Elaine and I were eating at the Waffle House recently and our waiter was a young man whose name tag said nonbdy. Yes, that is how he spelled it. He introduced himself and said, “hello my may is nobody and I will be your server.” Elaine asked if that was the name on his birth certificate. He said it was his name on his Waffle House nametag. We were like, allllrighty then….

It made me think about my dream when I was a young man. I wanted to be somebody. Clearly, I haven’t made it yet (ha), but I wanted more in life that just an existence and then death. I wanted to leave my family more than just and old car and some life insurance. I wanted to be somebody that would be remembered. Well, I am still working on that dream, but if you go to the Waffle House at Eagles Landing, nonbdy will take your order and he might get half of it right. ha

What does it mean to be somebody? It doesn’t mean you must be wealthy or famous. The Keith Thompson definition of becoming somebody is – to be the best version of yourself you can be. That’s it. That’s the somebody God wants you to be.

When you pass away, will there be sadness because of the void you left, or will there be joy that you are finally gone? I have known people that their death brought joy instead of sadness. What a terrible thing to have your death rejoiced by those you love. It means they are glad you are gone. I would like to believe that at my homecoming, I will leave a void because I meant something to my family. The only people I want to be somebody for, have their picture hanging our refrigerator. They are the ones I want to be somebody for. KT

Have you ever had little irritations pile up and accumulate into something bigger? As the little irritations happen, you just roll with them as they come along. After a while, the little irritations that ordinarily wouldn’t affect you, start to affect you. It’s called the pilling on theory.

Perfect personal example is me. Over the past year, the slowdown in hotel transactions (because of interest rates) has caused several of our people to leave for greener pastures. These were just normal business things that happen. Not usually a big deal. Then in our country, we have some shifting views politicly, that are troubling. Well,,,,, last week one of my neighbors got a little huffy with me about some shrubs between our houses and it really irritated me. When I stepped back, I realized it wasn’t the business things, the political things or the shrub thing, it was just the accumulation of lot of little irritations. I realized I hadn’t dealt with the little things as they came along and let it pile up on me.

So, I had to take a step back and realize it will all be ok. The market will rebound, God is still in control of the political landscape and the shrub issue will be settled the old, fashion way, go and sit down with my neighbor and get it resolved. My advice (to myself) is to deal with the bumps and scrapes of life as they come along and not let them build up. If you don’t handle the little things, they can turn into big things, and you don’t want that. Its better to start every day with a clean slate because you stay more in control, and you have a more balanced life. KT

This past weekend, Elaine and I visited Jekyll Island and stayed at the historic Jekyll Island club Resort Hotel. The Hotel was built in 1888 after a group of ultra wealthy people bought the whole island a couple of years before. At its peak there were 121 members of the club with such names as Rockefeller, Astor, Gould, JP Morgan, Vanderbilt, Pulitzer and many others. It was said that in 1900, the club members controlled 1/sixth of the World’s wealth. At the time, the world’s wealth was roughly 2 trillion dollars. Today the total is closer to 454 trillion.

Many of these families built homes (they called them cottages) around the hotel. Every meal was an event and many of the homes didn’t have kitchens, so the meals were taken at the club hotel. It was said that if a husband and wife came for the summer, the wife would need to bring 90 dresses because it was unconscionable to wear the same dress twice because someone may remember it.

So, 1/sixth of two trillion dollars of the world wealth was roughly 350 billion dollars. That was what the Jekyll Club members controlled in 1900. Imagine what that much money was like when a car cost $500 and a nice home could be purchased for around $3,000. Someone at that time that was gainfully employed earned about $500 per year. So, to buy a new car was a whole year’s salary.

Several things took place at Jekyll that changes the landscape of America. First – the Federal Reserve (yes, the big one in the news everyday) was created in 1913 at Jekyll Island. Second-the first US transcontinental phone call in 1915 was also listened to from Jekyll Island. Third – The first condominium ownership building in the US was built at Jekyll Island. Many other inventions, industry creations, mergers, acquisitions etc. took place among those people that were members of the Jekyll Island Club.

Needless to say, I love history and especially hotel history, but I came away with two thoughts. First – we cannot dwell on (get lost in) the success and history (even if it is captivating) of other people. Two – all those people that started the Jekyll Island Club are gone and it is our turn. Let’s make our turn count. KT

A couple weekends ago we went to a Doobie Brothers concert (yes, they are still performing) and the place was packed. Best I can tell, there are still three of the original Doobies performing in the group and yes, they are old, but they still sound the same.

A couple years ago, I lost a dear friend in my same line of work to a sudden heart attack. His funeral was like going to a hotel investor conference. The who’s who of the hotel industry were all there to pay their respects. So back to the concert, there was a guy there directing people that could have been my friend’s twin. I took a picture and sent it to a couple of buds that I used to work with and each one had the same reaction. It was like looking at my friend who passed away.

I came away with a (not unheard of) profound epiphany. When you pass away, everything you have accomplished (business wise) quickly fades away and all that is left is the mark you leave on your family. Did you leave them knowing you loved them unconditionally, did you teach them the right values, will they be ok after you are gone, and many more similar questions. As I sat there listening to Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers sing songs from 50 years ago, I realized how fragile and temporary life really was.

Shortly after you pass away, all the business accolades and accomplishments will fade away and you will only be remembered by your family on how well you did as a father, mother, husband or wife. Everything else fades away. Choose wisely on where you spend your focus. KT

I want to tell you a story about Andrew Carnegie and a young business consultant named Frederick Taylor.

Andrew Carnegie led the expansion of the American Steel Industry in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and was one of the wealthiest Americans in history. Today when you think of wealth, you may think of Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg etc. While they are a good benchmark, at the end of Andrew Carnegie’s life, his wealth (in today’s dollars) was estimated to be 372 billion which well exceeds that of today’s tech giants.

The story goes that in 1890, Carnegie met a young business consultant named Frederick Taylor at a cocktail party in Pittsburgh. Carnegie told the young man, if he could give him some good advice about how to manage more effectively, he would pay him $10,000. In today’s dollars that is $280,000. Frederick told him to make a daily list of the top ten most important things he needed to accomplish that day and put a number next to each item with the most important being #1, then #2 and so forth until there was a priority number next to each item. He told Carnegie to stay on #1 until the task was either completed or he had taken it as far that day as he could. Only then, move to #2 and so forth through the list. A week later Andrew Carnegie sent Frederick Taylor a check for $10,000 ($280,000 today) and told him it was the greatest business and management advice he has ever received. Andrew Carnegie went on to build one of the greatest fortunes in America history all because he made a daily priority list and then followed the list.

Now for true funny story. Last week, I was in Costco picking up some things and went to check out at the self-check area. You scan your member card and then scan each item and place them on this big tray until after you pay. I used my credit card and waited for the receipt to pop out and then proceeded pushing my cart to the door where the sweet lady checks your receipt. We exchange pleasantries and I hand her my receipt. She looks at my cart and then at the receipt and says, “where is your stuff?” Confused, I look down at the cart and realize it was empty and I had left all the stuff I just purchased on the big tray at the self-check-out. I laughed out loud and went back where my stuff was still sitting on the checkout tray and standing next to it, was a manager that had a confused look on his face.   

Closing – Start your workday off with a written plan (a numbered list,) because who knows, it may help you as it has helped me all these years. Best. KT