Perspective

Perspective.

Easy to tell everyone to HAVE.

Impossible to convince yourself to hold. Maybe that is just me.

I’m not sure if the above was a haiku, but hopefully it was and as a result you will be able to see my face with that quote on some ridiculous image on your Facebook feed.

I’ve mentioned this before, but the best way that I can describe owning a business is that the swings resemble a three day bender at a Blackjack table in Vegas (or for the common folk like me, a weekend in Chuck Town, West Virginia). The highs are indescribable; the lows are epic stories that you want to tell and no one wants to hear. And if you can’t handle the swings, you don’t play the game (or, you go work for the Federal Government. Just kidding Dad!)

2015 is about four months old, and the following reality show has already occurred:

Roses:

• We were awarded two new contracts that have provided our company with exceptional growth opportunities.
• Our business development pipeline and proposal efforts have expanded beyond our current customer base.
• Three years of hard work paid off as we finally achieved a long standing goal of attaining a Facilities Clearance.

Thorns:

• We found out that a contract wasn’t being renewed because the Organization changed their name to “blue green” and our contract says the work was for “blue” and therefore our contract was no longer valid.
• We hired two new resources that, for reasons beyond our control, did not show up on-site Day 1. For a company of our size, the man hours and financial resources committed to these failed placements is not quantifiable.
• I spent 3.5 hours one night on the phone with the IRS. How do I know it took that long? I missed an entire WWE pay per view. (PS…it was a clerical error).

Each event listed causes me to run the gambit of emotions. Some days I drive home and resemble the scene from Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise rolls down the windows and screams the lyrics to “Free Falling” (definitely just dated myself.) Other days, I feel like the scene in Major League where Rick Vaughn just set the record for throwing four wild pitches in a single inning and made the ESPN Hall of Shame (really just dated myself). As an aside, over the past five years I have seen approximately ten movies in the theater. Eight of them were cartoons. Contrary to what you have heard, they are NOT “funny” for adults.

Perspective. I legitimately fight every day to keep it. As much as I look at Jon Bon Jovi and wish I could be him, I can humbly acknowledge that there are several people that would willingly trade places with me. That, in of itself, is enough to make someone squash their own arrogance.

I am blessed with a marriage to the only woman in this world that could tolerate me. I have the two most amazing children a man could ask for. I have amazing parents, a wonderful family, and friends that I can laugh with for eternity. And I coach the best U6 Boys soccer team that I have ever seen.

If the company comes crashing down (and it won’t)….if I died tomorrow (and I won’t)…the paragraph above is more than enough to hang my hat on. That…is perspective.

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