The one hit wonder Robert Van Winkle, popular for his top selling rap song of the 90’s “Ice Ice Baby”, is busting back into the spot light but not for his music. Rob has been steering his hip hop style to a new audience recently. He is a licensed contractor in Miami, Florida where he has taken up flipping houses the Vanilla Ice way!  The DIY Network will air the second season of “The Vanilla Ice Project” this year. The series follows him and his team as they buy short sale properties or foreclosures in need of repair and flip them for a profit. Rapper turned handyman? Sounds a bit out there, either Rob has made a brilliant financial move or he’s having an identity crisis.

Being a fan of the DIY Network I am familiar with the wide range of house flipping reality TV shows out there.  I was skeptical of the success of The Vanilla Ice Project. Why should this show be any better or more entertaining than all the rest out there like property brothers, house crashers, disaster DIY, property ladder, flip this house, Sarah Palin’s Alaska.. oh wait that is a different blog for a different time. But you get my point. Where’s the allure Rob Winkle?

But what sets the Vanilla Ice project apart from the others is Rob Van Winkle himself. This 90’s rap character walks around with tattoos covering his body, an oddly shaped goatee, a hat with a brim that has never been given shape, and a black t-shirt with the words “Hustler” across the front. Conjuring up this image I’m sure you have attached personality traits to match this picture of a dried up hip hop rapper. Perhaps I can guess what traits came to mind; foul mouthed, egotistical, arrogant, drinking, smoking, half ass-embling, no idea what he’s doing, contractor trying to cash in.  Well you may be surprised.

Rob is surprisingly the opposite. He is dedicated, focused, hardworking, fast and efficient. Rob has given up smoking, drinking, and drugs. He mentions Karma and how it applies to his life and his desire to do differently when raising his children. In his goal to become healthy in life he has even become a vegetarian.  Surprising isn’t it? This 90’s rapper gone construction worker has broken through the stereo type and delivered a pretty darn good show.

It just goes to prove yet again that the cover of the book doesn’t always give you all the details. In a world of house hunting, house flipping, house listing and buying it is important to have a list of trust worthy contractors. But some of the best contractors may have a rough exterior. It’s just par for the course. So check out the beat while my contractor resolves it…. Ice ice baby.

“From the window to the wall, the concrete, backer board, dry wall we do it all” –Vanilla Ice

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Christy@gorichmondrealestate.com

I am a list person. I love to write lists. I get great satisfaction from crossing things off my list and organizing into categories. I have to do lists, grocery lists, and birthday lists but one of the most important lists is the one I write my goals down for the year.

Mid-way through last year I wrote a list of things I wanted to accomplish. I didn’t give myself an ultimatum, there was no expiration date, it was simply and profoundly my goals. Written down on plain paper and pinned up in my room to see every day.  I picked it up the other day to see if I could actually cross anything off and to my surprise I had tackled 60% of my list successfully in only 6 months. Having a visual of my goals to look at impacted my daily choices. Lists should not pressure or discourage you they should motivate you and challenge your thinking. We are extremely visual and tangibly driven human beings. People need to see and feel the facts to believe in them. We demonstrate our products and we invest millions of dollars into advertisement because people respond to a visual.

I remember when I first realized how important writing down your goals down was.  I saw my brother write out his goals and I saw how it impacted him. I idolized my older brother growing up. I always wanted to be at his heels all the time and do everything he did. I wanted to play cowboys & Indians with him, I tried making the awesome gun sound affects he did, I listened to all the same music he liked, and everything he did or thought was cool I wanted too. One day I walked into his room and he had written down on the wall near the window a list of his life goals. I was probably only 13 years old and I will never forget how vivid that list was (and that I thought he was so cool to write it on the wall! He was in for it with mom). I can still remember some of those goals. Lists have been important to me ever since that day.

My brother and I catching the spray at Victoria Falls

My brother grew up checking things off that list. He has been to more countries then I can name, met and impacted more people then I can remember, and is currently savings lives and loving people in third world countries. I’m sure if I asked him today he would tell me he still writes out his goals. They may have changed from roller skating on the Great Wall of China to having a beautiful baby with a beautiful woman but he still writes them down!

You are never too old to have goals, you are never to boring to find your motivation, and it has never been better than the present to start with your own list. Write your goals long term, short term, significant or not just write them down. Then hang it up on your refrigerator or write it on your wall any place where you can see it often. It will impact your thinking and decision making more then you realize.

I hope this year is filled with many lists!

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