30 — Centralian Advocate, Friday, December 6, 2013 20/50 South Terrace $299,000 First Home or Investment Secure Gated Complex, gracious leafy environment, end unit at rear of complex, 2 bedrooms, built-in robes, 2 toilets, bright airy bathroom, natural gas cooking and heating. Excellent tenants. Priced to sell. Open By Appointment Mardi Cotterill ~ Eli Melky M: 0418 897 236 www.goldenhome.com.au Level 1 Anangu House - 44 Bath St OPEN 20 Cliffside Court $475,000 Big House, PRICED TO SELL Popular Family Location, Four bedroom main with en suite and walk in robe, two bathroom, two living areas, Gas Kitchen, walk in pantry, Gas heating, split systems. Open Saturday 10.00-10.30am and Sunday 11.00-11.30am OPEN Room For Family to Grow 1170 sqm allotment near to Shops, Schools, Family Club, Parks & Health Centre. 4 Bdrms, 2 Bathrooms, 2 Living Areas. Large Kitchen, Large Laundry. Fully Aircon. Open Saturday 12.00-12.30pm and Sunday 12.00-12.30pm 37 Newland Street $528,000 OPEN 15/8 Lovergrove Drive $285,000 Affordable Townhouse Upgraded bathroom and kitchen, two bedrooms, built-in robes, generous tiling, split system air conditioning, secure paved courtyard/entertainment area. Open Saturday 11.00 – 11.30am OPEN CBD Head Lease Potential 2 large bedrooms, two bathrooms, open plan living, dining, kitchen large laundry, loads of storage, 2 split systems. Lock up parking, private courtyard. Open Saturday 11.00 – 11.30am 6/3 Gap Road $348,000 OPEN Golden Home Real Estate The Alice... A Golden Home Town Licensed Agent AL559 Onsite 10am 14 th December FOR SALE BY AUCTION Development Opportunity On behalf of Northern Territory of Australia Crown Lease to be converted to Freehold Title 19 South Terrace, Alice Springs ϭϭࡓϬϬϬŵ 2 approx. ŽŶĞDZ &ŽŬĨƵůůĚĞźĂŝůƐĐŽŶźĂĐź:ƵƐƟŶKŬŝĞŶϬϰϬϭϲϳϮဓဓဒ ũƵƐƟŶࡖŽďŬŝĞŶΛĞůĚĞŬƐŬĞĂůĞƐźĂźĞࡖĐŽŵࡖĂƵ ϭϭZĂŝůǁĂƧdĞŬŬĂĐĞࡓůŝĐĞ^ƉŬŝŶŐƐ ࡖLic Agents Remember reasons for season Be thankful for your own gifts ‘ I don’t think you can become sincerely thankful to others until you have become fully thankful to yourself and for yourself. ’ A s the commercialism of the American Thanksgiving holiday fades into the commercialism of Christmas (or whatever name you’re allowed to call it these days), several thoughts have occurred to me that will affect you as a person, you as a salesperson, and your business. People try so hard to express good cheer in the holiday season they often miss the mark. ‘‘Don’t eat too much turkey!’’ or ‘‘Don’t drink too much eggnog!’’ is your way of saying, ‘‘I have nothing new to say’’. My bet is your ‘‘thank you’’ is somewhat like your mission statement. It’s there, but it’s relatively meaningless, and no one can recite it. (Most employees, even executives, can’t recite their own mission statement, even under penalty of death.) Hard questions: ■ Why is this the only season we give thanks? ■ How sincere is your message, really? ■ Why do you find it necessary to thank your customers at the same time everyone else is thanking their customers? ■ If you’re thanking people, what are you offering besides words to show them you value and care about them? ■ Why do you have a shiny card with a printed message and foil stamped company signature and nothing personal? Here’s an idea: Why not start by thanking yourself? Thank yourself for your success, your good fortune, your health, your family, your library, your attitude, your fun times, your friends, and all the cool things you do that make you a happy person. If you’re having trouble thanking yourself, that may be an indicator that things aren’t going as well as they could be. In that situation, any thanks you give to others will be perceived somewhere between ‘‘less than whole’’ and ‘‘totally insincere’’. I don’t think you can become sincerely thankful to others until you have become fully thankful to and for yourself. And once you realise who you are, your message of thanks will become much more real, and passionate, to others. News reality: The good news is this is the holiday season. The bad news is it’s so full of retail shopping incentives, mobs of people, and ‘‘today only deals’’ that the festivity of Thanksgiving is somewhat lost in the shuffle. Black Friday and Cyber Monday or wait, is it Cyber Tuesday, or Small Business Saturday, or Throwback Thursday? Whatever it is, it’s a strategy for advertising and promoting. And I’m OK with it, totally OK with the free enterprise system. I just think the hype of