My son (9th grade) came home from school yesterday and was asking if his report card came. I said it didn’t and his reply was, "Good." That didn’t sit well with me! Well today it came. In order to set the stage here I must tell you that we’re in the middle of having him evaluated for a learning disability. He excels at things he’s interested in but doesn’t do well at all in things he loathes.

When he got home tonight I told him his grades and he had a big smile on his face. "Really! That’s pretty good!" It was better than the last one but it was by no means "pretty good." Each time I have this conversation with him I have to try hard to remember when I was his age. My grades were about the same. But I would never DARE to say to my parents that the grades were "pretty good." Today, kids are much more open with their parents which I’m OK with. As long as it doesn’t border on disrespectful (which I see a lot these days) I’m ok encouraging honest communication.

Also today, my daughter’s teacher (4th grade) wrote on her report card that she’s a day dreamer in class. I wanted to email her and scream out how awesome I think that is! Our world is short on dreamers. Now of course, the practical parent in me talked with her about the proper places to dream but I certainly didn’t scold her for day dreaming. When I asked her about it she said, "Well dad, I’d rather be at the beach then in class…" Of course she was polishing her 10th grade comedienne skills.

As I think about the subject of school, it’s hard not to preach the programs that we learned growing up. In reality, school is important because of the traits you develop, not for the stuff you can memorize. Most of what you learn won’t be used later in life with the exception of basic math, writing and English. But the traits you learn - study habits, discipline, relationships with other students, teamwork, respect for adults, athletic abilities, structure, and certain creative talents - are invaluable (I’m sure I’m leaving something out). The truth of the matter is that many of the world’s most wildly successful people either dropped out of school early, didn’t go to college, or stayed in until the end of college but didn’t do well in their subjects. But they most definitely mastered one or more of the traits I mentioned above, especially if they’re in sales today.

So, this is a mortgage and financial services sales blog and what does all this have to do with selling? I think the tie in is that we cause ourselves a lot of stress by holding on to things teachers and parents told us and we let that squelch what we can be and do later in life. Selling is a tough enough field without all this. When you’re good at sales - not just numbers, but the quality of all the traits above - you have to bring all your faculties together to help you be your best and stay on top of everything. Carrying crap from the past weighs you down and negatively affects how good you can sell.

Know this: How well you did in school really has nothing to do with how well you can do in life. If you want to be the best mortgage loan officer or the best insurance consultant, then you can be. But you must drop off some of those bags in the trash on your way into your office. Remember, they need you but you certainly don’t need them.

I know you can do it and I definitely believe in you!