"It's called sharpening your axe," my colleague said when I told him of my hesitation to break away for a real estate conference this January. "If you never sharpen your axe, there's too much chopping and not enough firewood."
This statement really captured my feelings about life long learning and how important it is to get up and go to places where you can improve your game, catch up on what's new and learn from other people. When it comes to conferences, quality programming is key, but the face to face interaction makes it even better. while getting away is always a challenge - kids, listings, buyers, the expense - it deserves to be high on the priority list.
Our real estate market is getting better in Newport, RI, and next year I'd like to do less chopping and more fire-building. So I am going to take a little time now to sharpen my axe.