One of the most powerful passages of scripture is found in Genesis 50:20. It is the account of what Joseph said to his brothers after they tried to harm him. It could also be referred to when other people try to hurt you, harm you, say wrong things to discredit you or try to hold you down.

The story of Joseph is too long to detail in this blog but in summary, his brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery to get rid of him and told their father that he was killed. The father wept over his son who he thought was killed. Years later the brothers fell on very hard times and had to come begging in Egypt for food only to find out when they got there that Joseph, their brother they tried to get rid of, was the assistant ruler in Egypt. Imagine the looks on their faces when they realized that the brother they sold into slavery is now in charge of their future.

What is amazing about this passage of scripture is that not only did Joseph forgive his brothers for what they had done, he told them “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.” Take a minute and let those words penetrate your heart.

He didn’t try to harm the brothers for what they did. Instead he spoke a very profound statement that restored the relationship with his brothers. If Joseph was living today, the words may have been something like this, “I know you tried to hurt me with what you did but God took what you did and turned it into a good thing for me. Be careful what you do in the future because God has my back.

Joseph made the decision to forgive his brothers rather than live his life in anger, hatred and strife. Forgiveness is probably one of the most freeing decisions you can ever make because THE person you are most helping is yourself.  KT

The term “Following the herd” means that you just do the same thing everyone else is doing. Remember when we were in school and one of our friends would say “come on, everyone is doing it?” When I hear these words, I usually run the other way. I don’t like crowds and I don’t like following for the sake of following.

I have two daughters who are in their early 30’s and while I am very proud of how they life their life and the women that have become, I am especially proud that they are not followers. They are leaders. Even in school they both thought for themselves and did not do things just because everyone else was doing it.

In business, I have witnessed the herd mentality more times than I can count. Invariably when everyone starts wanting the same thing and chasing the same investment, it usually ends bad. More times than not, when you just follow the herd, you will end up in the same place as the herd. In the last cycle (08-09) I watched hundreds of hotel investors fail because they did what everyone else was doing and thought it would be ok.

I think of the oil/ fracking markets within the US. Three years ago, oil was at $105 a barrel and hotel companies were following the herd and building as many hotels in those markets as they could get the loans for. They all bought into the idea that the markets would last forever. In 2014 oil companies were buying used camping trailers in Georgia and shipping them to the oil markets and selling them for three times what they paid for them. They could not get enough housing for the oil workers and couldn’t build hotels fast enough. Well, the oil markets fell apart two years ago and most of those investors that followed the herd were impacted. Some lost their whole companies.

So, the point is that just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean you should do it. Think for yourself and follow your own heart. While you may not be as popular as the herd, you will be making your own decisions and setting you own course in life. KT

When I look at stories of people who have done well and made a difference in the world, many times when you look at their beginnings, the experts didn’t believe they had what it takes.

Many people that made it in business, art, inventions, pastors, sales or sports did not have people that believed in them and in most cases, even the experts in their field gave them a low probability of succeeding.

While there are many stories to choose from, I want to talk about Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots. In the 2000 NFL draft, Tom Brady’s draft number was 199. He was the 33^rd pick in the 6th round. Just to put this in perspective, let’s say you are in school again and out on the playground where two captains are picking the teams and you stand waiting and then stand waiting some more until all the good players are picked ahead of you. When we were in school, we all have probably been in that school yard or playground situation where we were not picked first and the more names that were called ahead of yours, the more degraded and worst you felt.

So, Tom Brady listened as 198 players were called ahead of him. The following is the true draft report on Tom Brady written by the NFL experts.

Poor Build, Skinny, lacks great physical stature and strength, lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush, lacks a strong arm, can’t drive the ball downfield, does not throw a tight spiral, system-type player who can get exposed if forced to ad-lib and finally – gets knocked down easily. That is verbatim what the experts wrote about Tom Brady.

Fast forward to today. He has won five super bowls which is more than any other quarterback in history and he is also one of the oldest (40 years old) quarterbacks to still play the game and is recognized today as the best football player of all time.

So, the experts get it wrong many times. The thing about Tom Brady that none of the experts noticed was the strength of his mind and his will to win. I guess it could be said that the way we look on the outside and our lack of talent really doesn’t matter. It’s what’s on the inside that determines our life and what we can accomplish.

Let me say that one last time. It could be said that the way we look on the outside and our lack of talent really doesn’t matter. It’s what’s on the inside that determines our life and what we can accomplish. KT