Make the Most of Your Time

Plans don’t matter when new opportunites — and obstacles — present themselves.

Time can move painfully slow in specific instances, and the more you focus on the specifics, the more likely you’ll be to realize — when you eventually stand back — that months, years, a lifetime has passed.

I sat down to write this column on Monday, Sept. 12, the day after the 15th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. I remember pieces of that morning so vividly that it’s almost impossible to believe how many years have passed in the interim. I was driving down County Highway PD on my way to work at a small newspaper in southern Wisconsin when I heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the first tower. There was no mention of terrorism.

When I got to work I learned about the second plane. We spent a lot of time in the conference room that day, staring at the TV in disbelief.

That was my first newspaper job. I left there in 2003 to move home and take care of my mom, who’d just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In the years since, I’ve run a family business, worked for other newspapers, bought my first and second house, got married, got divorced, and jumped into the water and wastewater industry. So much has happened, none of it planned, but I like where I’m at today.  

What do you remember from 15 years ago? Are you in the position now you hoped to be, or did your plans fade as those 15 years wore away? Maybe you wanted to be running 20 trucks by now and you only have eight. Maybe you wanted to be running 10 and you have 20. It’s good to plan and have goals, but you can’t plan for everything and you never know (my apologies for the cliché) what tomorrow will bring. How you adjust and adapt will ultimately tell the tale of your life and your business.

Andy Prestigiacomo of Rochester, New York-based AP Plumbing had no idea what the future would bring his small plumbing business 15 years ago. But over the last decade, it has expanded into hydroexcavating, pipe lining, sewer cleaning and inspection, and septic and grease tank pumping, which has pushed annual net income to $6 million. These services weren’t in Prestigiacomo’s business plan, but he saw the opportunity they presented.

Recognizing opportunity and acting on it is the key to success. You never know which job, customer or service might transform your business, and you never know if another opportunity will come down the road.

Transformative moments are never scripted. If you treat every job like it’s the most important, you’ll be able to take advantage and reap the rewards when it is. Maybe more importantly, if that big break never comes and you still keep working like it’s just around the corner, you’ll be respected. You’ll be an everyday hero to all the people you’ve helped. And that’s the kind of success that should make you proud 15 years from now.

So embrace each day, and take full advantage of the opportunity it presents. You never know where it might lead.

Enjoy this month’s issue.



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