2021-04-11T11:24:13-04:00

Choose Your Friends Wisely

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021/chrisrainey/Leave a comment

Leadership expert Jim Rohn once said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with”.

In a recent conversation with Jack Kautz of Lodi, California he reflected on this topic and gave his perspective. Jack said that throughout the different areas of life, from family to career and from fitness to personal development, he has looked for people to surround himself with that do three things.

One: Look for people who you can trust

This by far the most important and challenging when it comes to the people who are close to you. Without trust, there’s not a solid foundation for the relationship. You may have a lot of things in common but if you can’t trust someone, the relationship will fall short of being beneficial for you.

You need people in your life you can be brutally honest with and know they aren’t going to hold anything else against you. These are people who support you through thick and thin.

You can trust them with your good, bad, and ugly and they still stand by your side. You can share your struggles and know they won’t hold them against you AND they won’t talk with anyone else about you and your struggles.

When you find someone you can trust do everything you can to protect that relationship. Do whatever it takes to strengthen and maintain it because it will be a lifeline when you need it most.

Two: Look for people who challenge you

These are the people that draw out the best in you. They don’t let you sit back and rest on your past successes.

If you’re a husband or father they push you to provide and care for your family ahead of anything else. They call you out when you’re not giving your best to your family.

In business, these are the people that are challenging you to become the best at what you do. If you’re a salesperson they are there to ask if you’ve closed all the deals you should have. If you’re a manager they want to know if you’re doing all you can to build the best team that can be built.

Don’t surround yourself with ‘yes’ people. Look for people who say ‘no’ and ask ‘why’. This is the only way you’ll become the best at who you and what you do.

Three: Look for people you can coach

You absolutely need others that are making deposits into your life. But, if you’re always on the receiving end you won’t grow. Look for others you can coach and mentor.

Throughout life, you’ve learned a lot of lessons. You’ve learned what it means to win and lose. You’ve gained a lot of wisdom that you need to transfer to others that will help them. There’s a universal principle that when you ‘give’ you ‘receive.’

Make sure you have at least a couple of people in your life that you can ‘give’ to.

Take it from Jack Kautz, it doesn’t matter if your friends are in Lodi, California, or Pamplona, Spain they’re important so choose them wisely.

“Weaknesses” Can Be Your Greatest Strengths

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021/chrisrainey/3 Comments

As we talked with Jack Kautz from his Lodi, California office a few weeks ago we dove into the topic of strengths and “weaknesses.” Jack shared the following.

We live in a world where everything is labeled.

In some cases, that’s helpful and really important. For example, food labels are pretty valuable, you want to know what you’re putting in your body right? Or, when pulling up to the gas pump you want to make sure you know what type of gas you’re fueling your car with.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where people are also labeled. And in a lot of cases, we can let those labels impact our physical, mental, and spiritual health. It’s up to us if we let them affect us in a positive or negative way.

Years ago I realized I had a good dose of ADHD. And in our society that’s, for the most part, looked at as a negative. It’s looked at as something that needs to be “treated” and/or “medicated.” And while I understand there may be some cases where that’s necessary, I’m not convinced that’s the case most of the time.

Instead of looking at ADHD as a weakness and something you have to work around, I embraced and my ADHD tendencies work for me and not against me. For me, it’s not a stigma, it’s a strength. It’s how I’m wired.

At the end of the day, people who have ADHD are usually the ones getting things done, and getting A LOT of things done. Now can it be messy along the way? Absolutely. Can it be frustrating for those who work with them? For sure. But, when you know how to make it work for you and not against you great things can happen.

We wrapped this part of our conversation with Jack encouraging us to not let labels define us.

Your so-called weakness could be your greatest strength in disguise – embrace it!

Success: Embrace The Challenge

January 31, 2021January 31, 2021/chrisrainey

If you have the chance to talk with Jack Kautz of Lodi, California there’s one thing you’ll quickly come to understand – Jack LOVES a challenge. Some people are just wired to take on challenges, solve problems, and help make the world a better place and he’s one of those people.

For Jack Kautz, the challenge that stands before him is what motivates, excites, and propels him forward. There are people who enjoy chilling and binging Netflix for hours. For others, it may be reading. And for some, they live for an afternoon nap.

But Jack lives for the adventure and the thrill of life. Whether it’s family, business, or fitness he’s pushing himself and embracing whatever comes his way, and doing it (most of the time) with a smile on his face.

Don’t Wait For The Perfect Circumstances

If you wait for the stars to align, for all your ducks to be lined up, and for every circumstance to be in a perfect position you should stop right where you’re at. There is never a truly perfect time for anything you take on. There will always be situations and circumstances that provide you with an “out” so that you can avoid the challenge.

And, that’s where Jack found himself early in his career.

With no experience in the world of real estate and at only 22 years old Jack decided to face a huge challenge head-on. He took his savings and purchased his first apartment complex.

Nothing about the situation was ideal or perfect. And while the thought of turning the complex into a profitable venture was absolutely part of the decision, it was the challenge that held just as much satisfaction for Jack.

The decision paid off but it took embracing the challenge to make it happen.

As you consider where you’re at in life, your family, your career…are you avoiding challenges? Are you taking the easy route? Are you doing what you’ve always done because you don’t want to face the unknown?

Take it from Jack…

Embrace the challenge – you’ll be glad you did!

Jack Kautz