For this week’s Monday Motivation, I want to reflect on chapter 4, Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking.

A powerful technique for becoming more peaceful is to be aware of how quickly your negative and insecure thinking can spiral out of control. Have you ever noticed how uptight you feel when you’re caught up in your thinking? And, to top it off, the more absorbed you get in the details of whatever is upsetting you, the worse you fell. One thought leads to another, and yet another, until at some point you become incredibly agitated.

This is a trap that I get caught in myself often, as well as many agents I know. You can sometimes spend time thinking of the tasks and projects that need to be done, then that spirals into thinking of everything else that didn’t get done, and before you know it, you are feeling overwhelmed and wondering how you will get ANYTHING done. Ever been kept up at night doing this very thing?

The solution is to notice what’s happening in your head before your thoughts have a chance to build any momentum. The sooner you catch yourself in the act of building your mental snowball, the easier it is to stop.

Thinking constantly about your busy schedule, all of the tasks that need to be done, and thoughts of how overwhelmed you are can make you feel even more stressed. Just stop! And if you are like me and sometimes those thoughts start creeping into your head when you try to go to sleep, keep a piece of paper by your bed (or your smartphone) and write them down. Give it a try and see if you sleep better at night and are a little less stressed.

Then give those notes to your Virtual Assistant to take on those tasks and help you rest a little easier.

Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

Welcome to Monday Motivation, an new series I’m starting here at the BVAS Connection. With Monday Motivation, I aim to post for my readers a motivational quote, thought, or picture to get us going for the week.

Since today is happens to be Martin Luther King Day, I thought it would be appropriate to start off my series with one of my favorite quotes from the man himself.

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

No truer words ever spoken about overcoming hardships and adversity.  Now let’s go rock the week!

Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

I am happy to announce that I recently passed the IVAA Certified Virtual Assistant examination with flying colors and am now considered a Certified Virtual Assistant ( a.k.a. CVA) by the one of the leading VA organizations, the International Virtual Assistants Association.

More on my CVA announcement from IVAA:

This designation is the industry standard for excellence. It is no small accomplishment to have passed the CVA examination, which tests VAs at an advanced level as opposed to core competencies. The IVAA CVA examination is the only VA examination-format certification that tests a VA in many areas of a VA practice.

I am happy to have this certification under my belt and a plan to display it with pride and to uphold the same high professional standards as always. Thanks for the opportunity IVAA!

Thanks for letting me toot my own horn for a minute!

Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

Just wanted to take a minute to wish all of my American friends, Happy 4th of July! Hope you are all celebrating with lots of BBQs, family, friends and fireworks!

Happy Birthday USA!

Freedom’s natal day is here.
Fire the guns and shout for freedom,
See the flag above unfurled!
Hail the stars and stripes forever,
Dearest flag in all the world.
~Florence A. Jones

Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy

Today I am thankful for:

• My God.
• The togetherness and happiness we feel when we gather together on this day with our friends, family and dear loved ones.
• For my husband, son, and entire family who bring me so much happiness. I could have no possessions at all and still be happy with just their mere presence in my life.

“He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.”
-J.A. Shedd

Thanksgiving!

Image by Martha★ via Flickr

Here we are on lucky day number 11 of my 12 Days of Thanks. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I very much looking forward to it. In doing this, I am finding gratitude in new ways from the every day happening  to the greatest achievement and I love it. Gratitude is the Attitude!

Today I am thankful for:

• The quiet times I get to spend with my son when it is just him and I, staring and smiling at each other. I am trying to enjoy these days that he is so little while I can (he’s 6 months now). I am finding that the statement that they grow so fast, is totally true.
• My wonderful husband. He works so hard to provide for our family every day and he is an amazing father. I am so very fortunate to have him in my live. Love you honey!
• For always having what we need. Food, clothes, shelter, anything. Though we work hard for it, we are fortunate to never have to go without the necessities of life and to be able to provide that for our growing family.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom” – Marcel Proust.

Today I am thankful for:

• I got my holiday mailing assistance packages worked out and up on my website. Yay!
• I’m feeling calm and non-stressed about the upcoming holidays. Very Zen.
• A good hair day. (I’m a girl. And good hair days warrant some gratitude now and then)
• Some great ideas I am putting down for 2010 and will be putting into action.

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” – Brian Tracy