As a soon-to-be college graduate in 2022, eagerly awaiting to start “adulting,” I remember preparing for my first day of work at Syverson Strege. As I scrolled through the website, I couldn’t help but notice the seven core values and how important they seemed to be to the firm. Since joining the firm, a little more than two years ago, I have witnessed countless examples of these values being lived out, time after time, both in and out of the office. Doing the right thing, showing compassion, being trustworthy, acting soundly, working diligently, and bringing a positive attitude are all things this group takes seriously in a day and age where it’s commonplace to take the easy road. While the core values are an important piece of how I live my everyday life, diligence is one that I feel a deep connection with.
Diligence is required of us in many aspects of life, often when we have the least amount of patience! Growing up as an avid golfer, it took time to learn to be patient and play diligently. I can recall one of the first junior tournaments I ever played in, the round was going about as bad as it could have. I had just hit the ball in the water twice, and right when I thought the disaster was over, I missed a three-foot putt for triple-bogey.
Let me be the first to tell you, that was not an easy pill to swallow as a 12-year-old kid who’d been playing one of the worst rounds of my life, on one of the hottest days of the summer, in a tournament I had no chance of winning! Keeping my composure at the first sight of a bad shot was not a strength at that time in my life. If you’d like a visual representation of how I probably reacted, just watch the Happy Gilmore tantrum scene.
As I continued my golfing journey, experiencing plenty of rounds that did not come close to meeting my expectations, I slowly learned what it takes to showcase patience and practice diligence. You need to have the willingness to learn from failure and consistently commit to each golf shot with a plan in place. Being diligent is a process, much like the game of golf. From the first drive on the first tee box, to the last putt on the 18th green, there is an infinite amount of room for minor errors that can add up over a round, leading you to look back and regret even the smallest of mistakes.
In golf, we call that “compounding on your mistakes.” When we inevitably hit the golf ball into the woods, our first instinct is to try to pull off a miracle recovery shot in hopes to still make a birdie or par. Playing diligent golf is knowing that if you hit an easy chip out of the woods instead, you will guarantee yourself a chance to recover and ensure you do not compound the initial mistake.
I feel I have instinctively applied this concept from the game of golf to my life and through the work that I do each day at Syverson Strege. Our firm works hard to serve our clients, but we make sure to do so with reliability and responsibility. We carefully and persistently work to ensure we enrich the lives of each person we interact with. Much like a round of golf, each step in the process needs to be well thought out with a plan of action, and when things don’t go as planned, we stay diligent and work for the optimal result. As a Client Service Associate, I feel I can see the full picture of the diligent work we do here. There is no hypothetical “careless, miracle golf shots” being hit at Syverson Strege. Diligence is at the core of all the work we do and is an integral part of providing a positive experience for our clients
