Teachable Moments #9 - We Are Only What We Do, Not What We Say We Are

I frequently ask hoteliers from prominent brands, "how many Stars is your hotel?". The answer I get usually ranges from 4, 5, 6, and even 7 Stars!

And I love to take the chance to remind them that it is not an authority that determines how many 'Stars' a hotel is deserving nor is it so if an owner or the management self proclaims to be.

Only our guests can tell you how many 'Stars' you really are from their experience and perceived quality of their time during their stay. If a guest says you are 3-Stars, then no matter what you yourself say, you really are just 3-Stars. Perception is reality.

Therefore, I like to reinforce this saying from Founder and Chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Mr Isadore Sharp said, "We are only what we do, not what we say we are." So true, isn't it?

How do we relate this to life? Below is a great analogy:

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

"Because someone bumped into me!!!"

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

So we have to ask ourselves... “what's in my cup?"

When life gets tough, what spills over?

Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility?

Anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions?

Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it.

Thus, there is really no point in saying that we are this or that because what you actually choose to do, will then define who you really are. The final test of what spills out from our cup is really when we pass on. What legacy or mess will we leave behind?

Work towards filling our cups with gratitude, positivity, acts of service, words of affirmation, genuine relationships, and love for others. Live free, die well.