In the Northern Hemisphere, the dog days of summer are ending. The cool, pleasant crisp air of fall is coming. Maples, ginkgos, and aspen will soon delight us with their vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds in the afternoon sun. For many, fall is all about getting the special seasonal sip of a pumpkin spice latte.
To me, fall is about celebrating, reflecting and connecting before we curl up inside for winter. Across the world there are celebrations centered around beer, pumpkins, apples, and more. We harvest what nature has brought us this year with others, no matter how good or bad the year has been.
A Prior Life
I was a golf course superintendent in a past life. Fall was my favorite season. It was a time of reflection, construction, and connection. We no longer had the daily mundanity of mowing, trimming, and watering our precious turf. The grass wasn’t as needy. We could spend time on important projects. Most importantly, we could reconnect with the people we loved and find others with whom we could form stronger bonds.
In the GC superintendent biz, we called the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day the “hundred day war.” Heat domes formed over the Central US regularly pushing the mercury well into the 90s. There was one focus: don’t lose a precious green! Losing a few greens to heat stress or pests was one sure way to get fired as a superintendent.
This meant 80 hour weeks, few days off, no vacations, a dearth of human connection outside of the grounds crew, and little time to reflect and invest in course or personal improvement. You were simply hanging on for dear life, hoping you could weather the heat and humidity.
Yet, there was always fall to look forward to. Once the walnuts started dropping, we could bust out of our work shells. We could rejoin family, friends, and society. We could connect with other humans to share summer turf war stories. We could attend networking events. We could meet new people at said networking events.
3 Questions in Fall
In fall, we would celebrate with our crew during Friday afternoon cookouts. Most importantly, we would ask ourselves a three reflective questions:
We’d ask, “What are we most proud of this season?” Maybe we’d hosted a US Open Qualifier. Maybe we’d put on a member-guest tournament for the ages. Maybe we’d restored key areas of the course to their former glory. Or, maybe we’d just survived a tough year, one in which we lost a few greens and prayed to have a job come next season.
We’d ask, “What do we want to accomplish before the year was out?” There was only so much time before daylight savings time ended. There were only so many hours to plant new trees or rebuild bunker complexes. There were too many big projects to complete before we covered the greens, putting the course to bed until spring.
We’d ask, “Who do we want to reconnect with this fall and winter?” We’d spent 80, sometimes 90 hour weeks fighting the “hundred day war.” There wasn’t a lot of time to be with family, let alone friends and other colleagues. In fall, we could take a breath. We could reunite with the people who matter most. We could attend events that mattered most to us to meet more people.
How Might You Reflect?
Only you know if fall is the right time to invest in yourself. What matters is that you take a moment to do it when the time arises.
I have provided growth consulting services for dozens of companies from startup to corporate behemoth. Oftentimes, the leaders in these companies find it difficult to take time away from their businesses to work on their businesses. They are routinely wrapped up in wrangling the ever expanding To-Do list. There simply is no time to reflect and to connect, unless they force it.
One of the best ways to force it is simply blocking two hours of your time on a Friday afternoon. Dave Will, a serial entrepreneur and host of the Entrepreneurs Organization Podcast uses this technique to make sure he actually takes the appropriate time to reflect. He knows that magical reflection time will not just manifest itself.
Once you carve out the required time to reflect, ask yourself these three questions:
What am I most proud of? - What skills, team wins, career certifications would you put on a brag wall and want to tell others about? Why do these things fuel your soul?
What do I want to accomplish? - What epic goal or project have you put on hold? How must be true to simply get it started and moving in the right direction?
Who do I want to connect with? - Most importantly, who would you want to share a long road trip car ride with? This was a question for my B-School application essays. It’s a good one!
If you don’t see any time, you’ll have to make it. You’ll have to cancel some meetings. You’ll have to put a two - three hour block on your calendar and not let a soul take that time from you.
At a minimum, take some time to step away from your desk, cube, and to-do list this time of year. You won’t regret going for a quiet, reflective stroll amidst the vibrant colors of the season.
Thanks for reading!
Paul G. Fisher