JUST BE YOURSELF

I couldn't go too long with a picture of the team that bounced my Dodgers out of the Playoffs the past couple of years. So why not put one up of the man responsible for beating my Lakers in the '93 playoffs (yes I did have to look that one up, but I only looked up the year if that counts for anything). When Charles Barkley signed on with TNT I thought to myself 'well this ought to be good.' But the more I listened to him and the more I heard from Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, I realized that Barkley is the only one that brings any valuable insight into what's going on in a game. So I've grown to love what he says and his candid ability to say what's on his mind.

There is a quote from Charles Barkley that goes like this, "Half the people in this world are going to hate you and half are going to like you, so you might as well be yourself." I've heard him use this quote several times over the past couple of years in different radio interviews, Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, etc. and it has come to grow on me. There's no sense in letting other people control who you are and how you react to a situation so do yourself and everyone else a favor and just be yourself.

If I lose a business deal because someone doesn't like how I interact with them or what I say, no big deal. There will be plenty of other deals to get done and it's not going to be the end of the world. I try my best to be professional and respectful in a transaction because that's who I am and that's the type of clients that I target and want in return. Don't be afraid to walk away from a deal if you can't be yourself in it.