I have watched and lived the last 100 days as the real estate world has changed (possibly long term) due to the COVID crisis. For the lodging, leisure and travel industry, it has been devastating. It has been devastating because as my friend Dave Akridge likes to say, it is unprecedented.

The one thing I have yet to see or hear is anyone standing up and admitting they were possibly at fault for poor decisions. Everyone it seems wants to blame someone else or something else and nowhere (so far) is the person who simply says, “I was wrong, and it is my fault.”

I remember when I was starting out in the restaurant business and was the director over seven Mrs. Winners that were converting to Wendy’s. I oversaw all operations and the entire construction process. As a young man, it was a little daunting.

I remember once we converted the Ga Tech location to a Wendy’s and the very first month, our cost and expenses were way out of line, and we lost money. The investors I worked for were all sitting around the table and ready to hand me my hat. They expected me (like most people) to blame the situation on this or that event etc. as the reason for the loss. They were so mad they were red faced. I looked at them and told them it was all my fault and if they wanted to fire me, I would understand.

Their steam and anger just went poof and they didn’t know what to say. I told them in detail where I needed to make changes and what the plan was. I left the meeting and they were satisfied on the plan. Had I refused to take blame; it probably would have ended very differently.

The point is, it is ok to take the blame if the mistake was in truth, your fault. It is really the only right answer. In life you will find that people will respect you more and put more confidence in you if they know you are honest. There are so many passages in the bible about this very subject it would take three pages to list them all. In psalms it is referenced as being upright with integrity. The fact is we all make mistakes and not admitting it, generally makes the mistake worse.

Whatever the situation, financial, business, family, relationships, jobs etc. people will think more you if you admit to being at fault. It makes you real, trustworthy, approachable and memorable. In short it tells them who you really are. The world needs more of this. KT

Sometimes things just happen in life. They weren’t planned but just showed up.

Years ago, I was flying to a meeting with a guy and got to the airport and the flight was delayed several hours. I was frustrated and anxious about missing the meeting and he said something to me that I have adopted as my own ever since. He said, “when things happen like this, I choose to see it as God protecting me from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” From then on, when something unexpected happened, I just whispered a silent prayer of thanks for God making me take a pause.

A vehicle GPS is an amazing thing. God’s spiritual GPS is even more amazing. They both have one thing in common. When you miss a turn, they will (if you will listen) try to redirect you to the same planned destination. You will get there but just a little later than expected. KT

120 years ago, the two richest men in America battled it out, for the number one slot. John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were vastly more wealthy than any of the tech moguls today. John D was worth at his peak, 300 billion in today’s dollars. Andrew Carnegie was worth at his peak between 350 and 375 billion.

To put that in perspective, depending on stock value, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are considered the two wealthiest people in the world. Bezos at 116 billion and Gates at 100 billion. That means that Rockefeller and Carnegie were worth three rimes what Bezos and Gates are worth.

But that still wasn’t enough for either one of them. The title is “enough is sometimes never enough.” Rockefeller and Carnegie fought like dogs to destroy the other and were vehement enemies. You ask, “they had so much money, why couldn’t they be satisfied with enough.” That is the point. Sometimes, not every time, enough is not enough. These two men fought, strived, battled and probably lost sleep and years of joy over what? Who was going to be the richest?

When you look at sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, weight, food, exercise etc. you can see what I mean. When you start down that road, it is common to think, just a little more, and that will be enough. I will use a silly example, so I don’t have to get into the real important issues mentioned above. Let say you like Cheetos. You buy a big bag and carry it over to your chair while you watch TV. You say to yourself; I am just going to eat a few. Well, you eat a few and then eat a few more and before you know it, half the bag is gone. Then you say well, I might as well finish them off, so you eat the whole bag. You just wolfed down 4k calories in one sitting because enough was not enough? Ha

In life we need to set boundaries in everything we do. There needs to be a stopping point. Forrest Gump started out running down the driveway and ended a few months later, running across America. Ha. That is not what we do in real life. If you are a runner, everyone knows you decide before you start, how far you will run that day. No runner just goes out and runs until he gets tired. No one.

The point is, in the real issues of life, find satisfaction in enough. You will find that people with the most joy, best sleep and greatest satisfaction are the ones you said, enough is enough. KT