Noticing

June 2025

Artwork by Anna Brones

June 2025

I am coming off a crazily busy month of real estating which is typical of a Seattle Spring Market. We had more than a closing each week that kept us hopping all over the city, and then both face planting once Memorial Day Weekend rolled around. 

I did put my foot down and said no working over the three day weekend if we could avoid it at all. Nothing was life or death and it was so necessary to have great nights of sleep, lots of reading and writing, and simply contemplating my own navel.

I realized some time back that noticing where you are at with not just your energetic fuel tank gauge but your correlated emotional fuel gauge is key. How often have we all reacted in a way we regret? Then only to realize upon reflection you were hungry, thirsty, sleep deprived, running late or hormonal. Each of us knows what it takes to refuel both gauges and it is different for each of us. 

My beautiful Work Bestie, Laura, walks her Frankie in the woods or stops for a sunset and soaks it all in. She also bakes but I have yet to be the recipient of said baking so we will classify that as “Rumor Only”. Lol. My friend Valerie loves to travel. She just got back from Peru and I vaguely recall her being somewhere equally exotic earlier this year. Stepping out of the ordinary helps with perspective and a fresh way to look at things. Mr. Fox loves anything outdoors and racking up steps or beating his best time. While I recharge by being in total silence; reading, daydreaming and not moving at all if humanly possible. 

Noticing and catching your gauge before it dips into the red is our responsibility as adults. We cannot help others, lead, or make great decisions unless we do.

Speaking for myself, 2025 has been a year of setting very specific goals that include things to do bracketed with ramp up and recovery built into each big milestone. I am excited to be getting my own time with Mr. Fox, going to Walla Walla. I go for the road trip as much as the destination. There is something so special about having him captive in the car with me for hours and having his undivided attention, that is priceless for me. In the first few years of our relationship, I would torture him with the Cosmo Quiz. You laugh but you can learn a lot about a person administering a Cosmo Quiz. Who remembers it?  The most enlightening conversations we have had have been on road trips. But let us also not discount the fine dining which will include The Kitchen at Abeja Winery, TMACS,, and Passatempo Taverna. I will be popping in to see my friend Peggy Frasse at Marguerite Walla Walla to see what little gifty things I must have!  She always has the best curation of things to tempt me with. It will be a few days of, no plans other than dinner plans, my Kindle and journal. I cannot wait! 

Our daughter has a serious boyfriend now. I think he might be The One. When I was finally able to eek out a private moment with her, I asked her “why him?”. What did she like about this young man. Her response was firm and so immediate. She said, “He reminds me a lot of dad.” I thought that was such a beautiful answer. Kelley and Mr. Fox have always been VERY close. They have many, many things in common.  Their STEM brains & interests, their love for the outdoors, the sports, be it hiking, biking, skiing or boating; all the things that make me scream, “just shoot me already”.  It’s a good thing I love to be alone or I would feel quite left out! But I know that she means more than just the superficial things of what he likes to do. I think unspoken is that he must be solidly reliable, smart, kind, funny, thoughtful and romantic.  We are so happy for her. I am thrilled she found someone very much like Mr. Fox but also that she notices and appreciates all those wonderful qualities that make him such a great father and a man I respect.

Thinking of Kelley and Mr. Fox, always makes me think of my father. June is the month where we celebrate our fathers. Mine has been gone for three and a half decades now. I am always afraid that one of these days I will forget his distinct smell that was a mix of Old Spice, cigars and scotch. Or how his hands felt when I held him tight. My father ended up being a conscientious provider for his small family even though he came from a family where his father abandoned him and my grandmother at a very early age. I think some people are driven by role models they hope to be like and others are driven by who they know very clearly who they do not wish to be like. My father was the later. He was about as perfect, for me, as they came. I want to preserve that view of him and am uninterested in speculation to the contrary.I feel so grateful for my beautiful family in all it’s quirks and uniqueness.

