This is a sequel to my last blog, E + R = O.  For those of you who have read Napoleon Hill's "Think & Grow Rich", this will probably sound familiar.  For those of you who haven't, I highly recommend that you add it to your reading list.  "Think &Grow Rich" has been described as one of the most influential books of all time in pointing the way to personal achievement.  I believe the principles in this book are especially applicable now when we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression. 

In the closing pages of his book, Mr. Hill asserts that people who do not succeed have one distinguishing trait in common - they know all the reasons for failure and have built what they believe to be air-tight alibis to explain their personal failures. These alibis allow us to shift the blame for any negative outcomes we experience to events and circumstances and away from our response to those events and circumstances.  Alibis are easy to recognize.  They typically begin with the words - "If only."

As professionals who earn our livings from the housing industry - and I include Builders, Developers, Realtors, Lenders, Trade Contractors, and Material Suppliers - are we building alibis for difficulties we are currently facing? Do any of these sound familiar?

• If only the media would stop reporting all the negative news about the economy,
• If only consumers would just stop listening to all the negative news and start spending again,
• If only all those people facing foreclosure wouldn't have bought homes they couldn't afford,
• If only the mortgage companies had not written all those no-doc and low doc loans
• If only Wall Street had not created all those collateralized debt obligations and other asset-backed security and structured credit products backed by those questionable mortgages, 
• If only the banks would just start lending money again, 
• If only the government would hurry up and enact an economic stimulus package.

What other alibis have we built?

I believe what Napoleon Hill wrote over 80 years ago is still true today - building alibis with which to explain away failure is a deeply rooted habit.  But if we want to succeed, it is a habit we need to break.  We need to stop blaming events and start working on how we are going to respond to those events in order to produce our desired outcomes.

Our greatest asset is our minds. Let's put our minds to work to formulate responses to the current crisis in the housing industry.  Better yet, let's create Master Mind groups to formulate those responses.  For, as the saying goes, two minds are better than one.

Chuck Miller _{GMB   CGB  CGP   MIRM   CMP   MCSP   CSP}

President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.

(208) 229-2553

chuck@chuckmillerconstruction.com