This time of year is typically all about resolutions or goals, as my team and I set milestones we hope to achieve this year. In preparation for the new year, we also review last year’s goals and analyze what we did well and what we could have done differently, as we set action steps to move us into the next season. 

How can we improve A? 
How do we reduce B?
Why did we stop C?
You know the drill.

However, after several years of writing about goals, this year I wanted to focus on a tool I found a year ago that had a profound impact on me and a peer group that I’m a member of. 

Last year, a mentor mentioned the impact of writing a letter to your future self and writing about things you hope will be true when you open that email. 

Although any time frame can be used, I used 1 year in advance for my letter.

I started out with the things you will not be surprised with if you’ve read my corner for long—goals I wanted to have hit and habits I wanted to have kept/quit, — but it also led me somewhere I don’t go very often.

Introspection.

Ever tried to journal? I’ve heard of many that use it as such a great tool for self-analysis, but I’ve never committed to it long enough to really develop the skill.

However, this act led me deeper than any journaling prompt I have ever tried.

As I put myself in the shoes of my one-year-older self and opened this letter, I realized some unavoidable truths that weren’t so clear until I took a moment to fast-forward time.

Some were about my family. Some were about my faith. Some were about memories I wanted to create. 

Most of all, it led me to look at things from a different vantage point than I had ever considered.

Writing a letter to your future self can be a powerful tool, and I will use it much more regularly from now on. The act of putting your thoughts, feelings, and aspirations onto paper can help you clarify your values, identify your priorities, and create a sense of accountability to your future - of which no one has more interest in than you.

For more information, or to use the tool I used, visit futureme.org. It’s a free service that is worth every moment you put into it. 

Does Christmas ever get messy with your family?

Maybe you have that sibling that’s a black sheep….or that in-law with the backwards politics….or that cousin who is just hard to be around...

Most of us have that family gathering over the holidays where we can’t help but find ourselves looking at our watch counting the minutes till we can leave because of that person.

Almost every family has that person who makes the holidays…well…messy.

Whether the messy comes from a topic as polarizing as politics, as unimportant as football teams, as pivotal as major life choices, or as simple as arriving on time - when I’m honest with myself, it all comes back to a choice I’ve made, and a choice I’m not proud of.

It’s generally me choosing to not give grace - grace that’s been so abundantly given to me.

When I really pull back the curtain further, it’s me projecting my perceptions and preferences onto another person. And not just anyone either - a family member.

Grace is going out of the way to give compassion and kindness to someone -  even if they don’t deserve, appreciate, or return it. It’s also something I need a lot of - because my list of mistakes is LONG. Just ask my wife!

When it gets messy this holiday season, here’s to giving a gift that no one will open, but everyone should feel: Grace.

Here's to a Merry - not messy- Christmas.

To truly enjoy a stress-free holiday season, consider simplifying your decorations with professional help. Our team can take care of your holiday light installation, ensuring a stunning display without the hassle. Discover how we can help you achieve a beautifully lit home by visiting our holiday lights page.

Our community is full of local businesses that offer many different services to meet our needs, from coffee shops to plant shops, gift shops to restaurants. These businesses help create our community and give it the character we all know and love. Without these shops, we would be missing out on what truly creates our unique community.

Every year as we ent the holiday shopping season, I like to remind my friends and family the importance of shopping small local businesses.  This year I wanted to give 5 Quick Reasons to shop small:

1. Our community is significantly impacted by small businesses
Small businesses not only create jobs, but also proven higher paying careers and opportunities. Payroll from prosperous small businesses are returned to the local neighborhood, helping to fund the development of new small enterprises. Shopping with Amazon, while extremely convenient, does nothing for our local community.

2. You can’t beat personalized customer service
When you spend locally, you don't have to worry about calling the 800 number for customer support. One of the main benefits shopping local has is the ability to receive individualized, hands-on, and memorable customer service. 

3. Small businesses give to local non-profits
You support your community beyond the economy when you shop at a local business. Most local businesses are supporters of local non-profits and charities. If you divert that money to a big-box store somewhere else, your neighborhood won't gain anything at all. Additionally, such taxes are used to pay for public employees like firefighters as well as public amenities like parks, roads, and sidewalks.

4. Small Businesses create the community you live in
Shopping locally provides an opportunity for neighbors to interact. Someone you frequently encounter at a neighborhood coffee shop is simpler to get to know than someone you simply pass by and wave at occasionally. Knowing your neighbors enables you to trade favors or suggest local businesses for services.

5. Simply put, shopping local just feels good
Shopping locally is a personal investment in your local community, and its something to be proud of. There is a personal satisfaction associated with knowing that you are helping and investing in your community.

