1068 What is Your Ikigai

0:00And my why is education. My why, what gives me out of bed in the morning is doing this very thing that I'm doing right now. I absolutely love teaching. And whether it be in front of a camera or in front of a group of people, or one-on-one. Music Originating from deep inside the Rocky Mountains, transported through the power of the internet, and arriving inside your tiny earbuds. It's the appraiser coach podcast helping appraisers increase their efficiency, quality, and make more money. Here's the guy who makes it as light's mission to create value for real estate appraisers nationwide. You are hosting the appraiser coach, Dustin Harris. Hello, everyone. Welcome to my new studio. If you're not on YouTube, I encourage you to jump on.

1:02Go to the appraiser coach channel, check out this episode. This is the first episode in the new studio that I'm pretty proud of. I've done a lot of work on this studio, getting things up and running. Got some memorabilia behind me, some sound panels. It should be a little better sound than we have experienced in the past. And welcome. Welcome. It's so good to have you. And so good to be rolling continually here on the appraiser coach podcast. Thank you, a big shout out to long-term listeners. And if you're a first-time listener, welcome. I hope that you will enjoy your time here and hang out with me more than just today. I want to introduce you to a word that many of you might know. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you've not. It is a Japanese word. And it is a word that is... I'm going to spell it first and then I'm going to pronounce it for you.

2:04And I do not speak Japanese, so don't laugh if I get it wrong, but I think I've got it... I think I've got it okay. The Japanese word is spelled i-k-i-g-a-i. And the pronunciation is e-ki-gai. e-ki-gai. What does it mean? Well, before I tell you what it means, I want to back up just a little bit. Last year, 2025, early part of the year. I think it was the first part of May. We meaning blame, fine, and i, coach blame, and i, along with Roy Meyer, put on our first ever elevate appraiser retreat. And not only was it the first elevate appraiser retreat, it was the first retreat for appraiser's ever. Let that sink in. You've been to conferences. You've been to classes. You've got your C-E. This was not that. Not even close.

3:05This was a retreat in every sense of the word. We were in beautiful course gold, California, right outside of Yosemite National Park. And we met for three days and the learning, the environment, the relationships, the laughter, the friendship, the tears, the vulnerability, the growth that happened in those three days was absolutely mind-blowing. Don't believe me. Check me. By going to our website, which is the new updated retreat that will be coming up in 2026, and just listen to the testimonials from the people who came. People who came with 100% money back guarantee after the first day, if you're not, if you've not received back your investment and then some, we offer a full money back guarantee. I can tell you that nobody took us up on that. In fact, many individuals indicated

4:05that they had received more value before they even showed up at the retreat, just because of the pre-retreat work that we had done together as a group. One who invites you, by the way, the registration is open, would be happy and love to have you there if you feel like this is an event for you. But our original retreat in California focused on one word. And that one word is very similar to the word that I want to give you today. Again, the word today is Iggy Kai. It's I-K-I-G-A-I. It is a Japanese word. And last year at our retreat, the word was Y-W-H-Y-Y. And the entire event was focused around that one word. It probably said the word Y two, three hundred times during the retreat. We read the great book by Simon Sinek

5:08before we came to the retreat, start with Y, and really developed a relationship with that word, and understanding what it truly means. And more importantly, what it means to you as an individual, to you as an appraiser, as a business owner, as a wife, as a husband, as a brother, as a sister, as a child, as a friend, as a neighbor, as a colleague, as a peer. And this word, this Japanese word, Iggy Kai, is very similar in meaning. And the meaning is basically this. It is a reason for being. What is your reason for being? The thing that makes your life feel meaningful, worth getting up for every single day. Now, I want to be very clear, that does not mean that every single day you wake up and bound out of bed and cannot wait to get out there

6:09and appraise some houses. Okay? In fact, we at the retreat learned there was not one individual at that retreat last year who said that they're Y was appraisal. Now, we were all appraiser. Well, that's not true. There was one individual there that was not an appraiser. And it's for everybody, by the way. It's more about being a better business owner and a better human being than it is about being an appraiser. But it just happens to be the elevate appraiser retreat. And we went around the room multiple times throughout that retreat to visit and revisit every individual's Y. Why is it that you do what you do? What brings you joy? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What is your... I'm going to call it mission in life. Now, folks, if you don't know what that is for you, I would pause, take some time away from distractions, away from your phone, away from your spouse. Yes, your spouse can be a distraction once in a while.

