All posts by Keith Thompson

Wanting what you once had

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Sometimes people don’t appreciate what they currently have until they no longer have it. Perhaps it is something in their life they took for granted and wished they had paid more attention to it when they had it. This could be relationships, family, finances, health etc. and the list could go on. There are times people wish they could roll back the clock to a time before decisions were made that altered their life as they know it. Every one of us have made decisions we wished we could undo. It’s called life.

If we all have made decisions we wish we could undo, then you might ask, what is the answer. The answer is, there are decisions that can easily be remedied and then there are decisions that can take time to repair. The real spiritual question is, did God know you were going to make that decision before you did it? The resounding answer is yes, he did. If you believe that (which I do) then God, being God, would already know what you need to do about it if you would simply humble yourself and ask. We all make mistakes in our lives and the revised plan (in our mind) may not be as perfect as the original plan but the funny thing is that God can pick up the pieces and restore us in unimaginable ways. Literally, in ways you cannot imagine.

When you are following a GPS in your car and miss a turn, it will announce that it is recalculating your route. In much that same fashion, God will redirect your route in life so you still end up at the appointed destination. One such poor decision I remember well was investing in some restaurants only to find myself in great debt with a very uncertain future. It would take a long time to explain all the happenings, but God redirected my future in a way that was unimaginable to me and used that loss as the basis for me being able to sell hotels today. Keep in mind that we view life in short contexts like this week or this year and God views our life over a longer period. He is the only one that can see our future and know best how to get us there.

I want you to hear this. We make a mistake and think, this will determine the rest of my life where God sees how the mistake can move us to where he wants us to be. There is never a perfect rebound in life but I believe if we put our trust in him, he will direct our paths forward. This is easy to believe with our minds but very hard to accept with our hearts. When you are in the middle of a life decision that appears to have gone wrong, remember what the bible says in Galatians 6:9. “Let us not become weary in well doing, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” KT

The people you associate with and the books you read

Career, Family, Life

I heard a speaker say some years ago that the person you will be in five years will be greatly influenced by the people you associate with and the books you read. There is never an exact formula to our future because we all know of people that came from diverse backgrounds, poverty and other social barriers that went onto do something great with their lives. That said, what the speaker said all those years ago is a pretty good formula for how to start to become the person you most want to be.

I didn’t go to college and I stutter when I talk so when I was young, my sphere of influence was lacking. When I was younger I began to read books of all kinds from history, motivation to suspense thrillers. These books largely shaped how I think today about life, family and business. So, the idea that books could have an impact on our life, at least for me is true.

I bought some restaurants some years ago and lost my shirt in the process. The funny thing was that the guy I bought the restaurants from, also sold hotels. At the point of bankruptcy, I showed up on his front door and told him I wanted to learn how to sell hotels. The only reason he even let me in the door was because he felt bad for me. I had no experience, no education and no concept of selling commercial real estate but he let me sell hotels anyway. Bill Hodges and Jack Ward who owned the hotel brokerage firm, literally changed my life.

When I started selling hotels, I began to meet people from a whole different position in life and developed close friendships in the process. These people spoke words of affirmation and influence into my life that literally changed the course of my future and that of my family. When I look back over the lives of my family, my children and grandchildren, I can see in reverse the impact that association with people and the books I have read have had on our lives.

Nothing in life is simple and nothing works every time for everyone, but for me, this little piece of wisdom had an incredible impact on me and my family. Possibly the simplest, first step, is to go buy some books, turn the TV off and spend some time each night reading and letting your imagination experience a different world. That is what happens when you get into a good book. It transports you into the story and allows your mind to imagine and experience a different setting than your current life. Over time, these impressions can help you think more clearly and began to imagine life in a different way. It’s worth a try, right? KT

Suggested authors to read:

Suspense thrillers – John Sanford, Lee Child, Kate Morton, David Baldacci, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Dan Brown, Harlan Coben, James Rollins, Scott Turow, Clive Cussler, J. K Rowling

Motivational – Charlie Jones, Napoleon Hill, Stephen Covey, Rich DeVos, Zig Ziglar, Paul Harvey, Dale Carnegie, James Allen, Norman Vincent Peale

Spiritual – Louie Giglio, Andy Stanley, Chuck Swindoll, C.S. Lewis, Max Lucado

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Family, Life

For Mother’s Day we had all the kids over for a cook out. During the evening my smallest granddaughter who is five years old brought me her play phone and tells me to push the little bear button and listen to the song. I did as instructed and it played twinkle twinkle little star while she sat on my lap.

