In February, I joined a book club, closed out 6 units at Hypoint, continued my obsession with green and sustainable real estate, and harvested some landfill-bound materials from a development site in Westlake.
Book Club: Atomic Habits
My acquaintance and fellow businesswoman Katie Jordan reached out to me a few weeks ago about a women’s book club she was hosting, based around the book Atomic Habits. It’s one of those books that’s been suggested to me many times, but that for whatever reason I had never read. I decided it was finally time, and time for me to carve out some intentional time in my work week to do something other than run around putting out tiny little fires. To think about those “important but not urgent” things in my life.
A few years ago someone I admire told me “You don’t decide your future. You decide your habits, and your habits decide your future.” So I hoped this book would help me level up.
A few key takeaways from this book that I’ve found helpful
-Environment is more powerful than willpower. I already know this to be true, but it was helpful to have it pointed out. My best example of this is that when I’m trying to eat better, I just don’t keep high-calorie snacks in the house. Even if I find myself thinking “I kind of want a cookie” I’m probably not leaving the house to go buy one. If someone sends me home with cookies, though, you bet I’m going to eat them all in 2 days. It’s much easier for me to stay on track when my environment is supporting me. So I’m going to try making my life easier by putting a barrier between myself and bad habits.
-Habits are tied closely to our identities, how we see ourselves. It’s more powerful to think “I’m the type of person who goes to the gym regularly” than it is to think “I wish I was fitter.” A key to getting new habits to stick is finding ways to integrate those desired actions into your identity. So my take away is to think identity over activity, and surround myself with people doing the things I want more of in my life.
Hypoint
We closed out the third phase of units at Hypoint in February and I was grateful to learn a lot during this series of closings. And I know after extensive construction delays, the new owners are grateful to finally be in their homes! We have one final phase of Hypoint which will be closing in the summer.
Green-er Real Estate
Since I’ve become aware in the past few months of how much construction and real estate contribute to the landfill and carbon emissions, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with incrementally reducing the impact. In a fast growing city like Austin, tons of materials go to landfill that would be usable if we cared to reuse them. So when I heard Chris’ company would be redeveloping a property in Westlake, I took the opportunity to go “harvest” some materials, including rock and paver stones for landscaping.
My new friend Rachel, also sustainability-obsessed, claimed a new gate for her back yard. It was a drop in the bucket on total materials but felt good nonetheless. Next, I’m on a mission to figure out how to feasibly reclaim more materials for reuse, donation or recycling. (Did you know drywall can be reused as fertilizer? Wonders never cease.) I’ll report back.
Also, here’s an article I found really interesting about the sustainability lessons that COVID taught us. Enjoy!
Key Lessons from the Eye of the Pandemic Storm – Green Roofs For Healthy Cities
Contracts and Closings
6020 Springdale Road, Unit 12 Austin, TX 78702
While closing out the third phase of units at Hypoint on behalf of the sellers, our team also had the pleasure of working with the buyers of a couple of units. Congrats Madhura, Ganesh and Shoaib!
6444 Burnet Road Unit 202 Austin, TX 78757
Gabrielle worked with Steve to sell his fabulous unit off Burnet Road. With proper pricing and marketing, Gabrielle was able to secure multiple offers for Steve and ultimately closed over the asking price. Congrats, Steve!
See you next month!
