My blog post today has nothing to do with real estate or technology. It simply has to do with a little slogan that can be applied to all areas of a person’s life: “Live. Learn. Improve.” These 3 words are so simple, but I feel like the short slogan can keep you focused when times are good or bad. As any person who has not been living in a cave or in the middle of the woods knows, the United States economy is in one of the worst periods in our country’s history. Many people are facing some tough times right now, and the faint of heart and mind in today’s business market may not surive this recession(financially). I strongly believe that the people who take this time to learn about new things in their field or the people who try new ways to implement a new business practice will be riding high when the recession tides flow back to sea.
Voids and inefficiencies in all markets also become transparent at such a trying time in any industry. This period is also a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to develop new business practices and models that will be the future of our country’s business landscape.
In my opinion, this period is also a great time to invest in the stock market. If you have some time to save and invest money before you retire, you should see some great things happen over the next decade or so in long term investments. The United States may be tested and taken down at times, but we still are the most dominant superpower in the world – I feel like some people forget that sometimes.
I wake up everyday open to meeting new people and searching for new opportunites. You must live your life at 100%, learn from your actions and the actions of other people who influence you, then IMPROVE. If you “f*ck up” sometimes, you just need to roll with the punches and bounce back. It is very unlikely to succeed on the first try every time. Some of the greatest leaders in our country today would be nobodies if they had not learned from their initial defeat.
Fred Smith, the CEO of Federal Express, would not be who he is today had he had not learned from being defeated. Being a native Memphian, the story of Fred Smith has been ingrained in my mind my entire life. For those who have not heard about the remarkable story of Fred Smith, please continue reading.
Mr. Smith was asked to write a paper in an upper level economics class at Yale University. The assignment dealt with coming up with a new idea for a business. Smith outlined his idea for FedEx as a overnight package delivery service in this assignment. Mr. Smith received a C on the paper. As you well know, a C is “just getting by”. Mr. Smith was not slowed by this below average grade.
In 1970, Smith purchased the controlling interest in an aircraft maintenance company, Ark Aviation Sales, and by 1971 turned its focus to trading used jets. On June 18, 1971, Smith founded Federal Express. In 1973, the company began offering service to 25 cities, and it began with small packages and documents and a fleet of 14 Falcon 20 (DA-20) jets. His focus was on developing an integrated air-ground system, which had never been done before. Smith based his development of FedEx on the business idea of a shipment version of a bank clearing house where one bank clearing house was located in the middle of the representative banks and all their representatives(the packages) would be sent to the central location(the sorting hubs and airports) to exchange materials.
Mr. Smith is a prime example of the Live. Learn. Improve. lifestyle. “Live. Learn. Improve.” can be applied to all area’s of one life, it is not limited to strictly business practices. So next time you are down in the dumps or riding sky high, remember – there is always a time and a place to Live your life. Learn something new about yourself. Improve your business or lifestyle.
Have a good weekend.
Sam
