Play the next shot
There's a term in golf I love. Ham and egg.
It means finding your way around the course when things aren't pretty. You hit it behind a tree? You're behind the tree. No point arguing with reality. Just figure out the next shot and play it.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately because that's exactly what building a business feels like right now.
Some weeks are clean. The calls go well. The pipeline moves. Things click.
Other weeks? Not so much. A deal stalls. A conversation doesn't turn into anything. The to-do list feels like it's winning.
And there's this temptation to stop and rethink everything. Blow up the strategy. Start over. Get in your head about it.
But here's what I keep coming back to.
The best golfers in the world don't have perfect rounds. They have great recovery shots. They find a way. They ham and egg it. And at the end of the day, they post a score.
Who do you want to be a hero to?
I heard this question recently and it won't leave me alone.
Not what do you want to sell. Not how do you hit your number. Who do you want to serve?
When I sit with that question on a messy day, everything gets simpler. I stop spinning on strategy and start thinking about the person in front of me. What do they need? How can I help?
The days where I lead with that question are always my best days. Better energy. Better conversations. Better outcomes. Not because the circumstances are different. Because I'm different.
What I'm learning about resourcefulness
I used to think success was about having the perfect plan. The right strategy at the right time. Everything lined up.
I don't believe that anymore.
The people I admire most aren't the ones with the cleanest path. They're the ones who figured it out when the path got messy. They adapted. They improvised. They played the next shot.
That's resourcefulness. And it's a completely different skill than strategy.
Strategy says "here's the plan." Resourcefulness says "the plan didn't work, now what?"
I think most of the growth in my life has come from the "now what?" moments. Not the ones where everything went right.
Your week
You're going to have a ham and egg moment this week. Something won't go the way you planned. A meeting will fall flat. A deal will stall. Someone will say no.
When it happens, try this. Don't rethink the whole strategy. Don't spiral. Just ask yourself two questions:
Who do I want to serve today?
What's the next shot?
That's it. That's enough.
Not every round is pretty. But the people who keep playing — who keep showing up, keep serving, keep finding a way — those are the ones who post a score at the end.
I'm in the fight right now. Ham and egging my way through some days. And I wouldn't trade it.
Because the fight is the point.
Talk soon,
Jon
Until next week,
Jon