I just returned a few weeks ago from a relaxing trip to Mexico. Every year for the past 15 or so years, my wife and I have traveled to Mexico with a group of tennis friends to catch some rays on the beach, enjoy great friends, eat good food and, of course, play lots of tennis. This year, for the first time ever, we went to Cancun instead of our usual destination of Puerto Vallarta. It was a great trip, highlighted by a visit to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.

For those of you who have never been to Chichen Itza, it is about a 3-hour drive west of Cancun in Mexico’s northern Yucatan. It was originally settled in about 600 AD. If you do the quick math on that date, that’s about 1,400 years ago! Chichen Itza was a major regional city at that time, with significant economic and political clout.

It was the first time that I had ever visited anything that could remotely be called “ruins” and certainly the first time that I had ever seen, up-close and personal, something so old! It was awe-inspiring to see the incredible buildings those people constructed out of heavy stone. And I was amazed by the amount of planning and forethought that must have preceded each project.

As I marveled at these ancient landmarks, I thought about other well-known landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Mona Lisa, the Vatican, and the Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo painted his great work. Did you know that the Coliseum in Rome is 2000 years old? Amazing! Like Chichen Itza, these great landmarks were built to last and they have.

That’s what Obeo is working very hard to do right now: Build a business that will last, that will benefit the lives of thousands of people, including you. We’re trying to build a legacy.

You, too, have a choice in your own career or business-you can build it to last for future generations to marvel at or you can go for the quick fix, the fast buck and on to the next. Here are a few tips for building a profession that lasts:

• Tell the truth-it sounds simple and it is, but not everyone does it.
• Stay in contact with your most important relationships either via email, phone call or card. This includes customers, friends, mentors and others who have or could make a difference I your life.
• WORK! It has been said that nothing does as much for a man’s soul as a hard day’s work. Give it your all 100% of the time and never, ever give up.
• Improve yourself. I personally have a library of hundreds of self-help books. They have inspired me over the years, usually in small, almost imperceptible way, to become better at what I do. Don’t wish business were easier, wish you were better!
• Have a great attitude no matter what the circumstances! It’s the set of the sail, not the blow of the gale that determines your course in life.

Fourteen hundred years ago Chichen Itza was the center of the Northern Yucatan and they left monuments to remind us of that today. They built their city to last…and it has. Build your profession, life and business to last and leave a legacy. You will be glad you did and so will those yet to come.

Brent Gray, COO