Moe and Nick

There are millions of great stories in golf. This is one of them:

"I'll never forget, I was in Niagara Falls about five years ago. My uncle had passed away and the day before the funeral I went out to Legends (on the Niagara) to hit a few balls. I'm at the end of the range, but I see this car cruising around. This big Cadillac drives up through the range, drives up on to the tee and right up behind me. It's Moe (Norman) and Nick," Weir said. "They just sat there and we shot the breeze for 2 1/2 hours and they watched me hit balls. That was pretty cool."

That’s a quote from Mike Weir, mentioning Moe Norman and Nick Weslock.

The quote comes from this story written by Dave Perkins and found on the Toronto Star website.

Non-Urgent, But Very Important

I’ve blogged previously about Urgency versus Importance. Many of us get swept up in Urgency, and forget to consider the Importance, or lack thereof, of our daily tasks. Many of us neglect those items that are non-Urgent, but very Important.

Later tonight I have focused on items that are both Urgent and Important.

However, most of today was dedicated to a wonderful part of my life that is non-Urgent and yet incredibly Important. It’s times like today that give me the energy and the drive to tackle periods where my tasks are perhaps more Urgent, but far less Important.

The End of One Week Brings the Beginning of Another

It’s been a full weekend! And soon time for bed, to get up tomorrow and start another week!

I’m very pleased with the progress we made this past week. It’s always nice, at the end of a week, to look back and be satisfied. Of course, those of you that know me also know that I secretly wish we could have accomplished much, much more! But, realistically, Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo moved much closer to our Grand Opening this past week! We’re getting there.

Friday evening I met with our banker, had discussions with a few folks at Parmasters HQ and also did quite a bit of Christmas shopping. With Parmasters HQ located on the west coast – Vancouver, BC – there tend to be a few discussions well into our evening, Eastern Time. I also had a wonderful chat with a dear friend who was quite excited about a new purchase. Christmas came early!

I worked most of Saturday, as I tend to do, but did break in the middle of the day to attend a Christmas lunch with the board of Spectradigital Corporation. It was a working lunch, but always nice to break bread with friends. Spectradigital is making great progress, but could also move faster. Time to money, time to market, speed in general, is always so critical.

Saturday afternoon I was back in the office working before heading off to a hockey game with my eldest son. It was my first time witnessing him scoring a goal in a game! I missed his first goal, earlier this season. He was one happy hockey player after the game! After supper we watched the Buds – aka the Toronto Maple Leafs – lose in convincing fashion.

And today, we here in southern Ontario awoke to a nice fresh blanket of snow. It seemed to be about a foot thick in my driveway. So, after breakfast I spent a few minutes moving said white stuff off the driveway and walks. Then after some housework and laundry it was back to the office. I took a brief break at supper time, did a little more shoveling, made some calls, and here we are again, in the office.

And now, it’s time to relax for a few minutes, before sleep. If we can make as much progress next week, as we did this past week, I shall be quite pleased.

Marketing Starting Soon!

We continue to be blown away, quite frankly, by the incredible and positive response to the information sessions we ran earlier this week! It’s been very busy trying to keep up with demand!

I think Bell Mobility will be very happy when they tally the minutes I’ve used on my mobile phone lately, all for a good cause of course. My battery came very close to failing on Tuesday evening and again tonight, after a long day of countless emails and phone conversations.

We’re now starting to strategize on our pre-opening marketing. Before we open, our marketing efforts are focused on signing up members. We offer many benefits to members that join us prior to our grand opening! We’ll register a minimum of 750 memberships before we open Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo.

Just to be clear, that doesn’t mean we will delay our opening until we have 750 members in place. Rather, we will do what it takes to ensure that at least 750 prospective members hear about the countless benefits to membership and thus sign on as members well before construction is finished.

This weekend I’ll be reviewing our website to ensure that it’s up to date. I should do so more frequently, but it can be difficult to keep up with some of these periodic tasks.

And lastly, it became quite clear today that a close friend of mine needs reminding that she must stop once in a while and “sharpen the saw!” I blogged about this many months ago here. Hopefully she’ll take the hint, and others too will benefit from the reminder.

Drug Testing

It’s another late night. I’ll have an early start tomorrow also.

We’ve had a fantastic response to the information sessions we ran earlier this week! We were always confident that our message would resonate well with attendees and that we would pique their interest, but the level of response and speed of response has been very gratifying!

Way back on Tuesday, which seems so very long ago, Parmasters received incidental mention a blog titled Deep Rough. I’m not sure who operates the blog, but the mention was appreciated.

Here's the quote:
"You may be able to find one [an AboutGolf simulator] at a local: PGA TOUR Superstore, Golf Galaxy, Edwin Watts, Golf Town, Decathlon Europe or Parmasters."

Interestingly, the Mitchell Report on steroid use in major league baseball came out today, one day after media covered the beginning of mandatory drug testing on the PGA Tour.

Testing on the PGA Tour may seem crazy to some. I mean, we’re just talking about golf. But, given the nature of today’s game, and the seeming dominance of the power game, I believe the PGA Tour has made a wise move.

I just hope and pray that tour golf never experiences the drug-related turmoil currently hovering over major league ball.

