Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.- Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Since I picked up golf later in life, I have always emphasized carrying a large number of golf balls in my bag.  Early on, I would go through ten or more a round, so I was never particularly discerning about the quality of the golf ball.  Every hole was like an Easter egg hunt, and quantity mattered.  Nowadays, I am much improved, but old habits die hard!  And so it was that I stumbled upon Lil’ Spizz.

After hopelessly slicing my first ball of the day in the right woods, I found a nice-looking Titleist in the rough that eased the pain of the loss.  When I turned it over, I noticed the words “Lil’ Spizz” hastily written in magic marker.  So Random.  But hey, a ball is a ball!  And it proved lucky as I finished the rest of the round with Lil’ Spizz in my corner.  A few weeks later, I had the honor of playing with my brother Jerry at the esteemed Rock Creek Country Club (for $8 a round!).  It was time to see if Lil’ Spizz had any more magic left in him.

The round was an absolute adventure.  I hit Lil’ Spizz deep into heavy underbrush, only to find him softy sitting up like a white diamond.  I hit Lil’ Spizz deep into the woods, only to find him gently resting on a branch.  And each time I recovered and advanced, and was actually having a decent round.  On the second to last hole, I was sure I lost Lil’ Spizz for good.  I topped a drive on a steep downhill Par 3 with a creek at the bottom.  While it was a blind shot, we knew there was no chance of survival.  All good things must come to an end!  But to our amazement, Lil’ Spizz had taken a supernatural bounce off the cart path, jumped the creek, and was lying perilously close to the green!  Do you believe in miracles?  We were beside ourselves.

On the final hole, I didn’t want to press my luck and pulled out another ball on the tee box.  My brother was having none of it.

“Lil’ Spizz deserves better.  You can’t put him away now.”

It was the right call.  You don’t pay a superstar athlete and keep him on the bench for fear of getting hurt.  You don’t buy a Lamborghini and leave it in the garage for fear of getting in a crash. And you don’t survive an entire round with Lil’ Spizz and keep him in the bag for fear of getting lost!

And shouldn’t we take that same approach in our work and personal lives?

We Can Never Settle

We may have great ideas but then fail to express them during the big pitch.  We may have a bold vision for growing our company but then turn more conservative once we reach a certain threshold.  We may have a fantastic sales year and then coast and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We may go all out in the game but then shut it down for practice.   We may get too comfortable in a relationship and stop expressing our true selves.  We have to remember what got us here.  And we have to keep taking chances and putting ourselves out there.  It is better to fail spectacularly with effort than to settle for passive mediocrity.

We all have certain skills and superpowers.  At times, they can propel us far in our careers and in life.  But sometimes we can get too conservative.  We can take our foot off the gas.  We can extinguish our own flame for fear of rejection or loss.  There are enough obstacles out there in our journey.  We don’t need to create new ones for ourselves!  We can’t light a lamp and then cover it with a bushel basket!  We have to keep taking our shots.  We have to take Lil’ Spizz out of the bag and let ‘er rip!

Life is A Series of Adventures

The reality is that Lil’ Spizz is not long for this world.  He will probably end up in a watery grave.  Or deep in the woods.  Or through an open sunroof in a passing car (it’s happened before!)  But I will shed no tears when his time is up.  He will go out in a blaze of glory and we will hold nothing back until the end!

Never settle.  Keep your edge even when success comes your way.  Play to your strengths.  Always move forward.  It’s okay to fail and go down in a ball of flames.  It’s about constantly pushing our limits.  And reloading with another ball whenever we stumble.  As long as we stay resilient, the amazing adventures will always continue.