Ready, Shoot, Aim: A Dyslexic's Guide to Success in Business & Life
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About this ebook
In life and business, there’s a there’s a certain order to success — or so Dell Hamilton was taught. Called “stupid” and “lazy” in school, he would later learn his issues of order had a name: Dyslexia. But by then, he’d worked around his issues to and succeeded in business as a serial entrepreneur, the CEO of Crusader Staffing, co-founder of SupportMilitary.org and as a part-time NASCAR owner/sponsor.
Dell believes if he can accomplish all these achievements without the ability to read well, anyone can find prosperity. The secret is in overcoming one’s individual weaknesses. In READY, SHOOT, AIM, he shares his business acumen, as well as his failures in the hope that others will find restored confidence and how to hit their targets for personal success.
Durell Hamilton
Dell is Founder and CEO of Crusader Staffing Associates LLC. Crusader was one of three finalists for Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in 2006 and one of the “Fast 50” growing companies honored by Business Tennessee Magazine. In 2005, Dell was honored as a “Top Executive of Tennessee” in Business Tennessee Magazine. Prior to founding CSA, Dell founded Progressive Logistics Services in April of 1996. While Owner of PLS, Dell led the company in growth to $10,000,000 in revenue. Dell was nominated as one of five finalists for the Memphis Business Journal Executive of the Year in 1996 and Small Business of the year in 1997. Dell Co-Founded Support Military Foundation with Col Steve West in the Chairman’s office of the Joint Chiefs of staff at the Pentagon. Has spent the last ten years in NASCAR as part-time owner, sponsor and promoter of CSA and SMF. Founder of Dell Hamilton productions.
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Ready, Shoot, Aim - Durell Hamilton
CHAPTER ONE
I never set out to be a success. All I wanted was to support my family. Having been told I was stupid
and lazy
as a child, and then having flunked out of Bible school, simply supporting my family and honoring God seemed like large enough goals. It wasn’t until later that I would learn that dyslexia was at the root of my learning problems and not slothfulness or lack of motivation—but by then, it was too late. I was already succeeding the only way I knew how: in my ability to overcome my own weaknesses. That way of thinking has led me to become a serial entrepreneur, the CEO at Crusader Logistics Group, co-founder of SupportMilitary.org and Director of Finish a Winner, and part-time NASCAR owner/sponsor. I really do believe if I can accomplish all of these great things, anyone can do it. I hope my life lessons, which I catalog here, will be a helpful guide for anyone out there who has the drive to succeed. I may not have done things in the proper order, but I did it the way God equipped me to do it.
It was the wrong way. Out of order, if you will. I took action first and asked questions later. Maybe that’s why today, I get annoyed with people who take so much time planning, in order to prevent mistakes, that they never get anything accomplished. I’ll admit, my way is unorthodox, but I’ve found it’s easier to correct mishaps later than plan for every possible scenario and not take a risk. Being a business owner requires risk, and while planning is good, too much planning is a mistake that I’ve seen too many would-be entrepreneurs make, and they never get their business off the ground. It takes more than a solid business plan. It takes work.
My dad taught me the benefits of hard work. He always set the example of taking care of his family and taught me to serve and be in service to others. My mother taught me to take care of and appreciate the things that I had—like my room. She consistently encouraged me by telling me how smart I was. Those small lessons that start out early in life never leave you, and I can look back and see how every success and failure had its place in my journey.
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
My father was a true family man—a devoted husband and father, who worked hard to ensure his family had everything they needed. My mother was the disciplinarian in the home. She taught me the importance of living your faith, of never getting away with doing something wrong without consequences. She emphasized to worry about your own house
and not focus on someone else’s house.
Her love for Dad and her loyalty to him were always evident. Mom and Dad’s life and faith were never separate. They lived their lives to honor the Lord, and I definitely took note of their results. I simply tried to follow suit.
My father.
Do the right thing…
Back in those days, after high school, one chose a career and took the shortest path to get there. For me, that meant Bible college at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga with the life goal of being a youth pastor. However, I struggled mightily with the reading assignments in classes, but kept going until the Dean of the Bible School, Dr. Lackey, called me into his office and sat me down.
Dell, you’re not going to make it. You need to do something else.
Those were crushing words, and I felt as if my life had ended, but they began to define how my life would go. I wouldn’t do things in a normal order like others did. I had to work with the brain God gave me. I kept going until God clearly opened a new door and told me to walk through it. It’s how I came up with my business system that still works for me to this day.
I call it my Ready, Shoot, Aim System. It took me from flunking out of Tennessee Temple, to one day being on the Board of Directors of the University. We’ll expand on its origins and examples later in the book, but here it is in a nutshell.
The Ready, Shoot, Aim System
Thinking Outside the Box in Business
Because I thought differently and learned differently, I naturally looked at life’s challenges from a different perspective. I saw that if you could make a situation win-win-win for everyone involved, things got done. I’ll detail this in later chapters, but here are the basics for successful business strategies:
Step 1. The first step is to eliminate the non-negotiables—Non-negotiables are terms, which are not up for argument. That comes from my Biblical training. In the Bible, God talks about His principles. To be successful, I believe you must follow His guidelines. He tells us to love God above yourself, love your brother as yourself and to be generous and not greedy.
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
In business, anything that goes against those principles is a non-negotiable, and I refuse to budge on that. I believe that has served me well. For example, I’ve turned down jobs that would cause me to compromise my principles. I wouldn’t work in a bar because I believe serving alcohol to others goes against my belief system. Alcohol destroys people, so I won’t be in a position of serving others alcohol. For me, that would be a non-negotiable.
I see the results of me making those decisions reflected in our children and grandchildren. Deb and I got married fresh out of college and we’ve never had one day of challenge with our children. I firmly believe that when we were young and prayed for our future children in Tennessee Temple’s dating parlor, God had honored our desire to live for Him. It all works together.
Image No.2My family.
As a business owner, another example of a non-negotiable is that if I had to pay my employees minimum wage to take the job. That is a morality issue to me. I want to give an opportunity for people to make a fair day’s wage.
Once I eliminate non-negotiables from the thought process in any business decision, it’s on to step two.
Step 2. What are the possibilities?
This is not what can be done necessarily, but rather what are the options? Lay everything out as options until you eventually hone in on potential solutions that may work. There are no guarantees in life, but when you get to the best list of possibilities, you can work from there. Now, it’s time to search each possibility’s unintended consequences.
Step 3. Unintended Consequences.
These are the consequences from any decision that may result in negative business choices. Once you’ve looked at all the unintended, negative consequences and fleshed out how they will affect any business decision, the right path will open up and start to reveal itself to you.
In my own life, I hurt someone deeply, in spite of trying to do what was best for everyone. When I started Durellco, I established the company, and in my ignorance I made my dad treasurer of the company without informing him.
In my mind, I was honoring him, and nothing came of it until I filed for bankruptcy and my dad received a call from the IRS saying that he owed $25,000. Dad called me and asked me why he owned part of my company. I was totally embarrassed. I’d failed again and brought Dad into it without his permission. I apologized to him. Obviously, he knew I was in trouble and didn’t want to make it worse.
As it turned out, I hurt him rather than honoring him, and that’s what I mean by unintended consequences. Most of the time, you can’t foresee them, but you must be prepared for them. If I’d known the potential of naming him as treasurer, I would never have done such a thing. Dad had to hire an attorney and get a letter out to