So before you head to the Amazon app or big box stores to cross items off your holiday list, see what local small businesses have to offer and support your community.

Unfortunately, we all have tough times - those challenging times that we know will pass, but seem to take forever. Whether it’s in our family, our health, our relationships, our finances, or in our community; we all face challenges.

As a friend once explained - we are all either heading into, coming out of, or in the middle of one of life’s storms.  What is vitally important, however, is not what hard times come along (because inevitably they will), but how we respond when they do.

Sometimes, we become bitter while we wonder why the world or God seems so unfair. Some call this a victimhood mentality. At some level, we give up and completely lose hope.

Othertimes, however, we stand strong. We examine our strategies and actions - adjusting where we can - while holding firm to the core beliefs and principles that guide our lives.

I would never wish adversity on anyone, and yet, without it some of us will never know who we truly are.

I love the quote from Nancy Reagan that says "People are like tea bags. You never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water."

Tough times force us to examine ourselves. They burn out our weaknesses and make us stronger for the future. Tough times can force us to grow in ways that good times allow us to ignore or cover up. Tough times force us to grow, mature, and learn.

When adversity comes, and it comes to all of us at different times and ways, I challenge you not just to accept it. I challenge you to rail and fight against it. Do not fold.

But whatever you do, don't resent it. Learn from it, and share your lesson with others who will inevitably face something similar in due time.

Over the past 18 years in business, The Master's has been focused on becoming an organization that ‘clients love doing business with, and team members
love working for.’ It is more than a vision statement, as it is the framework in how we make decisions.

Some of the ingredients for team members loving where they work are a healthy culture, being a part of something larger than themselves, and opportunities for growth. Strong team members want opportunities to develop their career, provide for their families, and see the bigger picture. They want to be challenged. One of my most important jobs is ensuring we provide those opportunities for growth throughout our team.

In that vein, we are excited to announce our new location opening on the northside of St. Augustine. Nocatee is one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation, and it’s centrally located between St. Augustine and Jacksonville Beach. We will start out serving the communities near Nocatee, World Golf Village, St. Johns, St. Augustine, and Ponte Vedra Beach.

Many of you have worked with Chase, who has been with us for 10 years, and he will be the manager of this new location. Chase, Brooke, and their son Hudson were raised and are well known in the St. Augustine area; and we look forward to watching him succeed in his new role.

He will hit the ground running as we have engaged with a business that already has an established footprint in lawn pest control and landscape maintenance clients in the area.

If you know anyone that lives around the Nocatee area, we would love your referrals! I cannot tell you how grateful I am for our client’s consistent support of my team and company. Thank you for helping make this new opportunity a possibility!

August can be such a challenging month! As the summer draws to an end, most families experience a little change of schedule heading into fall. Some of the reset is heading back to school, the end of vacation season, business schedule changes, and several other changes that August triggers.

It’s also a very challenging month for some who’s kids move into their next stage of life. Some are seeing the taillights of their child heading off for their first year at college. Some parents are finding themselves the parents of middle or high school students for the very first time.

Personally, this transition is more real to me because my toddler that I wrote about a couple years ago is now officially in elementary school.

A famous person once said, ‘The days are long, but the years are short.’ I just didn’t realize how short they were.

As we all experience some sort of reset this fall, I thought I would share the 3 areas of focus I have my sights on in hopes it is helpful for your transition as well:

Reset your morning - One area that influences so much of my life is my morning routine, and it’s an area that I really put a lot of effort into. To each their own, but hitting snooze just to wake up in a frenzy to get dressed and out the door with breakfast in hand is not a recipe for my success.

If this is an area you are looking to reset, do yourself a favor and read “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. That book completely changed my perception of the morning routine, and I could never go back to waking up stressed like before.

Reset your bedtime - Regardless of your morning routine choice, it is driven completely by your bedtime routine.  This summer, I caught myself allowing our son to stay up later; which in turn led to me being up later; which resulted in some rushed and tired morning routines.

While I like to blame the longer days of summer, the truth is I was just not following my preferred routine. With the earlier bedtime schedule for school, it creates more margin to follow my bedtime routine of preparing for the upcoming day, packing my gym bag, and getting a full night’s rest.

Reset your goals - The most important thing about this reset is re-aligning with my long-term goals. We’re almost 3 quarters through the year, but summer has a tendency to put a lull in progress. My hope is that being more focused in these two routines, it will help me continue progress in the four F’s I have goals in; Faith, Family, Fitness, and Finance.

What areas do you want to produce better results in?

Many health and fitness professionals call it ‘the second new year,’ as they see a rush similar to resolution time with gym memberships. Whatever your goals are, make sure you use this transition to refresh your energy, motivation, and focus on forward progress in the areas that matter most to you.

Where could your life use a reset?