Author: Don McMinn

I have a small vineyard on Cedar Creek Lake, an hour south of Dallas. I do all the work myself. It’s fun, good exercise, and at times, cathartic.

Unlike other agricultural crops, with grapevines you only get one chance every year to harvest fruit. If something goes wrong, it’s 12 months before you can try again. A lot of things can go wrong: an early or late frost, hailstorm, severe freeze or drought, insects, birds, and other animals. But the greatest vulnerabilities are diseases: bacteria, fungi, or viruses. 

One month before this year’s harvest, Downy Mildew crept into the vineyard (it only takes one microscopic spore) and ravaged the grapes, I lost the entire harvest.

To prevent the three major vineyard nemesis (Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew, and Black Rot), beginning at bud-break, I spray the vines with Mancozeb every two weeks. But the fungicide can’t be used within one month of harvest because it will taint the grapes. This year, the vines were infected during those final four weeks.

I didn’t know, but there’s another product that can be used prior to harvest. Though not as effective as Mancozeb, it adequately protects the vines in those final weeks.

I lost one harvest – no wine bottles labeled 2023 – but I get another chance next year. 

The main take-away is that I must learn from my mistake, and not just in the area of viticulture. What lessons can I learn that will apply to all areas of my life?

Here are two life-lessons that I’ve learned from the ruined harvest.

• • Some events are more critical than others and demand extra thought and caution. If I plan a date night for Mary and me and the dinner is mediocre and the movie boring, it’s just a disappointing evening. No great loss. But if I’m planning an international trip for 50 friends and make a mistake booking the international flights, the result could be catastrophic. So the greater the consequences of an event or decision, the more careful and obsessive I must be in making sure all goes well. It’s also wise to solicit multiple people’s opinions and critique of the plans and progress; the more “eyes” you have on a project, the better. On a scale from 1-10, 1 being “not significant” and 10 being “extremely significant”, rate every project/event in your life and concentrate more on the higher valued ones.  
  • The closer I get to a high-value event, the more focused and mindful I should become. I must not get distracted. I must not assume anything. I should check, double-check, and triple-check all details.

I’m currently winterizing my vineyard. Next year will be my best harvest.

 

I love to travel.

I became addicted to travel early in life. Before I graduated from high school I had traveled to 12 countries in Europe and Asia with my church youth choir. Those were transformative experiences.

Twenty years ago, Mary and I set a goal of visiting 60 countries before we die. Next April we’ll visit #’s 58, 59, & 60 (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay).

Why do I enjoy travel so much?

• • An ancient proverb says, “Better to see something once than read about it a thousand times.” You can read about Rome’s Colosseum, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (picture above), or Machu Picchu in Peru; but until you experience these places using all five senses, you really don’t understand them-they’re not part of your personal story.
  • Mark Twain once remarked: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” International travel develops a healthy,  broad, and more accurate view of the world. Just like a fish doesn’t know it’s in water, we don’t understand our own culture until we’re exposed to other cultures.
  • Life is short and the world is huge. I want to “live until I die” because someday I will. Travel now. Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.

I love to travel with friends.

Twelve years ago I started hosting an annual international trip for friends. I truly wanted to use my travel-knowledge to help others experience the wonders of travel. If you’ve not traveled much, it can be intimidating, mysterious, and confusing. My trips make travel accessible, safe, reasonable, and fun.

It’s also beneficial to travel with others-as opposed to traveling solo-because experiences are magnified when we have them with others. When you have an “ah-ha” moment–like seeing the beaches of Normandy– have it with others and it will be more deeply etched into your mind. Also, deep friendships are formed when you’re traveling with a group. Some of the best friends I have are people that I have traveled with often.

Here’s a brochure about the 2024 Travel with Friends trip. I hope you’ll join Mary and me for a life-enhancing 17-days. Please write or call me if you have questions.

Baltic-Sea-Trip-2024-Brochure-110823-Fillable

 

John Maxwell says: “All leaders can become good problem-solvers. To do so, they must do four things: Anticipate problems before they occur; maintain a positive attitude while they occur; use all their resources to solve them as quickly as possible so they cease to occur; learn from them so the same problems do not occur again.”

In life and in leadership, problems and challenges are ever-present. You’re either in the midst of a challenge, you just pulled out of one, or there’s one coming.

Instead of hesitating and procrastinating, run at your problems.

The biblical story of David and Goliath pits a giant against a young man in an epic confrontation between good and evil. My favorite part of the story is when the duel begins: “Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.”

David ran at Goliath.

It wasn’t a display of youthful hubris or stupidity; it was considered aggression and confident courage. David’s pugnacity must have thrown Goliath off balance. The giant was used to frightened, tepid foes, but here was a young man running towards him.

In your personal and professional affairs, run at your problems.

The alternate approach is procrastination or avoidance. Most problems do not resolve themselves; they must be aggressively and tenaciously pursued.

Identify several problems in your business or personal life that need to be addressed. Pursue them sooner rather than later. Develop a plan and schedule a time to deal with each one.

I recently took 48 friends on a cruise of the British Isles. A good time was had by all.

The morning we were in Bruges, Belgium we disembarked the ship using  the gangway. Two thousand passengers had to follow one another down a narrow flight of steps to reach the pier.

One lady, as soon as her foot touched the dock, stopped, took a deep breath as if to absorb the moment, and looked around to enjoy the splendid scenery. She was totally unaware of the hundreds of people behind her who also wanted to get off the ship and enjoy the beauty. Her social ignorance almost caused an accident. When people are walking down steep steps they get into a good cadence and when the rhythm is suddenly disrupted it can cause the “dominoes to fall.”

An important  aspect  of social intelligence is to constantly monitor your current environment and be an asset not a liability to those around you.

• • • When you’re walking in a crowded area, carefully navigate how your presence and movement will affect others. Don’t  suddenly change directions or stop (like the woman getting off the ship).
    • Before you push open a door think about what’s on the other side. Are you going to knock someone down?
    • When you’re standing in a group, are  you blocking anyone’s line of site?
    • When driving, are you aware of the cars around you and adjust appropriately?
    • When you enter a space already occupied by others, pause and consider how you can compliment and not disrupt what’s going on.

Management consultant Karl Albrecht defines social intelligence as: “The accumulated wisdom that comes from constantly observing and learning what works and what doesn’t in human situations.” SQ involves accurately assessing and properly relating to a social environment – to behave properly in any given situation. It is to possess strategic situational awareness and a complimentary set of skills for interacting successfully in relational settings. 

An important aspect of SQ is to constantly monitor the physical space you are in and graciously adjust to it.

Here are some pictures from the Travel with Friends September, 2023 trip to the British Isles. In November I’ll announce plans for the 2024 trip. One of the great joys in life is traveling with friends.