This morning the news is buzzing about Tiger Woods and his win at the Masters yesterday. Some of the statistics from yesterday are amazing:
- It was the first time he came from behind to win a major championship;
- He was the second-oldest man to win the tournament;
- Also, he’s the youngest man to win the tournament;
- It was 14 years since he last won the Masters;
- His last major championship win was the 2008 U.S. Open.
For non-golf fans, many of these things may not seem that interesting. To the golfers, these feats stand out as a testament to Tiger’s longevity. They also remind us of the importance of planning and thinking about the long-term. When Tiger first began winning championships in his early 20’s, people assumed he would break the all-time record. He was on a seemingly endless run of tournament wins. But then life changed and he underwent some challenges. His career arch echoes lessons that we can take to our estate-planning and businesses.
Long-Term Estate Planning
Much like Tiger’s career, when you first hear about creating a will, you are often very involved in the process. You are motivated to get everything right and create the perfect plan. And after the initial flurry of activity, you put away your documents and don’t think much of them. Many times, life coasts along and there’s a lull in need for changes to your estate plan. But then, a life-event of some type happens and you realize that it’s time to get back in the game again. Your children are going to college. A grandchild is on the way. And your needs are quite different than they were when you first created your estate plan. So it’s time to get back in there and make another major change.
By the way, this also applies to your financial planning as well. I’m sure you’ll see plenty of blogs this week about Tiger Woods and what he can teach you about financial planning (even if you don’t have all those career winnings he has…)
Long-Term Business Planning
There’s a good chance that your business follows a similar path to Tiger’s golf career. When you open your doors, you will hopefully burst on the scene. Lots of good press coverage or fanfare over the start of the business. And it will seem like you are on top of the world. But inevitably, the business needs to continue to grow. There will be new market challenges. Or other challenges you didn’t see coming when you opened your doors.
Maybe you become so successful that you spawn a bunch of imitators. Using your business model, they may cut into your market. But as Tiger taught us yesterday, there is hope. You can continue to grind. To get better, back to where you were as a market leader. The lean times are hard and challenging. But there is hope on the horizon…
Next Steps
If you don’t have a will yet, or if you have one that you may need to update, call my office to set up a meeting and we can review the best options for you. I also work with small businesses in a variety of industries and we can set up a meeting to see what stage your business is at and how it can grow from here – (877) AMAYERS.