What does it mean to have potential?

It’s that wonderful time of the year again, the weather is warm and changing, the kids are back at school, and business is picking up again. But above all these perks, football is finally back and in full force. From my upbringing in Texas, I strongly believe that football is our primary resource. From the pros, to college, to high school, and all the way down to pee-wee, we do an excellent job of creating athletes, each of which with the potential to be the next star. But is potential enough? This time of year is exciting because, it is the first test these men will have to prove that they have what it takes to be the best, to turn their potential into reality. Over the past year, since to end of last season, these men have worked, trained, and pushed themselves into becoming the athletes they wish to be. All of this training and effort is only measured as potential, it’s not until now that they can prove that the hype and faith in their ability is well put. To answer the questions that everyone has been asking. Can Johnny Manziel play in the pros? Will the new University of Texas head coach make a difference? Do we have what it takes to be state champions? It’s now the time to answer these questions and show the world what they can do. But is potential enough? Teams and schools all over the country believe that they have the potential to be the best, and are all wrong, except for one. Only one team will be the champions and walk away with a ring, a trophy, and will shout out, “I’m going to Disney World,” on national TV. In the point of view of my old coaches, potential is nothing, success can only be measured when the cleats meet the field and the game is won. In other words, it’s not the training and resources you have, it’s how you use them to win. When you are new to enter the world of commercial real estate, like myself, you use your potential all the time. Every networking event, every cold call, every handshake you use your training and abilities to try and uncover that next win. Like these athletes our potential comes from our training, education, and resources we have available. We must keep pushing ourselves to improve upon our potential to increase the chances of a win. It’s vital that we keep growing our potential to make a sale, some ways for example; learning more about our markets, increasing our brand awareness, or from the experience of past sales. Anything to bring you closer to that next win. Like these athletes, we must keep improving ourselves to each day. It’s easy to coast by, but from my point of view, the top dogs are the ones who keep training, who keep learning, who keep networking, and who keep becoming better than their last sale. They are the top dogs because their potential to make sales is much higher than the rest, and it is higher because they keep learning each day. Now to answer the question of, what does it mean to have potential? In my point of view, potential means nothing. Potential is the ability to win, but how we use that ability determines our success. If we squander that ability and don’t feed and improve upon it, our lives and careers will suffer. But if we keep training and keep improving, we can all have the ability to be champions. Grant James is an Associate for Bradford Companies specializing in agency leasing, tenant representation, and general brokerage activities in the southern Dallas Submarkets. Broker Associate, Corporate Office. 9400 NCX, Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75231, Ph: 972.776.7095