Mike’s Lone PEEK Summit!!

Like most of you I have goals both personal and business that I set every year. Last year I actually wrote them down and put them in a place I would see them everyday. I read somewhere that it can better your focus. I did not hit all my goals for last year (I’m not sure if you noticed but it was kind of a tough year for most of us!) but I did finish the year out with a bang.

For years I had a goal of becoming an expert skier. I have always looked on with envy as I saw others effortlessly make their way down a ski run. Since the winters during my youth were solely focused on hockey I never even tried to ski. It wasn’t until well after college that I actually got my start. My first time was so bad that I literally walked off the hill in disgust and went straight to the bar. But the very next day I went back out by myself and vowed to get better. The very next year I was invited to go out west to the mountains and it was there that I truly got hooked. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Much like golf I liked the independence and self reliance. You could ski with friends but still be all alone. You could ski the same run on different days and it would be totally new. The Mountains were so invigorating it was like a different world to me.

I continued to ski a little here in Minnesota but made sure to go on one or two trips out west every year. Gradually, I did get better but for many years was stuck in that intermediate mode. Good enough to ski most runs but not always confidently. At first I used the excuse that if had only started earlier I would be so much better. Then I moved on to the “You really have to live out west to become an expert” excuse!

Sometime in my forties I became a fan of a gentleman named Michael Masterson (please see his article in this newsletter about Marketing)
A comment of his struck me. That it takes an investment of about 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything. Well, I really become focused on skiing and put as much time both on and off the hill as possible. I’m not sure if I hit the 10,000 hour mark yet but just a couple of weeks ago while out in Big Sky MT I managed to check this particular “expert” item off my bucket list.

I have been skiing black runs for many years and for the last 5 or so years I have even been skiing what are termed double diamond black runs. Many of my friends told me how good I was and maybe I was? But in my mind I could or would never call myself an expert. To me an expert was someone who was willing to go off piste, someone willing to take their skis off while already high atop a mountain and climb even further to a non-lift served area, find a chute and then ski down it. Well this year as I turned 50, I proved to myself that you’re never too old to reach a goal.

It was New Years Eve and we were on our annual family ski vacation in Big Sky Montana. I got off the lift called Challenger already some 10,000 feet in elevation when my friend pointed up and said that is where we were going. I then but my skis on my back and climbed up, in my ski boots, the equivalent of about 3 football fields. After reaching that peak we then hiked another couple of football fields along a ridge about 4 feet wide negotiating often between the rock wall to one side of us and the sheer cliff a couple of feet to the other side. The hike consisted basically of staring at your boots making sure to carefully put one foot in front of the other. Easier said then done while on ski boots on the top of a mountain ridge. After finally reaching our destination I needed some time to gather myself. After a few moments of taking in the view I locked myself into my skis took a big breath and jumped into the run. I skied it, how should I say, expertly. Once I made it to the bottom I stood there for a another minute or so looking up with great pride. The beer tasted quite good at Après-ski that day!

Being an expert does not mean you’re the best or that there is still not much more to learn. All it really means is that you have put in enough quality hours to fully understand that while you can be very proficient no one is perfect! That goals are a moving targets and we need to constantly re-set them.

Our goals at Bann are to become marketing experts and offer our clients the best value for their dollars. This year we are launching a new division called Bann Banking Solutions that will be geared solely to serving the print, promotional, and office supply needs of Community Banks across the country.
We look forward to keeping you posted on this endeavor as well as continuing to expertly focus on serving the needs of all of our current wonderful clients!

Mike