Stop and Think

image_pdf

On my route home from work, there’s a section on the highway where there’s 15 miles between exits. Over those 15 miles, there’s not much more than rock ledges, trees and, every once in a while, a group of wild turkeys.

Tonight, as I was driving home, there was a snowman standing in the breakdown lane waving to oncoming cars. OK, so he wasn’t actually waving (or standing for that matter), but he did make me smile, and he made me forget about that never-ending to-do list that usually runs through my mind on the trip.

Whether they were just enthusiastic about the first real snow of the season, which just happened to occur while they were driving on the highway, or if they just hopped in the car and decided to drive that stretch of road and build a snowman to welcome visitors to the area, the spirit behind the action was contagious.

Chances are you chose a career in landscaping because you enjoy being outdoors, and you like to create something beautiful from raw materials and your skills. On every project, you should think of how lucky you are to be doing something you love.

I’m not going to urge you to rethink your business strategies, get everything lined up for your taxes or look over and update your business plan. Instead, today I’m going to urge you to stop. Stop and think back over the past year, and smile because you have come through it; maybe a little worse for the wear, maybe down a few projects from previous years, but the point is, you made it. Think about the projects you did have this year. Think of how you built something that brings joy to your clients on a daily basis. There’ll be time tomorrow, or even next week, to forge ahead with the new year—learn a new skill, add a new service, try out a new marketing technique. Then—be ready to hit the ground running.

Brooke A. Rockwell
Editor
brockwell@MooseRiverMedia.com