I have been mentoring this young want-to-be hotel broker for the last 18 months. He hasn’t earned one dime or been hired one time. I think he needs a better teacher. Ha

He reads the news and hears about this big deal or that big deal and he wants so badly to skip past the average deals and only focus on the big deals. Clearly this is the recipe for failure, but he hasn’t come to the point of understanding it. He has heard it from me multiple times, but it hasn’t gotten down inside of him yet. He is educated, talented, engaging, young, fancy suits, gelled hair, pointed shoes, the walk, the talk etc. You know the type. The problem is he doesn’t have any money because he hasn’t fully listened to me yet.

This week we were talking, and I ask him the following four questions. How long have you been trying to be a hotel broker? Answer- 18 months. How many hotels have you listed? Answer – none. How many hotels have you valued?  Slow,,,,,, answer – none. How much money have you earned? Answer – none. I then ask him if he was really to listen to me. He said yes.

I then proceeded to teach him course 101 of hotel brokerage. I told him to push everything he has been trying to do aside and purely focus on one single objective. Go get one listing. Don’t try to get 20, go get the first one. Then I told him when you are exclusively hired and you market that one hotel correctly, you meet 50-100 buyers. From that one listing you will get you 2 more listings and those 2 gets you 5 and those 5 gets you 10 etc. That’s how you build a career in our business. I have pounded on this young man for 18 months and finally this week he heard me. He had to try it his way first before he was ready to listen.

Isn’t it that way in a lot of areas of our lives? Financially, relationally, physically, socially etc. You must start somewhere and you (most times) can’t skip to the good stuff. If you are a runner, you don’t go out and just run a marathon. You must pay the price and start with something that is achievable, like run one mile. If you are painting your house, you don’t just grab a brush and start painting. There is a lot of prep work that must first happen. It’s the same with our children, jobs, spouses and even your dog. A dog must get to know you a little before he puts his full trust in you. Its like wanting to read a book so you skip to the end first. No, you must grind through the first 300 pages before you get rewarded with the surprise ending. So, in life don’t skip the necessary steps (building blocks) because they are the foundation you need. KT