The Roller Coaster is the Hardest Part

I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career.

I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life.
And that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan

Being a sports fan sure has a lot in common with the real estate business.

In real estate one of my mottos is to remain excited about every deal while being emotional about none.

Any deal worth doing requires a ton of investment and energy. If you aren't excited about an idea you can't go through the process of vetting it out or test its difficulty. It is impossible to give early attention and find motivation for yourself or your team.

Unfortunately the majority of really worthwhile goals are challenging both to identify and to execute. Those that look good at first glance more often than not will fail the vetting or just prove to be really, really hard. All too often months and months of time prove to have been invested only to proving that something will not really work or did not develop the way you anticipate. Too much emotion around the deals themselves will burn you out quickly, leaving you too worn out by the process to continue aiming for big things.

Staying enthusiastic about potential without being emotionally invested in an immediate outcome is an essential part of having big aspirations. It is the skill that allows individuals to chase dreams without being deterred. I see it demonstrated by sports fans over and over again as they manage to cheer and support their teams even when they know the season is not going right. More importantly I see it demonstrated over and over again by successful people like Chris Hansen, allowing them to stay the course and not over-react to every positive or negative thing that happens.

When I'm at my best I love the process and assign much greater value to the experience than the outcome. I enjoy walking the road as much as I do reaching the destination.

Bringing a professional sports team back to the market is immensely more challenging than keeping one would have been. It is just plain hard and over the course of years we have seen many more failures than successes. I continue to stay with it because the journey remains full of good times and great people.

This Phoenix thing was presented on day 1 as contingent on the outcome in Glendale. If it had happened it would have been really cool but in many ways surreal and honestly unexpected. In this case I personally did a really good job of not riding the roller coaster.

If you are feeling down right now I don't blame you. We get kicked in the gut a lot but this one isn't a huge loss. The NHL is really enthusiastic about our market and wants to be here. We have identified yet another billionaire franchise owner who has shown a willingness to be really bold, bringing a team here at great cost and adversity. Lets face it, those 2-3 years in KeyArena would have been tough!

Enjoy the sun. Enjoy the Holiday. Enjoy your family. Enjoy conversation on this site. If you can manage to strive for bigger and better things finding happiness what you already have you will live a happier life.