As I take my early morning bike ride, I have noticed a distinct change in the temperature. Fall is definitely in the air, even if the South Texas afternoons don’t yet reflect the transition. That means one thing to me – I’m ready for some football. Pro football, to be exact.
Since this is a business column I will do my level best to make connections on how football relates to business, specifically, and to life, in general. I’ll work not to get off track and make a salient connection or two along the way.
Anyone reading this, I believe, will fall into one of four general categories. One, you love or at least have some passing interest in professional football. Two, you believe football to be the game many of us in the USA know as soccer. You care more about the MLS than the NFL. Three, you are downright antagonized by the media attention, tax breaks, and fan antics that pro football enjoys. Or four, you simply don’t care about football at all.
So, wherever you fall on the football-interest spectrum, you must agree that the game has been elevated to the top of our awareness in the culture of the United States. It has therefore become metaphor-worthy, in my opinion.
One thing fans love about football is that there are clearly delineated winners and losers. There is little ambiguity. By the time the dust settles late Monday evening, we are celebrating our great fortunes or licking our wounds. It’s all about the results.
The problem when we do our business like that is that we truly miss great opportunities for enjoyment and satisfaction. We are deadline driven and vow to “put our noses to the grindstone.” Ouch. It is only after we have completed whatever current project we are working on that we allow ourselves to catch our collective breaths. And then, it starts all over again. Life becomes drudgery. We are productive but at what cost? Certainly we are not at our creative bests. The projects get finished but we get drained – mentally, physically and emotionally.
Is there a better way? Certainly. If you hate everything about your job and find yourself dragged down, then for goodness sake look for a better way to make a living. It’s called a living and not a dying. You deserve to do something that brings you a measure of joy and satisfaction at the end of a day. No job provides constant satisfaction and joy, but there should be generous helpings of it.
If I am so into the outcome of a game all the enjoyment drains away. I fall prey to this quite a bit, being so very joyous when my team amasses a victory and actually angry or depressed when they go down to defeat, especially to a team I feel is an inferior foe. What I lose is any appreciation for the grace, the athletic achievement, the team spirit, the sharing of a sport. It is all about my emotional investment in the end result.
My wife, Melissa, lived in Tampa Bay, Florida when the Buccaneers came into existence in the NFL. The franchise lost its first 26 games and Melissa was at every home game cheering them on. She teaches me, again and again, that over-identifying myself with the results completely drains me of enjoying the process. It’s the journey, she reminds me.
One of the greatest players of all time is the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Brett Farve. If you ever watch him play, watch the joy that he brings to playing the game. He loves it and it shows while still retaining his deeply competitive spirit. His attitude lifts the whole team. Whether he wins or loses, his delight is in the process.
That is my encouragement for today. Stay in the journey, wherever you find yourself at this moment. If we do what is in front of us, the results will take care of themselves. We lose energy, creativity and miss opportunities when we are so focused on the outcome. There is so much more to be enjoyed if we will just allow ourselves to experience it.
Dennis Tardan is a communications consultant and empowerment trainer. His passion is helping people to communicate their core messages with greater clarity, effectiveness and confidence. His company is Tardan Professional Development and he is based in Texas, USA. www.tardanprodev.com. Write to Dennis at .