7:11And ask yourself what it is that your mission in life is centered around. And folks, it better not be appraisal. Now, appraisal could be a part of it, right? Your Y may be getting to know people. You love relationships. You love strangers. You love being in their home, in their environment, getting to know new people and appraisal will help you to get to your Y. That's very real and that very much can be a Y for you. I'm going to share with you my Y, but first I want to pause and remind you of a couple of sponsors on this program. First of all, the great sponsor, True Tracks. True Tracks will allow you, folks, to be able to do your job faster so that you can more quickly get to your Y, if you know what I mean. Sometimes a job needs to get done so you can enjoy your Y

8:12and True Tracks will allow you to do your job as an appraiser, much quicker, much more effective and with higher quality because it helps you to define markets. It helps you to understand your neighborhood. It helps you to be able to understand what the market is doing and it helps you to find and support your comps, your adjustments with those comps. Folks, right now you can get a free visit and full usage, totally unlocked for six full weeks if you will use a coupon code that I'm about to give you. Use this coupon code. It will give you six full weeks a month and a half to try this out. No questions asked. No penny spent. No credit card charged. If you don't like it, move on. You'll like it, by the way. And the coupon code is appraiser coach. Very simple appraiser coach, capital A, capital C, no space, appraiser coach. Responsive, of course, by working RE magazine. Working RE has been a friend of the program for many, many years.

9:15Over a decade. And a big shout out to working RE magazine. These guys understand what's going on in our career as real estate appraisers. You should get to know them because they know you very, very well. Find out more by going to their website. Their website is very simple to remember. It's working RE. If you forget the RE is just working real estate, by working RE.com, again, working RE.com. Welcome back to the program. Dustin Harris hanging out in the new studio, the new podcast chair, if you will. Well, same old chair, new studio behind me. If you're not on YouTube, I would encourage you to just jump on and check out my new studio. I'm very proud of it.

10:15Today we're talking about your mission in life, your reason for getting out of bed in the morning. What is it that drives you? Now, folks, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but just to kind of hint at what we're talking about here. Right? If this is the thing that brings you joy, that brings you passion, that brings you more energy than it sucks from you. When you do this thing, you come away feeling better than you started. Right? You can be completely exhausted in life, but then you do this thing, or you participate in some way in this thing, and you gain energy. Folks, my why is, well, it's many things. And it's many things that we talked about in the retreat last year. The thing that came up often was family. Right? My why is my family. And there were other things as well that would drive people. But I can tell you, folks, my why is very simple.

11:16It's complicated as well, but it's simple. And my why is education. My why, what gives me out of bed in the morning is doing this very thing that I'm doing right now. I absolutely love teaching. And whether it be in front of a camera, or in front of a group of people, or one-on-one, probably one of my favorite ways to teach is one-on-one. My private coaching sessions that I have with appraisers. In just a couple of days, I'll be headed to a mastermind. We are going to New Orleans. First time for me in New Orleans. And super excited about that. But meeting with friendly faces and individuals who are working on their lives and their businesses and growth. And folks, that's my why. That's my mission in life. I absolutely love being a part of helping people to become better. That's my why. What is yours? What drives you to get out of bed in the morning?

12:16What helps you to be better? What is your Iggy Kai? What is your why? If you don't know what it is, you need to find out. Because the next step is to work so hard in what you do surrounding that that it doesn't feel like work. Do what you love to do. You'll never work in a day in your life. That's sometimes attributed to Taber Hamlin. I don't know if he actually said that, but they attribute that to him. But I love the quote. Find something about what you do that drives your Iggy Kai. Thank you, friends. Have a great day. Have a great day, Your Grace. Have a great day. You've been listening to the appraiser coach group pass with Dustin Harris. If you like what you hear, please give us a five-star rating and post a short review on iTunes. For more in-depth insider information on how you can make more money

13:18as a real estate appraiser, visit theappraisercoachcom And now, get out there and create some value.