Build on Your Strengths

I read an article recently that really made me think. The article dealt with how most people tend to spend more time working on their weaknesses than they do trying to build upon their strengths. I remember the story of Lance Armstrong and how he began his career as a tri-athlete. Lance started out in sports spreading his energies between running, swimming and cycling. He was a strong swimmer and a speedy runner but he really excelled at and enjoyed cycling. Once he recognized that cycling is where his real strength was he decided to devote his efforts to it and the rest is history. Lance Armstrong went on to become the most successful and recognized cyclist in the world.

We can all learn a lot from Lance. Instead of focusing so much on our weaknesses maybe we should spend more time understanding and building on those things we really excel at and enjoy. Then we can leverage through other people to get support or help on those things that are not our strongest point. Doing this will help us to achieve more and feel less stress.

Take some time and identify what your strengths are and how you can put them to work for you. Talk to your coach and get him to help you through the process and come up with a strategy to leverage yourself and others to achieve more while stressing less.

Teachers Who Impacted You the Most...

The other day I had the opportunity to see how one of my kids has been positively impacted by a teacher - and I began to think about teachers and mentors who have impacted my life...



As I thought about teachers and coaches I had all the way through school - including college - I realized that the number of teachers who made a significant impact on my life was small but the effect they've had on me has been huge. In most cases the subject they taught in no way related to the lessons I learned; the impact was more about beliefs about who I am and the potential for doing great things if I truly committed to making myself better.

Take some time to think about the teachers you've had - whether in school, business or friends who push you to be better. Where would you be without them? What kind of person would you have become if you didn't have their influence in your life? Do you need a new a new teacher, mentor or coach to take you to the next level?

Food for thought...

Your Attitude

"I feel I have 0% control over getting cancer, but 100% control over how I will respond..."

-- Kay Yow, North Carolina State University women's basketball coach

Kay Yow made made an incredibly inspiring presentation when she received an award on the recent ESPY Awards show.

What inspired me so much about her acceptance speech and her story is the way in which Coach Yow has approached this bout with cancer - her third go-around with the awful disease. After three battles with cancer and all of the treatment that goes along with the disease I'm sure you'd agree that it would be natural for anyone to wallow in pity and have a "why me?" attitude. And yet she views this latest round as an opportunity to teach and coach her players and assistant coaches about the value of attitude - whether a positive or negative attitude.

(Click here and then click on the "256" link just above her picture to view the presentation.)

Are you facing a significant challenge right now in business, career or life? Are you focused on what you CAN do about the challenge or on what has HAPPENED to you? I believe it is quite natural for us to focus on the challenge and the results of the challenge - but people like Coach Yow show us that we can only make the turn for the better when we focus on what we can actually control and not allow "head space" to be consumed with stuff that is out of our control or in the past.

As with Coach Yow, the impact of facing challenges head-on with the right attitude not only affects you - it has quite the impact on those who are watching you.

Reflect on Coach Yow's quote above. Are you controlling how you respond to your challenges - or are you letting the challenge control you...?

The Key to Sales Success...Relationships

I'm sure you have all heard about the terrible real estate market that exist all around the country these days. The meida has been touting how bad the real estate market is and the huge impact it has had on the stock market and the mortgage lending market. There are a lot of pessimists out there these days.

I've seen this kind of market before and having come from the banking industry we went through these cycles every once in a while where houses just weren't selling and people weren't borrowing money to buy or refinance a home.

What has always held true and is true in the current market is that there are still some realtor's and loan originators out there doing pretty well. But why are they doing OK and a lot of other realtor's and loan originators have thrown in the towel and gotten out of the business? The answer is simple.

Those that are making a living today have developed relationships with the right people and know how to maintain those relationships. I've seen loan originators and realtor's that just sit behind their desk staring at the phone wondering why it isn't ringing. Or, when the phone stopped ringing they eventually figured out they needed to go out and sell but didn't have any relationships developed so they were trying to do it too late.

I have talked to a few successful realtor's and originators recently who all say the same thing. They developed relationships during the good times and maintained them so that when the market took a down turn they had people that knew them and trusted them and kept the referrals coming. This same principle is true in any type of business, not just real estate.

What are you doing to develop relationships in your business? Have you identified those people that are important to your success and what are you doing to build and maintain those relationships? It could be key customers, vendors, suppliers, referral networks or other sources that are key to keeping your business and income from taking a tumble when a down cycle hits. Remember, there will almost always be a market for your product, but if the market gets tight or shrinks, like the current real estate market, then strong relationships will get you through every time.

Post a comment and let me know how building strong relationships have helped you succeed.