Remember What Motivated You In The First Place

I just got back from breakfast with a young lady, the daughter of a friend of mine who wanted to pick my meagre mind about journalism as a career, but I think she helped me as much or more than I helped her.

I’ve always said that if a 20-something asked me about getting into the media, I would blindfold that person and throw her into a closet until she came to her senses.

Writing has always been an erratic profession in which its leaders are often more confused than their followers who feel the consequences of their decisions, often to the detriment of their families, and that instability has grown exponentially since my career began in the 1970s.

Over 30 years later, media is changing faster than technology in golf clubs, televisions and instant communications, so for me to come off as an expert, which many speculators try to be, would be a lie of epic proportions and one that could easily misguide my young friend sitting across the table.

So, I was blunt about what had gone on in the past and the uncertainty of the future and I do believe she took the intent of that message for its value, not with just the outward grace of humouring the old guy sitting across from her.

In my own case, I recall blowing off a message delivered by one of my college profs who warned his students that we’re getting into a business that didn’t want us. The difference between me back then and the lady across the table yesterday was that she already seemed aware of everything I was telling her.

I’m still wondering if this was her manipulating me or just the enthusiasm of youth, but she got me talking about the places I’ve visited, the experiences I’ve had and the characters I’ve met along the way. She’s traveled a lot, so I suspect she’s more worldly than her years, so I suspect the manipulation, but no matter.

Either way, what she managed to do was emphasize the reasons I got into this line of work, just as she was considering doing now. Not that I’d forgotten this, but occasionally, a reminder is needed about what gets you over the rough spots in business, not just writing, but golf and about any other career you choose.

Too often in business, we put it on auto-pilot and become machines as we try to meet deadlines and deal with workload and while it may seem that the passion that drove us to sign up is gone, something is driving us to carry on, even if we’re not feeling it. We just need to be reminded every now and again.

In my case, talking to a GNN blogger such as Kevin Thistle, I’m reminded of two things – not to drink too much coffee and that a positive attitude is a good thing to have even in tough times.

Meanwhile, Tiffany Gordon loves to talk business even though her schedule is filled with it and Kyle German can do it with a few good laughs thrown in. Outside of GNN, I’ve always taken heart in the passion that Sam Young of the Shelburne Golf and Country Club on Ontario has for teaching juniors.

Those are a few names within the golf industry who come to mind and there are many others.

We may not have thought too much about the economy or the ever-evolving state of our respective businesses when we got into our careers, but the desire that brought us into it into the first place is the simple engine that drives us through whatever we face.

Every now and again, we need to be reminded of that, which is what happened yesterday. I hope my friend at breakfast considers the reality of what is ahead of her should she decide to go into this line of work, but judging from what she said, she seems to have the first prerequisite for such a career.

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