The definition of fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is likely to cause pain. Common synonyms for fear include alarm, panic, agitation, trepidation, dread, consternation, dismay and distress.

Fear is that one thing that holds you back. I choose the term “one thing” because in most cases it is the one thing you are the most afraid of that can manifest itself in many ways and in many forms but it is my opinion that the root is usually found in the fear or anxiety attached to one thing.

Over the years I have hired and trained many hotel brokers. I wished I could tell you that all of them were successful and learned the business but that would incorrect. Everyone comes with their own customized set of luggage. I call it the baggage of life. It is the past pain and past failures that people carry with them through life. Unless this baggage is dealt with, you will carry it all the way to your funeral.

When I think of a person that has allowed fear to control them, I think of the metaphor of a lovely house on a beautiful street that termites have eaten the inside. The fear of action can cause someone to focus on cutting the grass and painting the shutters on a house that is falling apart on the inside. It looks good from the street but the inside is a mess. If the house is not fixed on the inside first, it will eventually began to fall apart on the outside. Many people you see today look good on the outside but are crumbling on the inside because of a fear that they have let overtake their life.

Fear is like a water leak in your house. It starts in one room and keeps spreading until it is all through the house. A water leak (fear) can be hidden for a while but at some point it will affect everything.

The only way I know to address a fear is to go at it head first. I am not saying if you have a fear of jumping off the roof, you should go jump off the roof. What I am saying is that if you have a fear that you know is holding you back in life, when it sticks its head up, call it by name and speak to it (not out loud) and tell it you refuse to be controlled by it any longer. If you are a believer, a little prayer on the subject is also good. The more you address it and rebuke it, the stronger your resistance will become and one day you will realize that the fear that once controlled you, doesn’t have a hold on you anymore. KT

Not all course corrections are bad. Some in fact, save your life and put you in the place God can best use you.

Let’s say you are a college ball player who is destined to pay pro ball. Your hopes and dreams are all rolled up in the life you envision as a pro athlete. What if you get hurt and can’t play anymore? What do you do then?

Let’s say the company you have worked for many years gets sold or goes out of business. What do you do then?

Let’s say there are unexpected health issues. What do you do then?

Let’s say you lose your business or your job or you get transferred to another state. What do you do then?

Let’s say a friend or family member betrays or lies to you. What do you do then?

What I am trying to say is that the “then” in all these situations is where reality meets life. I have a plaque handing on my wall of Payne Stewart winning the US Open in June 1999. That October he boarded a private Learjet in Orlando heading to Dallas. Everyone on board died when there was a fault in the Oxygen supply on the plane. 4 hours later the plane ran out of fuel and crashed in South Dakota.

On the plaque hanging on my wall is a statement by Payne Steward. He said, “The thing about dreams is sometimes you get to live them out.” Payne didn’t get to live out his dreams. In the example above, the college athlete who got hurt didn’t get to live out his either. What happens then?

Why am I telling you this? Not every course correction is bad but they all make you look deep at what is important in your life. Many times the course correction enables you to do something else you would have never imagined yourself doing.

I had a course correction in 1990 when I almost went broke in the restaurant business that forced me to find something else to do. That is how I became a hotel broker. God knew all along that I was not supposed to be in the restaurant business, rather I was supposed to be a hotel broker. It took the loss of one direction to get my attention and move me in another direction.

So, not every course correction is bad. God knows where he wants you to be and you just have to be ok with his direction and not yours. KT

I was on the phone today with one of our sellers and I said something that I had not planned to say. In business there are financial reasons for a decision and then there are personal reasons. The personal reasons in my experience outweigh the financial.

In the call, I told him about our granddaughters spending last night at our house and how this morning while I was drinking coffee, they both crawled up in my lap. I looked down at my babies and knew at that moment, this would be a memory I would carry for the rest of my life. I went on to tell our client that many selling decisions are about more than just money. I told him that when I get to the one yard line of life before being called home, I will not be thinking about our call together but I would be thinking about that morning in 2016 when both of my grand babies were sitting in my lap together.

Perspective is a powerful thing that God gives us along the way to keep us in line. In the decisions you make this week, month and year, try as best you can to add a little perspective to why you are making that decision. KT