With my daughter one of the last rounds of golf played August 2016 (Tashua Knolls Golf Course)
Recently, I decided to pick up a golf club again.
Living in coastal North Carolina, golf is everywhere. Beautiful courses surround us, and after more than a decade from the game, I thought it might be time to get reacquainted. While some aspects felt super comfortable, it did not take me long to realize that familiarity and proficiency are not the same thing.
I remembered enough to get started, but improving would require something more. It would require practice, patience, and a willingness to approach the game with a beginner’s mindset. All things they I struggle with.
That realization got me thinking about business.
As professionals, we spend years building expertise. There is tremendous value in experience, and we should never underestimate the value it provides. We gain knowledge, develop instincts, and learn from successes and failures. Yes, experience is valuable. In fact, it is one of the greatest assets we bring to our businesses.
But experience can also create assumptions.
When we have worked in an industry for a long time, it is easy to believe we already know the answers. We assume we understand the customers, the markets, the challenges, or the solutions because we have encountered them before.
Sometimes that confidence is well-earned. Other times, it can limit our ability to see new possibilities.
Familiarity can be an asset, but it can also become a blind spot.
Whether we are launching a new product, entering a new market, developing a strategic plan, hosting an event, or revisiting an existing process, there are times when the best thing we can do is temporarily set our expertise aside and look at the situation through fresh eyes.
A beginner asks questions.
A beginner listens carefully.
A beginner observes before making assumptions.
A beginner remains curious.
Approaching a project with that mindset often leads to discoveries that may have otherwise been overlooked.
Throughout my career, I have seen organizations invest tremendous resources into solving problems, only to realize that the answer became clear once they challenged long-held assumptions and started asking different questions. Sometimes innovation is not about creating something entirely new. Sometimes it is about seeing something familiar from a new perspective.
The same principle applies to personal growth.
Learning something new or in my case returning to something not done in a decade can be humbling. It reminds us of what it feels like to struggle, improve gradually, and celebrate small victories along the way. It builds patience and resilience.
As I spend time practicing my golf swing, I am reminded that progress rarely happens overnight. As always, it comes from showing up consistently, paying attention, adjusting, and remaining open to learning.
The same is true in business and in life.
There is value in being a beginner again not because we have forgotten what we know, but because we are open to discovering what we don’t know. You may be surprised by what you discover when you give yourself permission to start again.
WAYS TO WORK WITH JARVIS CONSULTANTS!
Strategies: We help small to mid-size companies develop business, marketing, and event management strategies.
Business Coaching: We coach Founders of small to medium size businesses who want to take their organization to the next level.
Project Management: We support companies that don’t have the personnel resources internally; we help them create projects from the development stages to implementation; and a tactical management process.
New Business Development: We help clients research and explore new business opportunities and/or emerging trends that can be optimized and generate incremental revenue including content.
Contact sonya@jarvisconsultants.com