For me that was hotel brokerage. I barely graduated from high school, and I stuttered, so getting a professional job just wasn’t in the cards for me. I will never forget the first hotel I sold but I remember vividly the second one I sold. It was the second one where I knew I had found my calling. Finding that one thing you can do well is a gift that doesn’t come along but maybe a couple times in a person’s life. If you miss it, you may be missing what and who you were supposed to be.

Every once in a while, something comes along that changes who we are. Take the person that becomes a doctor, lawyer, politician, salesperson, speaker, CPA, pastor, fire fighter etc. there is always that one moment when it moves from your head to your heart and you just know, ok, this is what I am supposed to do. That’s the way it was for me, and I am sure for many of you as well.

As you go through life you must have your radio (heart) tuned to the God channel if you expect to hear it. You must be always listening because you never know when that “once in a while something” comes along. KT

When automobile sales were ramping up after Ford was formed in 1903, there were thousands of people that said there was no way they would buy a car and give up their horses. It is the same with most every invention as they came along. A few examples are the phone, electricity, airplanes, air conditioning, gas stoves, highways, computers etc.

I remember when the blackberry replaced the cell phone. You could download all your contacts to the blackberry and see who was calling you versus just seeing a phone number pop up. I remember carrying the blackberry for emails, but I also carried a separate cell phone because I didn’t fully trust the Blackberry would work. The first time I saw a guy holding up the Blackberry taking a call, I thought that it was the dumbest looking thing I had ever seen. It looked like he was holding a shoe up to his ear. Ha

The point is there will always be innovation and the tendency is usually to immediately push back from change. All change is not all good and we don’t have to adopt everything that comes along. I think the older I get, the less I like change, but I do think that riding in a car when it is cold outside trumps riding a horse. KT

In my line of work (hotel brokerage) it always tickles me when I hear other hotel brokers talking about this big deal or that big deal. It is almost like the big deal will validate them as a hotel broker. Its like baseball, many more games are won by solid base hits than the one home run that lands in the upper deck. It looks impressive but rarely does it win the game.

My guess is it is like that in many, if not most professions. What I am saying is the goal shouldn’t be periodic greatness, it should be consistency over a long period of time. When I hire a young broker, I won’t even let him make a call on a big deal. All they are allowed to work on for the first year are small deals. That is where they learn about people, business, emotions and all the steps to a successful transaction. If I let the new guy work on a big deal, he is going to try to only work on big deals and within two years he will be working somewhere else. I have often said, the big deal doesn’t prepare you for real living. It is that ugly deal that consumes your time and patience where you really learn the business.

When I go to a hotel investor conferences it always amazes me how many young guns are talking about doing a big deal. They all have an investment fund, but no one is funded. Big difference. You can spot them when you get out of the cab. Their pants are tight with a short suit jacket, no tie, long pointy shiny shoes, and multicolored socks. They all have a good pound of gel in their hair, and they have this slight constipation look on their face. Ha

Consistency is the key to a long career in just about any profession. It is not the flash in the pan, here today, gone tomorrow program. I have found that the more you know the less you must talk because people want to hear what you actually have to say. KT

The following story is an excerpt from the book, The Man in the Mirror by Patrick Morely. It is a story that embodies a father’s love for their children. A love like no other and a love so powerful that they would lay down their life for their children. To a father, laying down his life for their child is a decision that needs no thought, no contemplation and no hesitation. It is instant and never wavering. Please read the story below:

Phil Littleford took his son on an Alaskan fishing trip with two other men. In a quest to find some running salmon, they flew their seaplane to a secluded bay. The fishing was everything they had dreamed. When they finished for the day, their plane was on dry ground. The fluctuating tide left their plane twenty-three feet from the water so they cooked some of their fish for dinner and slept in the plane.

When they awoke, the tide had come in and their plane was drifting in the water. They cranked the engine and took off. Unknown to them, one of the pontoons had been punctured and was filled with water. The extra weight caused the seaplane to crash within moments. Everyone survived, but they had no safety equipment on board. They used their waders as floating devices but the frigid water was a deadly threat. The current was too strong for Dr. Littleford’s twelve-year-old son to swim against. The other two men fought their way against the tide and barely made it to shore. The two survivors looked back from shore to see Dr. Littleford and his son Mark being swept out to sea, arm-in-arm.

The Coast Guard reported that they probably lasted no more than an hour in the freezing waters. The hypothermia would chill the body functions and put them to sleep. Mark, with a smaller body mass would fall asleep first and die in his father’s arms. Dr. Littleford could have made it to shore, but that would have meant abandoning his son. He chose to die with his son.

The question that is almost unthinkable is the last words that father said to his son. I feel certain that they included, I love you son. KT

We live in a world where there are many points of division that the news media try to get us to believe. There are too many to list entirely but to name a few: where you live, who you are, how you vote, education, race, background, religion, financial, cool, or uncool, height, weight, hair, and the list is endless.

Over the last couple of years there are two words/soundbites if you will, that many think are a new thing. Inclusion and lean in.

I am here to tell you that neither term is new. They were both addressed in the bible thousands of years ago. Jesus said, “whosoever will, may come.” Whosoever means anyone and everyone regardless of all the differences we are told to see today. Anyone is welcomed, included, and accepted.

The book of proverbs uses the term lean when it says, “lean not on you own understanding. Another translation is “lean into me.”

As we go through our lives today, dwell on the word “whosoever” a little bit. There is no separation. It is so clear and so very simple. As you read or listen to the news today it would do us all good to remember that the creator of the universe accepts whosoever will come. KT