Water slide

We are at Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. We were at the top of a water slide and my daughter was afraid and wanted to back out. Kids and adults had made it to the bottom successfully all day with no injury. So why was she afraid?

Fear of the unknown is the worst fear. It's  misuse of your imagination. Some fear is good for you. You shouldn't stand outside during a tornado or lightning storm. Often the fear we experience will never happen. We stress our mind and body for no reason.

She did go down the slide and was waiting at the bottom with a huge smile on her face! The best part was that she was ready to go right back up. So go ahead and take that leap. You'll be fine. No, you'll be great!

Human Nature

I recently returned from Charleston to panic and frustration in the city of Murfreesboro, TN. I learned that we had an apparent gas shortage. A pipeline has ruptured, disrupting the supply to Tennessee.

The media said it was only temporary and not to rush out to buy gas and certainly don't panic. So why were there lines to the street with many stations only allowing a certain number of gallons to be purchased? Some stations were out completely.

It's human nature. "If everyone else stays in, I'll get there first and get my gas." Guess what? Everyone is thinking that! I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm saying humans are predictable.

Once you can learn how humans behave, you can be successful in business. You can learn how to serve them based on that behavior.

Average

My son brought home his progress report last week. He had made four "A's" and one "C". You might think that he had a great report. It was not acceptable because of the standard we have set in our household. We don't settle for average.

Most people go through life just trying to get by. They are just keeping their head above water to maintain that "C". You often hear, "At least I'm not failing!" They have set the bar too low.

Do you eat at restaurants that have a "C" average for food quality or rush to book that "C" quality hotel? What if your heart surgeon maintained a "C" average in college? Then why do we accept that from our children and ourselves?

How do we fix the "C' mentality? We sat down with our son and reviewed what brought his grade down and made sure he understood how to fix it. He had misunderstood one assignment and made an extremely low grade. He is now working to bring the grade up.

If we had just been fine with "average", we would not have given him a chance to grow.

Why climb the mountain?

Adolph Rupp said "When you see a man on top of a mountain, you can be sure he didn't fall there." 

I recently watched a documentary on an expedition to climb K2 where 11 people died. It made me think, why did they risk there life to climb a mountain? Most of the time they only stay a few short minutes at the summit and have to begin the dangerous descent.

Many of the ones who survived had do have their toes removed due to frost bite. There lives were altered forever. Some of those continued to find ways to climb other mountains.

Life is always easier looking up at the mountain. One thing is for sure, you can't climb a mountain like K2 by yourself. You have to have experienced people around you. People you trust with your life! 

The only way to see true success is to have a team around you. You can't go it alone. You won't ask yourself the hard questions. It's worth it! The view is nice from up here!

Whirlwind!

People often ask how I travel, speak, volunteer, rarely miss church services and still have a successful real estate business. Number one is to put God first. Beyond that you have to know that you have a whirlwind that is the daily grind of your business.

In the book "The 4 Diciplines of Execution", the authors state that the whirlwind will consume every ounce of energy it can! You have to goal set and work your plan in the midst of the whirlwind. The moment you stop, the whirlwind will get you. You will start becoming reactive rather than proactive.

If you want to go to the gym, it should become an appointment in your day. Plan family time. Do not break the appointment just because the phone rings. Church is a "No Matter What!" for me. Don't let someone else's lack of preparation become your emergency! Sure, there are going to be times when you have no choice. If you will apply this principle, you will start to get your life back.

Only Eleven!

My son recently made the football team at Whitworth Buchanan Middle School. There are almost 50 kids on the team. At any given time there are 11 on the field and the rest line up along the side and watch the game. They are all waiting for their name to be called to enter the game.

Where are you? Are you one of the eleven or are you on the side lines. Do you know what it takes for one of those kids to transition from the sideline to a star on the field?

They have to catch the attention of the coach. They have to perform well enough in practice that the coach can no longer ignore them and has to find a way to work them in.

This doesn't happen accidentally. It usually doesn't happen in the game. It usually happens in practice. The coach starts to notice the work ethic, commitment and improvement.

You have to practice. You have to hone your skills. You need to constantly be reading, meeting with people smarter than you and copying what they do. Eventually people take notice and have no choice but to put you in their game.

Dream or Goal?

I was going through my affirmations and read one of my goals. I had not achieved this goal. I was not any closer to this goal than when I wrote it down.

You see, I had not been working toward this goal even though I have been reading it every morning for the past few months. I had taken no action toward this goal.

If there is something you want, but you are not willing to take any steps toward it, is it really a goal or is it a dream? A dream is something you would like to have.........one day. It would be nice, but you are probably not going to make a sacrifice in order to achieve it.

If you want to lose weight or reach a financial goal, you can't just wish for it. You have to start counting calories or saving your money. You have to get to the gym or forego that shopping spree. If you're not taking steps toward your goal, you're just dreaming!