A very good friend of mine and noted MA appraiser, Gerry Hailer, shared this with me this morning and I think it is worth a post here because what Ted Turner has said about failure is so important to each and everyone involved in Real Estate every day.
I am currently re-reading Jim Mullen's The Simple Art of Greatness. I just read something reminicent of your blog from last week that I thought I'd share:
"Unfortunately, there is another, less lovely quality that seems to be required of every true entrepreneur: the ability to endure adversity. While I cannot speak for entrepreneurs as a class, I am obliged to report to you that my own career is more memorable for its times of pain, fear, disappointment, and heartbreak than for its fleeting moments of glory. Not only must the entrepreneur never expect to fail, he must be the kind of person who has the ability to fail consistently without seeing failure as a pattern. For the entrepreneur to succeed over time, he must be able to absorb an endless series of knockdowns, and, somehow, get back up with enough hope to take the next step forward.
I learned a lesson in this form from watching Ted Turner during the late sixties when we were both deeply immersed in boat racing, and long before Ted was a media mogul. Wherever Ted's life took him, he'd look for a sailboat race. No matter how provincial the regatta, Ted was willing to jump aboard any boat in the fleet--regardless of his lack of local knowledge, his experience with that kind of craft, or length of the odds against him. When I askked Ted why a big-time international sailboat racer would risk the embarrassment of having some local kid clean his clock, he revealed something quite elemental in his character. "Oh, actually, Jim," he said, "I lose most of the time. For me, losing is just learning how to win."
Loosing should never be an issue, but so often the emotions of not getting what you want for a long time does affect your mental attitude if you allow it to. Keeping your eye on your prize is the only thing that can beat back the bad emotions. How does it feel to already have what you are working for is one of the techniques that successful people use. The time and effort we put in to each activity does not mean that each activity will be a success. Learning from your own efforts and applying that learning will drive you further. Pay attention to what you are getting, make adjustments and play your game every day. Good luck my friends.
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