Manipulating Time

It’s a bit of a late night tonight. We did the first of our stakeholder presentations this (Tuesday) evening. It went very well. The point is simply to convey a lot of information in a short period of time, and to do so effectively, such that people actually understand our business. We want people, simply, to “get it.”

Our presenter, Colin Christensen of Parmasters Alberta, did a fantastic job. We’re very pleased. Of course, as the owner and President of Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo, I interjected periodically. But, for the most part, Colin ran with it.

We’re doing another presentation tomorrow, in about seven hours. I guess I should wrap up this post and get some sleep.

I believe there’s some way for me to manipulate the time stamp on each blog entry. So, I could post an entry at 8:00am, for example, and manipulate the time to say 6:00am, or whatever I like.

I’ve wondered why that feature exists. Why would a blogger do so?

Many of you may think I’m crazy to be blogging at this late hour. And yes, it actually is just after 1:00am on Wednesday morning. I have not manipulated the time. Others may be impressed by the dedication and long work hours.

Regardless, it is what it is. This, sometimes, is the life of an entrepreneur. Earlier today I committed to working through Wednesday night, likely all night, to accomplish a pressing task. As it turns out, we’ve found another way to accomplish this task, and I will not have to work through Wednesday night. But, in the end, as an entrepreneur, you simply do whatever it takes. Which, I suppose, is no different than anyone else in any other job or career. You do whatever it takes to get your job done.

Well, now it’s time for some sleep. Long day tomorrow.

Christmas Spirit

It’s been another busy weekend, preparing for what will undoubtedly be a busy week ahead.

I started with a breakfast meeting Saturday morning and then headed back to the office to knock off as many tasks as possible. Late Saturday afternoon I watched my eldest son play hockey. They suffered their second defeat of the season, but apparently it didn’t count, as the real referees had not appeared, and substitutes were used instead.

Saturday evening I did some Christmas shopping and found it very relaxing and also very enjoyable! This is a busy year. For that reason, and others, I’ve struggled to get into the Christmas spirit. Saturday night really helped. I was shopping for some people that are very dear and special to me. I was just quite saddened when it was time to leave.

Today was spent almost entirely in the office. We’re doing some presentations this coming week to some key stakeholders related to Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo, so I was preparing for that. We have visitors flying in from Parmasters HQ and also from Parmasters Alberta to assist with these presentations.

I believe now, it’s time for some sleep, also in preparation for a busy week ahead.

Great Shareholder Team

I’ve had a couple of highly productive days since my last blog entry. Which I see as very positive, given my current value system.

I’m off to my eldest son’s school shortly for a brief parent-teacher meeting. It will be nice to get a more complete picture of what is happening in the class room, both in general, and with my son. Report cards are helpful, but I find I learn much more in a brief chat with a teacher.

And tomorrow morning I sit down with our shareholders. As part of running Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo, I make myself available for two hours, every quarter, to answer any questions that our shareholders may have.

In reality, of course, our shareholders can contact me at any time, and I often call them to discuss various matters, to seek assistance, etc. I believe strong, open lines of communication are best. There shouldn’t be any surprises, neither good nor bad.

I’m very happy with the group of shareholders we’ve assembled. There all very intelligent, successful, and articulate. They’re team players, more than willing to work together for the common good. Basically, they’re good natured people who are quite happy to roll their sleeves up and pitch in whenever needed.

Of course, at the same time, our shareholders expect results and they expect the value of their holdings to grow. That’s my job. And I’m going to get back to it.

Better Days

I wasn't very productive today. I did ok, and bumped several initiatives along, but I could have done more, and feel bad about that. I tend to feel a sense of guilt and lost opportunity at the end of a so-so day. It's a day that I can't get back.

Clearly, at least at this point in my life, I place a lot of value on productivity and getting lots of "stuff" - that's a technical, entrepreneur term by the way - done. I say "clearly" because if I didn't value productivity, I wouldn't be lamenting a low productivity day.

I've always prided myself on my ability to do a lot, to handle a lot, to juggle many priorities, etc. But I also realize that there are lots of people who do so much more than me. Compared to some of these people, and I know one of them quite well, I look like I'm standing still! I don't know how they do all that they do!

And of course, we don't all value productivity. Life is about the journey, not simply the destination. Stop and smell the roses. Etc.

At any rate, I hope to sleep much better tonight, and be far more productive tomorrow. Because, at least for now, productivity is something I value greatly!

Excellence

I saw this quote in action this evening. I was in awe!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle

City of Kitchener Environment-focused Workshop

I'm sitting at another hockey practice, this one at the Doon campus of Conestoga College. I've been trying to teach my son the importance of and proper use of speed. He seems to be gaining some understanding. He's out there experimenting and learning, which is wonderful.

This morning I attended a environment-focused workshop hosted by the City of Kitchener. I learned a lot. I find that new and varied experiences tend to stimulate new and varied ideas. In this case, I started thinking about our role as business owners.

As we open and operate multiple Parmasters golf training centers throughout southern Ontario over the next seven years, it seems we have both an opportunity and an obligation to be environmentally aware and responsible. But of course, at the same time, we must ensure the business thrives at the same time.

And isn't that interesting. Even as I typed that previous paragraph, it occurs to me that I did so under an assumption. The assumption was, "it can be expensive and draining for a company to operate in an environmentally responsible manner."

Is that assumption true?
Do others operate under the same unchallenged belief?

More to ponder, as the practice continues...