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

Coming back from a loss, defeat or failure is one of the hardest things in life to do. In our personal life or our work life it is hard to come back from a setback like not being chosen, not being hired, losing an account, not making the sale, relationship break up, divorce, bad heath report and the list could go on for pages. In my simple way of thinking we really have three options when negative life events happen. Option one is to quit, option two is not care anymore and option three (my personal favorite) is to double down and try even harder the next time.

I was with a hotel development firm last week and he told me one of the greatest stories I have ever heard. They build and own hotels and he had this building contractor that kept calling him and coming by to see him. He brushed him seven times and the eight time he showed up at his office, he said ok, I must meet this guy. Long story short, they met, liked each other and developed 80 hotels together after that eight time he stopped by. What if the contractor had stopped at seven and quit trying? Well, we know the answer.

In 2008 and 2009, the economy was falling apart and I believe we got only six hotels closed that year. We lost a bunch of money and it seemed that every deal would get started good and then fall apart one after the other. I had one of my friends ask me, “Keith, how do you keep going forward when everything we do seems to fail.” I answered him “keep trying is the only thing I know to do because if I quit trying, we might as well close up shop and go home.” That friend kept trying and weathered the downturn just like we did and has done well in the business but that day when he came to me, if I had told him I was ready to quit, he would have gladly joined me in the unemployment line.

In the bible, one day Jesus said something that caused a big stir and half of his followers walked away from him. Jesus looked at his 12 disciples and said “If any of you want to quit too, you can leave now.” Ha.

In business, life and sports there are more examples of how perseverance and staying the course, helped people get through the tough times and enabled them to succeed. So, back to the options listed above. Do you quit, stop caring anymore or double down and persevere your way through? I don’t know about you, but I choose to keep trying. KT