Time with family is important, but I also I deeply value constantly improving myself. So I am flying solo to the Modern Elder Academy Santa Fe campus for a week with Krista Tippett, who some of you might know from her show; On Being. I am hoping it won’t be too unbearably hot. I have admired Krista for her interview style for years now. She is such a great listener and so thoughtful in her questions and I just love the cadence of her interviews. I hope I can learn a lot just from being in her presence.  She has a divinity degree and is pretty much living the life that I would want if I didn’t already have the one I do have and love. 

Later this summer I am signed up to continue with my own coach, Tara Mohr, for her Trust & Traction class and for a July Writing Retreat. This week we wrap on the Coaching Way. I return as an alum as often as my schedule allows and I learn something new each time I dip in. It is SO good. Her ad for the Trust and Traction Class asked the question, 

“What overwhelming evidence do you have that your desired audience really wants this?”

I think so many of us in the entrepreneurial field, which definitely includes most coaches & real estate agents, are always looking left and right. We are always being seduced by some new shiny object that is going to be the answer to our business woes. Tara asks us to stop and ask, “what overwhelming evidence do you have that your audience really wants this.” It is SUCH a good question to ask before investing in the next shiny object. The new contact management system is NOT the answer to your business woes if you don’t use it. Index cards in a recipe box can be just as good for some. I always ask potential coaching clients where they are at with the basics. The basics are the basics for a reason. You cannot build an amazing business on a wobbly foundation and some things are just that: foundational. There is no way to leapfrog the basics.    

Speaking of basics, after my April Transitions Workshop, I taught my Word Choices: Part Two to my friend Lisa DuBois’s group in the DC/VA area. Such a great group. And in mid June I get to teach the newer agents at Windermere Midtown How to Build A Referral Based Business. Getting in front of a crowd whether on Zoom or in person is a muscle that gets stronger with practice.  I find that when redirecting our lives, we are less constrained by our abilities and more by our choices. I have chosen to admit that I am not a natural born writer or speaker but I am committed to working on getting better at each. It has been encouraging to be able to notice my own improvements. 

I have been getting up an hour earlier to make time to study. I have read Quiet by Susan Cain and most recently Shy By Design by Michael Thompson. I appreciate them both as they speak to the ambivert in me that wishes I was born with the charisma that some have but also know that it might be a trade off with quieter parts of me that I DO love. 

In Shy By Design the author gives 12 Principles to Quietly Stand Out. Here they are:

1. Embrace your imperfections.(I have learned to befriend many)

2. Lead with listening. (I have studied Listening for a decade now) 

3. Treat your curiosity as your primary responsibility. (Truth!)

4. Grow your confidence in private. (Power move!) 

5. Get to know your heroes. (Yes! Go for it but please do not say, “Can I pick your brain?” Oof)

6. Friendships are forged in the follow up. (It’s ALL in the follow up.)

7. Small is the new big. (Always has been. Don’t boil the ocean. I would rather have fewer subscribers I know than thousands of strangers.)

8. Gain new eyes through the power of weak ties. (Go beyond your normal circle of people and cacophony of sameness. Reach out to people you barely know, you might learn something new!)

9. Share what you’re learning. (Learn to turn around & teach!)

10. Own your story. (It’s yours, so embrace it!)

11. Be bold in the moments that matter. (Step up. Take a risk!) 

12. Lift as you climb. (Any & every time you can; do this!)

As we prepare to celebrate pride month, remember that Pride is more than a party. It’s a powerful protest for the right to love, live, and exist freely. We march in color so no one has to live in the dark, because equal rights are not extra rights. Pride began as a fight, and we are still fighting. Because love is a right not a debate.

Have a wonderful June everyone! Follow me on Instagram and ask to friend me facebook, Diane Terry, which is private to folks I know. I would love to know what you have planned this summer! 

XOXO,

Coach Diane

P.S. Looks like a mom’s intuition was right ;)