Reflections on You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

Okay, it took me months to finally purchase Trace Adkins Greatest Hits volume II "American Man." I listen to all kinds of music, including country and I've always liked Adkins, but the main reason I bought this CD was for the song "You're Gonna Miss This." I remember hearing the song a few times on the radio earlier in the year, and of course I Watched Adkins sing the song on the finale of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice." I hadn't heard the song for a long time and just purchased the CD and listened to it a few times already.

Reflections on You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

Reflections on You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

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Reflections on You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

Reflections on You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

It's the words of the song that really hit me. The first verse talks about a girl who can't wait to grow up and her mom tells her she's going to miss this. The second verse has the girl as a brand new bride and telling her dad that the small apartMent is just temporary as she talks about babies and a bigger house, etc. Her dad tells her to slow down, she's gonna miss this. The final verse is five years later with the woman appologising to the plumber for her busy house with the phone ringing, baby crying, and another kid screaming. He tells her he doesn't mind since he has two babies of his own, one 36 and the other 23. He tells her it is hard to believe, but you're gonna miss this.

The chorus after each verse is:

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so Fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Wow Trace, this song reminds me of another song on the CD, "Songs About Me." But this song is about all of us.

I find myself thinking back to my younger days. Man did I want to grow up and get out of high school and out of the house at times back when I was young. Boy do I miss some of those days now as I look back. I remember hating the Army at times. FTA was a battle cry that did not mean "Follow Top's Advice" as a friend of mine told First Sgt. (Top) one day when he was caught writing the initials in the Snow out behind the barracks. I can remember times in college, times in Japan, times in Korea, a lot of times during law school, that I did not want to be there, how I wanted things to change. Now I look back and miss so much of those times. Well, maybe not law school, but it doesn't seem as bad now as I thought it to be at the time.

Now that I'm a father, this lessons hits home even stronger. My little girl, Cosette, is four years old and just started pre-school. She's growing up so Fast and I already miss some of those days when she was little. I still enjoy all of the new things we do each day now, especially because she is like her daddy in that she loves books. She is trying so hard to learn to read and write. On the first day of pre-school she told her teacher that she couldn't read good yet. Her teacher told her that was okay, and then told my wife and me that it was not till kindergarten that they started teaching zoophonics, a system of learning the letter sounds and phonetic reading. I thought to myself, "she already knows the sounds all the letters make, by next year and kindergarten she'll be reading. Guess she'll be ahead of the curve like I was. "

So, while I'm really enjoying helping her with her reading and writing, I also miss some of the things when she was real small that are passed now.

But here is the kicker. There are times when I am pressed with work, bills, writing projects, my teaching and other goals I work on accomplishing, that I am shorter with the time I have for her. Tonight for instance, I only have a short time to come home from work, eat, spend some time with her, and then get to the gym to work out and teach hapkido. I think of Adkins' song and realize I'm gonna miss this. I'm gonna miss these times and therefore I must make sure to take as much time as possible because it is going to go by so Fast.

Everyone tells the younger generation that time goes Faster as you get older. They say it because it is true. Each and every year goes faster than the one before it. It makes the lessons of "The time is now, the place is here," that Dan Millman teaches in his Peaceful Warrior trainings even more important. Not that they are not always important, it's just as you get older you pay more attention to it.

Or at least you should. Some people don't, and that is sad. Because they are the ones that will probably miss it the most. Miss what? Miss life. Recently I wrote about living, after learning of a friend's 41 year old relative who died of a heart attack. We must not miss life. We must not be too eager to get to the next sTAGe, because trust me, it is coming way too fast as it is, that is if you are fortunate enough to make it to the next sTAGe. A lot of people write about this concept in different ways. I've written on the topic and speak about it as well. I'm sure I'll continue to write and speak on the topic in the future in various ways. Why? Because it is important. It is very important! I thank Trace Adkins for recording this song written by Lee Thomas Miller and Ashley Gorley to remind us yet again of how important it is to live life and to live in the present. To enjoy what we have, because we will miss it. There are other songs, other books, other lessons on this same theme, and maybe I'll write about them in the future as well. I'm also glad I bought the CD for another song that I need to write about too. But that is for another day.

For now, remember, the time is now, the place is here. Live life. Live now. When you look back, "You're Gonna Miss This."

Reflections on You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

Football's Answer To Building Successful Teams

A common theme floats through the bleachers of any youth sports event. This theme embodies the essential eleMents of teamwork that are crucial to every business in America. Every manager has the task of assembling teams of people and leading them in a successful direction. Obviously, this sounds much easier than it is, but why?

Ask the parents of young athletes what they think of the coaching and leadership of their sons or daughters team. Most will offer a positive remark about the team and the coach. The unspoken is often at the heart of the matter and deals with the only participant they truly care about; their child. Parents reserve the right to hold lofty opinions of their offspring's athletic prowess and ability to impact the team. They sense that coaches try hard, but rarely see the true athletic genius of their child. Those of you who've spent countless hours on cold, aluminum bleachers can relate to this message.

The problem lies mostly in the message that kids receive at home. They listen and give their team and coach their best effort in practice only to hear a parent tell them how underappreciated and misused they really are on the field of play. Many of these athletes then return to practice wondering themselves why they are not the center of attention or the leading scorer. The results can be devastating for the young person. Unsure of their real value and role on the team they can lose interest, pull others down, or quit. Because the window of athletic participation is short lived for all kids, we often miss the mark as parents and coaches. Youth coaches have a unique opportunity to develop not only the team but each young person's life. The beauty of sports in our world today is that the playing field can be a powerful teacher of life's lessons to come.

In business, just as in youth sports, the football model holds true. Imagine yourself as a football coach for a second. The goal is to establish a vision, set goals, provide roles for particiPants, and design a path to success. Not until you get each of the players to buy into the game plan will you move ahead in the right direction. So where does the football analogy come in?

As the coach you must decide who will fill all of the positions on the field. Much like fielding a business team or office staff, the head coach must find and develop the best center, quarterback, receiver, and place kicker. What qualifications are needed in each position? How do you entice players to accept less glamorous roles on the team? Do you have quality people in your organization that can properly fill and execute these positions or do you need to recruit them? What strategy do you use when a player will not accept the role you present? Would you know how to put the best possible team on the field if you were the coach? The role of a business leader is much the same.

To crystallize this process, a great coach or leader will instill the value and greatness of each person on the team within their specific role. Truthfully, almost every kid grows up wanting to be the quarterback or receiver. What would a team look like with 11 quarterbacks and no one to snap the ball or block for them? As players fit and fill roles on the team they buy into the importance of what each bring to the table. They gain strength and confidence by doing their Job well. Without their role being filled in an important way, the team does not execute to its capabilities. When more than one player fails to accept or execute their role, the team begins to deteriorate from the inside. On the outside, losses fill the schedule instead of wins. My advice for every business leader is to take a look into the genius of the great coaches in sports. You can find them at the eleMentary, high school, college, and pro levels. How and why do they make these tough personnel decisions on a daily basis, year after year. You'll find that each are masters at defining roles and establishing the importance of each role. As each part of the team is assembled and developed through practice and hard work, the inner workings of a successful team are in place. Take a page from the football playbook and create your own winning team.

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