President's Corner: “I’m a Competitive Person.”
A LAN D EICHLER P RESI D ENT
When was the last time you heard someone say, “I am a very competitive person”? For me, I heard it the other day for the first time in a long time and it made me start wondering why I haven’t heard it as often as I used to.
A quick story on competition. I was last man on a southern university golf team. We played a big-time schedule and on our tee, it was very competitive to make each tournament. The fourth man’s girlfriend was arranging blind dates for a sorority sister who had just left a long-term relationship. I was on the agenda. It was arranged that we would double date with my golf teammate and his girlfriend. My date giggled through the mystery movie and I was starting to look at my watch and wonder how long this date was going to last. After the movie, we agreed to go play putt-putt golf. Miniature golf (or putt-putt) is a short putting-only golf course that is as much for entertainment as for competition. It’s often a silly layout with windmills and clown faces. But it was going to be me and my date versus my fellow golf teammate and his date. It was on! I figured this date would continue to be less than wonderful. She laughed and giggled through a Clint Eastwood mystery movie - how much help would she be in trying to beat my teammate? Just a bit of background, you need to know that lowerranked team members had to qualify to try and make the traveling squad for tournaments. My teammate and I were often head-to-head in that competition. We both normally made the traveling team, but
the competition was intense. This putt-putt event would be contested as if it was for the “world championship.” Quick cut to the finish, my two children owe their being to the competitiveness of their mother in that match. We beat them thanks to my date’s (and my future wife’s) competitive spirit. There was no giggling and she was determined to win. Obviously, we went out the next weekend and subsequent weekends. Whether you like the word competition, or you call it “being the best you can be,” or “striving for excellence,” we as a country, firm, business people and even in our personal lives, must strive to do our best. We seem to want the related goals of international influence, healthy firms, various kinds of careers, and meeting personal goals, such as family time and support, vacations, and nice places to live. All of these are dependent on meeting our goals, which in turn depends on striving to do our best.
exploring the possibilities of being small business owners and creating plans to be attractive to the partners for future election as owners of the firm. To meet our personal and business objectives, I suspect those with the most success in reaching these goals will be those that have a competitive spirit. Competitive people are able to draw on concentration, creativity, and resilience in order to achieve their objectives – being a competitive person may just give you the most effective way to meet your goals.
Not everyone needs to win the top prize or be “number one.” However, we live in a society that rewards people for accomplishments. Attaining accomplishments and winning comes from preparation, hard work, and determination. Of course, we need to balance the competitive spirit with appreciating life and the wonder around us, as well as competing in a proper and ethical manner within the rules, but our goals and aspirations will not come from hope. It has been a pleasure to meet so many people during my VIP visits, both those at the beginning of their careers and those reaching the end of their careers. Many of those at the beginning of their careers are
104 N. Main St. Gainesville, FL 32601 (352) 727-4070 www.cpamerica.org
FOR MORE DETAILS, GO TO: www.cpamerica.org > under the News and Events tab, select Upcoming Events > Webinars
Join CPAmerica for our Webinar: International Business and Tax Ramifications Webinar on August 9, from 2-4 p.m. ET. The International Business and Tax Ramifications of Exporting webinar session will take a global view of exporting and how various countries are encouraging export activity through tax and other incentives.
Send feedback and member advantage@cpamerica.org
OHM
4
follow us on our social media: