One of the quickest ways for someone to be miserable is to get stuck in an occupation doing something they don't like.
"You have to believe in what you do, you need to be passionate about it. Find something you like," Checketts said. He has worked in the sports business for a long time starting with the Jazz back in 1983. From the Jazz to the Knicks and now to Real Salt Lake Checketts has been doing what he loves, challenges and all.
"I like the challenge of trying to build an organization that wants to win," he said. The importance of finding a job doing something that you love to do is being willing to work hard at what you do.
"It's like that quote, 'If you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life,'" he said. Hard work is the next bit of advice he shared. "You have to be willing to persevere, have a will to win and work at it," Checketts said.
He said people shouldn't be afraid of hard work. Still with the Knicks he said he sometimes spent 90-hour weeks to make sure the job got done right. Sometimes working hard means facing challenges of life and business head-on.
"You have to stand up and stand firm when it comes to challenges. I have never backed away from challenges."
With both teams -- the Jazz and the Knicks --he had the task of taking a team that was struggling and make champions out of them.
One of his most recent challenges is trying to get the public excited about the new soccer stadium he is building in Sandy. He has to convince the public of his vision for Real Salt Lake, why Utah should have a professional soccer team and why they should have their own stadium.
Most of the opposition he is facing is from the misunderstanding the public has of where the funds to pay for the stadium are coming from. But he is willing to put in the work to make the stadium and soccer team a success.
Checketts also knows it's very tough to work in business alone, but that it takes a good group of people to work together to accomplish a goal.
"You have to have the right people work with you -- people who share your vision and have the commitment to success," He said.
He applied this statement to the world of sports, by saying it's not just the coaches and players who make franchises successful but the whole office -- those who don't play on the court.
"There are times when the team carries the front office and then there are times when the front office has to carry the team," Checketts said.
He went on to explain that sometimes when the team is doing well they make plenty of money. But then there are other times when the front office has to work hard to keep the franchise successful.
For him, without both of these groups working together the success of a sports team couldn't happen.
Checketts has surrounded himself with people who share his vision, who are willing to work hard and who love what they do -- but he still emphasizes the need to have a balance in life.
"It's very important to keep a balance in life. If you want success so badly and you don't keep a balance it can turn into tragic consequences," he said. Checketts' family is very important to him, and they have helped him as he has confronted the business world.
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