As someone who’s worked in publishing for more than 30 years, deadlines are nothing new to me.
That doesn’t mean the stresses and strains that come with them have changed much from the day I walked into my first newsroom way back when. I’m older (obviously) and more mature (debatable) now than I was back then, so I probably manage those things better than I used to. But the pressures of a looming deadline don’t really change all that much, whether it’s your first time facing them or your thousandth.
I was reminded of this publishing truism while the LM team was working on this issue of the magazine. During the first few weeks of October, our crew found itself navigating our usual writing and editing duties, a compressed production cycle to get all that work done and our preparations for Equip Exposition and Elevate — all at the same time. That equation of more work and less time to do it in added up to plenty of frayed nerves and jacked-up stress levels, at least for this guy.
In my case, I know those uneasy feelings were exacerbated by the fact that I’m still relatively new to all this with LM. When you have the benefit of experience, trying periods such as these are a little easier to manage; you survived them before, you’ll survive them again. When it’s your first rodeo … well, convincing yourself of that is a little harder.
In the midst of it all, though, I got a familiar reminder about why I was putting myself through all of this, words of wisdom that helped me rally in the face of adversity and can help others grinding through hard times in their businesses. Those words came from a pretty unlikely source — professional golfer Max Homa.
At the 2023 Ryder Cup — for the non-golf fans out there, that’s the biennial competition between teams from the U.S. and Europe — Homa faced a critical putt on the final day of competition. Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter all that much as the European team would go on to win by a wide margin, but Homa had played well all week, and at the time, this putt was to win his match and delay the inevitable, at least for a little while.
Afterward, this is what he told the golf podcast “No Laying Up” about that moment: “I remember being over that putt saying, ‘You asked for this. You can be nervous, but you asked for this exactly, so you better at least relish the opportunity.’”
Man, did that hit home. Homa’s words rang true while I was going through the decision-making process to leave the relative comfort of a job I had held for more than a quarter of a century for this new opportunity with LM, and I’ve revisited them again when challenges have presented themselves in the sixth months since I’ve taken this leap.
I’ve had to remind myself that these new challenges and different experiences were what I wanted. I was ready to try something new. I was ready to tackle something different. And I would be doing it for a great magazine with a great staff and a great company standing behind me. It was OK to be nervous and unsure of myself, but it helped to be reminded again that this was what I asked for and that I was ready to embrace the opportunity.
And it might help you too as you assess your career and your business. Maybe you’re dealing with staff shortages, increased competition or are searching for ways to differentiate your company in the marketplace. Maybe you’re looking to expand by buying another landscaping company, or maybe you’re the one entertaining an offer to be purchased by another group.
Regardless, these situations create stress, tension and unease. When that happens, remind yourself that this is what you hoped for in your career. You wanted to build something sustainable, and you wanted your business to grow. Doing those things comes with challenges but managing those challenges and eventually succeeding is why you got in the game.
Remember, it worked for Max Homa; he drained that putt to win his match with Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick. It worked for me; since you’re reading this right now, you probably already guessed that we got another awesome issue of LM out the door and had great trips to both Equip and Elevate. And I know it will work for you too.