Yesterday (Monday) I went home for lunch and was alone in the house and everything was quiet. Her little phone was laying by my chair and I picked it up and pushed the little bear button and that song began to play. Tears almost welled up in my eyes thinking about how my precious little granddaughter wanted me to hold her and listen to that song. I had a moment. One of those that you just know you will remember from now on. One of those impressions that leaves a soft spot on your heart.

In life you never know how many more moments you have. It is crystal clear that while there may be other moments similar to that moment, there will never be another one exactly like it. When I go home at night and when the family comes over, my phone is turned on silent and plugged into the charger. Like that evening, all the people I most love are in the room with me and therefore there is no need to check for messages. I have all the messages I need at that moment. One of those messages was holding my little granddaughter and listening together to the song, twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. KT

Selling against elimination

Career

Here is something that people in business just never think about but it is so very true. Let’s say you are interviewing for a job and there are ten other people waiting to be interviewed as well. The person interviewing you is NOT looking for a reason to hire you? They are looking for a way to eliminate you from consideration. Sounds strange, right? It is the same in our business when we do presentations to be hired.

The person interviewing you is looking for faults and a reason to move on to the next person. They don’t even know that they are doing it because no one ever really thinks about it. Let’s say you are looking to hire a firm to sell or market something. People in the decision process unknowingly look for the firms with the fewest flaws. Many times, the person presenting needs to answer questions before they are asked. To do this you need to think like the person interviewing you and ask yourself, what is most important to him/her and then gear your presentation around those things. When you answer their questions before they ask them, it leaves a very important impression with them and makes you memorable and that is one of the keys to winning the job or the account.

Asking yourself, if I was in their shoes, what would be the most important points to consider? Other than not showing up with food in your teeth, this is probably the most important thing you can do to prepare for an interview. You want to leave the room having made an impression because when they compare notes, it is the things you said and did different that the others that makes you stand out when the decision is made. KT

The horse named Secretariat

Career, Family, Life

Last weekend I was watching the Kentucky Derby and remembered going to the Derby a few years back. What an event. The Derby will draw almost 200k people rain or shine and is one of the top sporting events in America.

In 1973, history was made by a horse named Secretariat and many of his records of the three races that make up the triple crown, still holds today. His margin of win at the Belmont stakes has never been even close to duplicated.

The thing about this story that impresses me is that the horse, its owner, its trainer and its jockey were never supposed to win. They didn’t come from the right background, the right location and had no history of winning and they were shunned from the establishment and told they didn’t have what it takes. That is why I love this story.

If you haven’t watched the movie Secretariat, you should rent it and watch it. It is simply an inspiring movie about not listening to what others say about how far you will go in life and your potential. We all have those types of people (and even family members) in our life that speak words of discouragement to you. The movie is about reaching your God given potential and shutting out what others think about you.

In our office at Avison Young, I have an original picture of Secretariat taken at the finish line of the Belmont Stakes in 1973 signed by the jockey, Ron Turcotte. The picture shows the 31 length (length of a horse) winning margin at the Belmont Stakes, the race that won Secretariat the Triple Crown in 1973. That same year, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes and all three records still stand today. Secretariat was named the 35th best athlete of the 20th century, and I believe the only animal to ever be so named. He was simply the best race horse of all time.

Why am I writing about a horse? See, the horse was owned by Penny Chenery who had no experience in horse racing and was a woman and very much unwelcomed by the establishment. The trainer, Lucien Laurin, had never trained a horse that won any triple crown events, and he was considered by many, a loser. The jockey, Ron Turcotte, was unproven as a competitor and shunned by the racing establishment. Secretariat was never supposed to be fast and or be able to run long distances because of his bloodline; in short, because of who his parents were. There was no reason to expect any success from this team because they didn’t come from the right class of folks, grow up in the right places, and come from the right family. Sound familiar?

If you look at the greatest inventors, the greatest leaders, and the greatest wealth creators, they mostly come from backgrounds and environments that should have limited their success and ensured they would only achieve average at best. The story of this horse is like many of us, we’ve been told we will never make it and we don’t have the education, talent, looks or background to go very far in life. Yet somehow, God has a different plan if we will listen to him. KT