Starting my writing with a little self-talk on the golf course and then getting into “real life” because all of us golfers know golf shows us where we’re really at mentally…
When I was sitting in the middle of the fairway on Thursday afternoon in Scottsdale I had a reflection moment coming from my training with Rex:
It’s important to remember and give yourself credit for your natural talent and the hard work you’ve done to hone your craft. It’s important for me to enjoy the beauty of my hard work but most importantly my god given abilities.
It’s even more important to remember each and every shot is a completely new experience.
It’s like a new painting every time I play a round, a hockey game, or even a presentation to a prospect.
Every stroke of the brush is completely unique on its way to a beautiful painting.
Amidst all those unique experiences is a ton of learning.
Most of that learning comes from shitty strokes of the brush (I’m gonna stick with that analogy). Rarely do I learn from a great round of golf in comparison to struggling.
I do, however, gain confidence.
So, that leads me to my last month of golf and a few lessons from this planning trip.
This past month has shown me a new side of golf for me. I have gained so much confidence from tee to green and even my short game is shaping up.
My putting, however, continues to humble me. I played so well the two days in Scottsdale and literally couldn’t sniff the cup once I got to the green.
I also couldn’t stop talking about it.
THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANT TO DO.
I find myself drawing attention to my misfortune.
It was then that I realized my real issue was seeing it as a misfortune.
Ohhh woe is me I need you to make me feel better because I can’t get out of my own head.
It’s not a misfortune at all.
I’ve been a great putter my whole life. Right now I very well may be putting worse than when I was eight years old.
That has nothing to do with my playing partners and bringing attention to it isn’t helping either.
This led me to my thoughts about all the shit going on in my life. I’ve brought attention to some of my hardships and that is mostly emotion taking over me in the moment.
Not gonna judge myself but I am gonna call myself out and work hard on stopping it.
I mean, in all fairness I have been working hard on it but I’m still not where I want to be.
Next up is the actual meat and potatoes of the week, the annual planning meeting for Fountain Forward.
First of all, every trip with these guys reminds me of how great our partnership is.
Unfortunately we were a man-down due to a family emergency but luckily we were able to have him on video for multiple hours which was very beneficial.
Simply put, this meeting was the culmination of our year and all of our learnings setting the tone for not only 2027 but the two years following.
My advice for someone that wants to know what happens when a company goes from $1-2m to $6-$7m is that it’s now the weight of each decision versus when things are smaller.
Our three focuses (in my observation) are the optimization of staff, road mapping, and sales development.
I have some serious work to do as CEO and I’m already getting to it. I have some challenges that I got myself into but I’m confident I can get myself out of.
I’ve been excited about new additions to the team and in that same light I’ve already had new additions back out on me.
Oh well, onto the next.
The universe is going to set us up with something that’s an even better fit.
It’s time to get to work before heading out of the trip of a lifetime with my amazing girlfriend, Elizabeth.
What a wonderful support she has been over the past few weeks. I have loved sharing this crazy journey with her and I think she’s having some fun too:)
Diving into work. Locked and loaded.
Chin up, shoulders back!
– SJ