The Little League Coach

Time flies, but does it?

Every day it seems that life goes by faster and faster, but does it really? How often do you take the time to just sit back and reflect on everything that has taken place over the last year? The last 5 years? The last 10 years? It is amazing how much occurs in those short time spans.

Look back over any period of your life a year or more and it is amazing what you have accomplished. We need to remember this, especially in down times like this. Ten years in my life are pretty major. Ten years ago it was 1998. I was five years into my voice/data company and on the verge of huge success!

The .com revolution was about to begin and we were positions perfectly to capitalize on it. It was a wave that we surfed for about 4 years. Those were some good times! I am still paying the tax man to this day because of the boon we had then!

We had a thriving business, a boat, a condo on the lake, a condo in Myrtle Beach, brand new cars, and 50 employees. It truly was a license to print money. But just as fast as the good times came, they came crashing down as well. I was fortunate enough to be based just outside of Washington, DC and the growth there was exponential. But so was the demise.

During the boon times, we would get calls every day begging us to send fiber technicians out at $125/hour. There were not enough workers to meet the demands. People were building and building and we were installing miles and miles of cable and the electronics to support them. Again, it was out of control. All good things must come to an end.

First it was MCI going bankrupt, they set up there headquarters right in our backyard, they were a huge source of business for everyone in the area, then AOL left town. It was not pretty. The subsequent effect caused many businesses to go bankrupt and we were shorted over $200K in receivables. Could we have survived? Probably, but we would have had to completely reinvent the company, there was no longer much need for wiring, everything was going wireless and we were in no position to compete w/ those companies.

I tell this story not to depress you during the times we find ourselves in, nor to pity myself, but to show you how much can change in that short time. Ten years ago I was on the verge of huge success, why can’t I be now? Why can’t you be now? Look back at your life ten years ago, hell, I only had 3 kids and two babies then! Now I have 3 kids playing ball and another that will start next fall!

Now do this, it is truly a great exercise, look back 10 years, see yourself, where you were, what you were wearing, who your friends were, where you were hanging out, what city you lived it, who your girlfriend or wife was, what job did you have? Then take all that change that has happened in the last ten years and project it forward! Do the same exercise.

-See yourself
-Where do you want to be?
-Were will you be hanging out?
-What city will you live in?
-Who will be your girlfriend/wife?
-What job will you have?
-What career path will you take?

The only thing I know for sure is, wherever life takes you, you control that path. You make those decisions. As Yogi says, “When you come to a fork in the road take it”. One of my favorite sayings back in the good old days of my company was, “the only bad decision is no decision”. Failure to act results in no results. Even if we make bad decisions, we still learn from them and that is a positive. If baseball and softball teach of nothing at all, it is that we need not dwell on our failures, but learn from them and make our successes that much better. For a failure only means we are one step closer to success.

Where will you be in 10 years?

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General
Business, Kids and Teens, life plan, Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach South Carolina, School Time, time flies, United States, Washington, Washington DC
7 December 2008 comment TrackBack-URI

Do You Like Horse Racing?

I spend a large part of my life in the suburbs of Washington, DC. There was a cool horse racing track just across the Potomac in MD that made for a fun evening with friends and occasionally we would visit. Additionally, there was a track in Delaware at the beach in Ocean City, that was a fun place to visit as well. We would take our young son and let him bet a dollar on a horse and he thought it was one of the most exciting things ever!

Say what you will about horse racing and gambling, but for those who enjoy it as a recreational activity it can be very fun. They are debating whether to put a quarterhorse track in my town right now and it will be interesting to follow that story. In fact, they are going to build an entire town center around the track and make it a very attractive place. I wonder if my community will allow it?

Anyway, all this horse talk and internet searching led me to Horse Racing at Kempton Park, London’s premier racing venue. If the venue is anything like the site it is an amazing place. They have live racing, hospitality, special events, sponsorships, conference facilities, and meeting rooms. It looks like a really cool place to visit for horse racing in London.

If you are ever in London, I recommend a trip there, I might have to visit myself one day!

General
Gambling, Horse racing, Kempton Park, Kempton Park Racecourse, London, Race track, Washington, Washington DC
13 November 2008 comment TrackBack-URI

Selected to Write For MyTopiaCafe.com

I am honored to announce that I have been selected to write for MyTopiaCafe.com. I will be covering “men’s” issues and developing a local sports channel there! I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to all the winding roads it leads me down.

Have an event? Post it at MyTopiaCafe.com.

Check out my first article about some friends who built ramps over hoses at the local baseball park.

Volunteers build ramps to assist city workers

Have any great story ideas for me? I am all ears, let me know.

General
Baseball park, Daytona Beach News-Journal, MyTopiaCafe.com, Non-profit organization, United States, Washington DC, World Wide Web
4 September 2008 comment TrackBack-URI