If you want to be ready when the big things and big decisions come along, focus on the little things first. Being competent in the small things builds confidence in your heart to better handle the big things. Many small tasks are not seen by other people, but you still know in your heart if you did it right. It is that knowing that builds your self-esteem and self-confidence so when the big things come along, you are better prepared to handle them.

Years ago, I was the chairman of deacons at my church and one of the responsibilities was to cover the notes and minutes from one meeting to the next. I asked this retired State Trooper friend to handle the minutes for the deacons. The next deacon meeting rolled around and I asked this gentleman to give a report on the minutes and it was so well written and well prepared I was stunned. The level of detail in his report was impressive. I thought to myself, here is a man that gives great attention to every detail, and he probably handles everything in his life the same way. It made an impression on me and taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten. If there was ever a big assignment that was needed, he would be the guy I would go to.

Think of your job/business and how you handle the small things. If you are dismissive on the little things there is probably a chance you are the same way with the big things. When you do well on the little things, even when no one is watching, it simply changes how you approach all decisions, all tasks, and all assignments. Therefore, if you want to handle the important decisions well, be thorough in the little things and you would be surprised how many people ask you to handle larger things, including God. KT

You have heard people say that we will never cause change in our life until we make the decision to do so? I want to expound on that just a little,

I have only seen what I am going to try and describe only a few times in my life. I had a friend who was in a very complicated and complex area of commercial real estate, and he went on to become the nationally recognized authority in his field. I knew him before and after this transformation. I was close to him when this shift occurred, and I have thought about this many times. What he did was almost biblical in nature, and I don’t use that term lightly. One day he was like everyone else and the next day he was different. The only explanation I have is that he just decided one night he was the authority, not going to try and be, but was. It was the single most amazing transformation of a person’s mindset I had ever witnessed first-hand.

There is a vast divide between becoming something and being something. He decided he was that person and from that day forward he acted like he was and guess what; he became that person. I saw it change how he handled every client, every call, and every interaction in the business. He was like a totally different person.

Zig Zigler used to tell people his wife was a decided red head. He said she just decided one day to be a redhead. It’s the same type thing I am talking about.  As we look at our lives I think of areas like relationships, money, work ethic, production, marriage, parenthood, health, career, and we never make changes until we decide to make a change. That said, have you ever just decided that you are something that you weren’t yesterday? When we do make those levels of decisions it changes our life. Like deciding one day you are a good father or mother and it’s amazing how you began acting like that. It you want to be a runner, decide that you are a runner and yes, it will still hurt as much when you start but your mind set will be different. God has given us an amazing mental capacity, but most people don’t use all its resources. Pick out some change you want to make and just decide you are that person, and you will see what I mean. KT

We have two little hammerhead dogs that I love. They do three things very well. Eat, pee, and show you love. That’s it. They are always ready for one of those three things.

The thing about dogs is, they can see into your soul. They know who you really are, and they never judge you. They know if you are kind or cruel, truth teller or liar, honest or dishonest. When they look at you in the eyes, they really see you.

One of our dogs is a little fat Sheltie that is my buddy. It doesn’t matter what kind of day I have had; he is always there to settle me and always forgiving and, in a sense, show unconditional love. He doesn’t do tricks, in fact, I can’t get him to fetch to save my life. When I say fetch and throw the ball, he hears, I love boy and just stay right here with me. Ha

There are several examples of true unconditional love in our lives. A love so strong that it will never break regardless of our actions. That is the way a dog looks at you. Total unconditional love. It tickles me sometimes when both dogs are laying in the floor without a care in the world. Just happy to be there and always ready for a scratch or a treat.

Our other dog is a four-pound Yorkie who thinks she is the ruler and boss of the world. She manhandles that little fat Sheltie like a sponge ball. He just lets her do what she is going to do and roles with the punches. The thing about both dogs is, every night they both want to be held a little and scratched and they reciprocate with those eyes that say, I love you. It is easy to see why dogs become like part of your family and while they don’t usually live past their teens, if you measured life by pure enjoyment, they all live to be 100 years old. KT

We as a hotel group had a strategy session this week where we discussed all sorts of brand initiatives, image advertising, email, text, website, social media, and a plethora of other ways to reach our audience. The funny part though, at the end of the session we all agreed that no amount of advertising money and no strategy for greater reach will ever replace a personal phone call that leads to a face-to-face meeting. Isn’t that something? All the stuff we have today to make life and business quicker, faster, and easier still pale in comparison to the old fashion phone.

After the meeting I went back and looked at how many hotel transactions I was personally involved with back in the early 90’s. You know what? I was selling as many hotels then as I am now. Back then we didn’t have internet, cell phones, email, websites, yada yada. All we had was a business card, baggy suit, big smile, and the hole in our car trunk lid where our car phone antenna used to be. Ha  

You know what we did when we listed a hotel? We went to our office and started calling our clients to tell them about it. What a novel idea! It was effective then and even with all the advances we have today, it is still the most effective and rarely used method.

Today, if you walk into a millennial’s office and tell him/her you want them to start making phone calls, they look at you like you have lost your mind. Many of them have never seen an actual wall mounted phone.

There are simply some very important things you will never get from an email, snapchat, or text. It is called personal service. KT

In the world of selling hotels (or selling anything else.) nothing replaces the value of competition. Every buyer of anything will tell you they want an off market (noncompetitive) deal, but they really don’t. Whether you are buying a house, car or a hotel, there is great value in you knowing there are other buyers ready to step in. It forces you to make the decision to either buy it or past it up. No one will say this out loud, but they need to know other people want it as bad as they do, which in turn validates the value in their minds.  

The worst thing you can do in real estate is work with one buyer. I have experienced this many times. If that one buyer believes he/she is the only buyer, he/she will never stop trying to sweeten the deal one nickel and dime at a time. The reason is they think they are in control and are the only ones interested in the deal. Therefore, competition is always needed.

When we get a hotel under contract, we continue to market a hotel until all the contingencies are satisfied. In fact, we ramp up the marketing to demonstrate to the current buyer that there is competition. When a buyer threatening to back out of a contract, the best words you can say is, “I understand, and we wish you the very best on another deal.” This always catches the buyer off guard because he expects you to begin explaining how great the deal is and why he should buy it. What he doesn’t expect you to do is say, ok.

When I purchased my truck earlier this year (don’t laugh) there we no less than four other men standing in the lobby ready to buy it if I didn’t. Say what you want, but the fact that four other people were ready to buy it, made me want it even more. Therefore, auctions work so well because there is always competition wanting the same deal. Even buying or selling something on eBay is exciting for the same reason.

In life, people sometimes don’t want what they already have until they realize they might lose it. KT