it has become more dominant than the giving of thanks and the meaning of the season. Call me old-fashioned, or call me traditional, but I don’t think you can call me ‘‘wrong’’. I want our economy to be strong, but not at the expense of celebration, family time, and personal time to thank yourself for who you have become, and who you are becoming. Try this: Sit around your dinner table and have each person at the table make a statement as to what they are grateful for and who they are grateful to. Then have them say one thing about themselves that they are thankful for. This simple action will create a sense of reality around your table that will be both revealing and educational. It also wipes away all the superficial undertones often associated with family holidays. Why not ask people to recall their best Thanksgiving ever, or the person they miss the most, or the most important thing they’ve learned as a family member and to be thankful for them or that. Back to you: Sit down and make a list of your best qualities. Your personal assets, not your money or your property. The assets you possess that you believe have created the person you are. Your humour, your friendliness, your helpfulness, your approachability, your trustworthiness, your honesty, your ethics, and maybe even your morality. (Tough list, eh?) And as you head deeper into this holiday season, perhaps next year’s intentions and focus (not goals and resolutions) will be more about building personal assets and building capabilities you can be thankful for and grateful for. For those of you wondering, ‘‘where’s the sales tip?’’ — wake up, and smell the leftovers. I’m trying to help you sell you on yourself. Once you make that sale, once you become the best you can be for yourself, then it’s easy to become the best you can be for others, and present yourself in a way that others will buy. It’s the holidays baby, go out and thank yourself. ■ Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible and many other books. His website gitomer.com will lead you to more information about training, seminars and webinars or email him personally at [email protected] Rates stay put on high hopes for holiday sales AAP Economics Correspondent Colin Brinsden T he Reserve Bank left the cash rate unchanged on Tuesday as consumers spend record amounts and the economy shows signs of solid growth. At its final board meeting of the year the central bank kept the cash rate at an all- time low of 2.5 per cent, where it has stood since August. The board meets again in February. Governor Glenn Stevens said the board judged that rate settings were ‘‘appropriate’’ but he again pointed to an exchange rate that was ‘‘still uncomfortably high’’ despite being nearly four cents lower against the US dollar than when the board last met in November. ‘‘A lower level of the exchange rate is likely to be needed to achieve balanced growth in the economy,’’ Mr Stevens said in a statement that was virtually identical to that in the previous month. Commonwealth Securities chief economist Craig James believes further interest rate cuts are off the agenda but it is too early to talk about rate hikes. ‘‘If the economy continues to gather momentum, inflation remains under control and the Aussie dollar remains near 90 US cents or eases further, then the Reserve Bank can happily stay on the interest rate sidelines,’’ he said. There were further signs that lower interest rates are gaining some traction with retail spending growing by a further 0.5 per in October to a record $22.3 billion, stronger than economists expected and building on a 0.9 per cent rise in the previous moth. Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey described it as ‘‘promising’’. ‘‘Clearly there is hope out there we are going to have a good Christmas for retail,’’ Mr Hockey told parliament. Other data suggested that Wednesday’s national accounts could reveal solid economic growth for the September quarter. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said net exports - exports minus imports - will contribute 0.7 percentage points to growth in the quarter as a result of a heavily revised balance of payments for the period. This was almost double what some economists had been expecting, prompting them to lift their forecasts for gross domestic product. It suggests GDP could be close to a one per cent rise, rather than the 0.7 per cent predicted prior to the data.