Metko’s Musings: Ten Lessons From Ten Years

Friday marks a pretty significant anniversary for yours truly. On the 20^th of January way back in 2007, I took everything that I was able to fit in my very small car and began my sojourn from Dallas/Fort Worth to Oakes, North Dakota. I remember filling my car with a whole bunch of clothes and hangers, a very small TV, a few plates, and an inflatable twin bed with a pillow or two. That’s right. Ten years ago.

My heavens, where did the time go?

If you would have told me that I would find myself residing and applying my skills to the same organization within the same community after a decade, I would have had a very tough time taking your seriously. It is incredibly rare these days for anyone to remain with the same employer and community for this length of time; especially within the sports radio world. More often than not, after ten years, you’ve either moved onto another port-of-call, been shown the door either through your own mistakes or because of the “business climate”, or have decided to go somewhere in life.

I’ll be honest; I’m surprised. The responsibilities have certainly changed, the compensation for tackling said responsibilities has increased, and it’s been a helluva ride to this point; especially within the last five years.

With the ten year anniversary in mind, I wanted to share ten things that I’ve picked up on throughout my time here. Perhaps this list may of some benefit to you.

1. Nothing is ever handed to you. Success comes from applying yourself fully to whatever you’re attempting to accomplish; be it in your professional or personal life.

2. There will be people, those who you work with or meet through your travels in life, who will try to discrete you, or just won’t like you. Let them deal with it, it’s their problem.

3. Accolades from your peers and pats-on-the back from your employer are nice. A kind word from a listener or reader means infinitely more.

4. Networking is an important key to future success in any industry, but be careful on how to approach and manage relationships. Too much contact and you’ll come off as desperate, while too little seems like you don’t really care in fostering a connection, and are just in it for your own personal gains.

5. Laugh. Especially at yourself, because you’re going to screw up, and sometimes it turns out to really funny when you look back on the absurdity that took place during that particular time in your life.

6. Constantly attempting to be absolutely perfect is futile and a tremendous waste of time and energy. You’re human, after all.

7. No amount of money will ever come close to compensating for inner contentment.

8. Never do anything out of anger, or while still angry. More often than not, the end result won’t be pretty.

9. Every now and then, make time to get away from it all; the emails, the phone calls, all of it. A long drive with no specific destination can do wonders for clearing one’s mind.

10. Most importantly; remember how fortunate you really are. The goals and dreams you have will at various times in your life be stuck in the snow, but chances are, you’ve got a place to return to every night, a bed to sleep in, and food to eat. That’s better than a lot of humanity.

With ten years in this industry, some may wonder if I have any regrets. I wouldn’t call them “regrets”, because there’s no need to dwell on the past from an unhealthy perspective. There’s more than a few things that maybe I wish went differently; some could have be controlled. But looking forward is the only way I know how to keep moving forward.

Will I be staying in this profession another decade? An excellent question, but one that really can’t be fully answered, as we are not promised the next day. I have been quite thankful for the opportunities and recognition bestowed upon me over the course of my tenure. It’s my hope that the next ten years, for you and me, will be filled with a plethora of positive lifetime memories.

Happy New Year kids.

-Metko