Regardless of the Season, You Never Look Bad Making Somebody Else Look Good
Seasons happen, that’s for certain.
However, what happens to us from one season to the next is often uncertain.
We can’t always predict the exact future or how it’s all going to work out. Unfortunately, we can’t pick and choose the cards we’re dealt, real life scenarios we get to face, the jobs we’re offered, or even the lives we get to live.
Here’s what we can do. We can choose how we go about our day-to-day. As we’ve all been reminded countless times before, there are things we can control and things we cannot control.
You and I both can choose to do the following. These are all things we CAN control:
- Have Faith in a higher power. We don’t have to have the same higher power as each other, but burdens get lighter, worries become fewer, and doubts subside when we have faith.
- Take Swings. Whatever it is you’ve been thinking about, praying about, wondering about, or talking about. Go OneMoreStep. Go for it. Remember, if it’s your passion, you’ll probably organically become successful at it. If you don’t take the swing, you’ll never know!
- Do Your Best by Being the Best Person You Can Be. Just be you, be vulnerable, and be kind. You never know whom or what will come into your path and potentially change the trajectory of this season and all the seasons which follow.
- Keep Things In Perspective. When in a bad season, remember it’s only a season. This too shall pass. If you’re reading this blog post, then you’re awake, upright, and breathing. I’m writing it, so I’m right here with you. These are all positives for which you and I can be grateful. It could always be worse, and there’s still time on the clock. Don’t give up.
- Practice the Future Today. There’s no such thing as wasted time. Waiting time, as they say, is not always wasted time. We can always find something, today, to practice which will prepare us for a successful season or seasons in our future.
- You Never Look Bad Making Somebody Else Look Good. People are watching. People are listening. People are taking mental notes of what they see from us. This is true if you’re a leader of people or a leader among your peers. People are watching how we act and react to adversity. If we’ll always approach life and our work as an opportunity to make an impact, inspire, encourage, and lift others up, it looks good, feels good, and it will all work together for good.
This blogpost is inspired by a recent podcast episode I published on the Ballgames to Boardrooms Podcast. The episode features a conversation with my dear friend and PGA Tour Caddie, Matt Olsen.
In 2016, Matt found himself out of a job, as many of us often do, at one time or another in our careers. A leap of faith, literally taking a few swings, following his heart, intuition, and passion for golf he reached out to some friends and personal contacts associated with the PGA Tour. One conversation led to another, one leap of faith after another passionate leap of faith, and he found himself caddying in Web.com Tour events as well as PGA Tour events later that year.
As you’ll hear in the podcast episode (link below) in our conversation with Matt, he’s recently been hired by PGA Tour professional, Adam Long, for the 2019 PGA Tour season. This will be Matt’s third year as a professional caddie, and as you’ll soon hear him say, it’s all because he had faith, took swings in leaps of faith, did his best every single day, and always made sure to do the right thing, being kind to people.
He’s earned his spot and realized his dream, working in the PGA Tour community. In the peaks and valleys since being on tour, Matt has chosen to be himself – spirited, faithful, helpful, and cheerful – whether or not he and his golfer make the cut, make any money, or get invited back for more opportunities to perform.
Adam Long and undoubtedly many others were watching and listening all the while. Matt has been focused on doing all he can, making the golfer for whom he’s caddying, look good!
Here’s a link to the podcast episode:
YOU NEVER LOOK BAD MAKING SOMEBODY ELSE LOOK GOOD: A CONVERSATION WITH PGA TOUR CADDIE, MATT OLSEN
One for the road:
For fun, and to prove the concept of Practice the Future Today is real and amazing, here’s a YouTube video of Matt Olsen and me, from November of 2010! On a road trip across the country, Matt and I pulled off the side of the road in beautiful San Angelo, TX for an impromptu “interview”!
Matt was helping me drive all of my belongings in a U-Haul, with my beloved 2002 Toyota Camry in tow, from Orlando, FL to Las Vegas, NV. I had recently been “in transition”, as was Matt, and fortunately I was offered a job to be on the opening team of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in November of 2010. Matt, who had not only let me live in his home while I was in transition but also volunteered to help me with the drive across country, took a swing during that “season”. He tweeted PGA Tour golfers, asking if anyone “needed a caddie” for the upcoming Children’s Miracle Network Classic, held at Walt Disney World.
After tweeting my fellow Florida Southern College alum, Lee Janzen, Lee reached out to Paul Stankowski, a PGA Tour veteran in need of a top twenty finish at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in order to go back to q-school to reclaim his PGA Tour card. It turns out, he also needed a caddie! Paul Stankowski messaged Matt AS WE WERE IN THE U-HAUL ON OUR ROAD TRIP ACROSS THE COUNTRY, inviting him to caddie for him the following week at the Disney tournament.
Here’s an article which tells the story of how Paul Stankowski literally hired a caddie on Twitter, in what the article calls, “…a great week all around” and a “random moment in Twitter history.” Stankowski needed a top 20 finish for a chance to reclaim his PGA Tour card. With Matthew Glenn Olsen on his bag as what social media called his “Twitter Caddie”, they shot a final round 66 and finished 17th! Paul would regain his PGA Tour card weeks later through q-school.
From the article:
No matter what happens, Stankowski is confident he’ll walk into 2011 ready.
For a good season or another leap of faith.
This time around? Well, he’s still laughing about hiring a caddie on Twitter. “Has to be the first time, doesn’t it?”
Indeed, we believe it was. This whole gig was a leap of faith for Olsen, too. He’d been downsized from his job just before the tournament.
“And, he had an interview that week that he moved to this week, so he could caddie,” Stankowski said.
In case you’re wondering, Stankowski didn’t accept Olsen’s offer to do it for free. He paid him standard rate, which meant Olsen collected about $4,000 for the week.
Take swings! Follow your passion.
Thanks, Matthew Glenn Olsen, for the inspiration, and best of luck to you and Adam Long on the PGA Tour in 2019. Continue being the leader you are, and when you lead, lead with hospitality!
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs
Enjoy the SEASON!
Taylor
About the Author:
Founder and Visionary of Lead With Hospitality, LLC, Taylor’s worked for notable brands in hospitality including Disney, Wynn Resorts, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Gaylord Hotels, Disney Vacation Club, and more. He graduated from Florida Southern College, earning a BS in Business Administration. He also earned a Masters of Management in Hospitality from Cornell University. An author, inspirational keynote speaker, dynamic corporate trainer, and independent hospitality consultant, Taylor resides in beautiful Dana Point, California with his wife, Jenna.
Taylor is the author of the best-selling book, Ballgames To Boardrooms: Leadership, Business, and Life Lessons From Our Coaches We Never Knew We Needed as well a his forthcoming second book, Lead With Hospitality.
Download the Ballgames To Boardrooms Audiobook HERE.
