WILMINGTON, North Carolina – As a new athletic year dawns on athletic communications professionals
across the country, there is one question most of them (if not all of them) is asking: What am I going to
change this year or make better?

Most of those answers will have to do with improving graphics or trying some new idea out. But, for me,
I have decided to work on changing one thing: me.
This year, it’s going to be all about making me better. As I sit here and write this blog, I feel like it’s time I
make changes to better myself because as one wise SID told me many years ago, we need to work to
live and not live to work!!

So, here are some of the things I am going to try to work on in the attempt to better myself.

Leave It – Usually, it’s a term I use when I don’t want my dog to go after something. In this case, I am
referring to leaving work at work and not bringing it home with me unless it’s necessary. There are a lot
of SIDs who feel like they must bring items home with them if they don’t get finished at the office and I
used to be one of them. However, there are only 168 hours in a week and working 80+ hours doesn’t do
anything but hurt you in the long run. As I tell people, being an SID is a marathon and not a sprint.
So, unless it is necessary (i.e. a team is playing a road game at night or there is going to be a late
announcement), leave work at work and take the time for you. That is one of the things I am going to
work on.

Being “Anti-Social” – In the last two months, my wife and I have run out of data on our shared wireless
plan (we each have a phone and an iPad). While we have taken vacations during that time, it’s amazing
how we can run out of that much data. So, I decided to look at the breakdown for how our data was
being used.

It was surprising (and somewhat unnerving) to see that my cell phone took at least 75 percent of the
data in each of the last three months and that at least 60% of our data was being used for social apps.
What that is telling me is I am on my phone way too much and when I am on my phone, I am using it for
social media.

So, what’s the solution? For me, the solution is going to be staying off my phone and staying off the
social media apps when I am on my phone. It’s not going to be easy, but it must be done. I use my phone
way too much and it’s not a good situation.

Dr. Jarrod Spencer, who spoke at #CoSIDA19, said cell phones are becoming as addictive as cigarettes.
This is not a good trend to have and I am guilty of it. I am going to work hard to get better at putting my
cell phone away when I can.

Work Smarter, Not Harder – I think this goes with my first item above about leaving things at work, but I
am choosing to talk about this since it’s something most of us might struggle with during the year.
You do not get an award for working 70-80 hours per week except for a lot of stress and fatigue. Frankly,
that’s not a trophy I would want to have in my office. There are going to be times when you have to
work that much, but it should be the exception and not the rule.

For me, I am going to figure out what is best for me to do for the teams I work with and what doesn’t
need to be done. Is it worth doing 20-30 pages of game notes if the “return on investment” isn’t there?
Do you really need to do a long game preview if no one is reading it online? There is no real point in
doing things just for the sake of doing them.

Take Care of Yourself and Each Other – Yes, I just quoted Jerry Springer there, but it’s a good quote to
have. We have to take care of ourselves and look out for each other.

For me, I need to drop a few pounds … okay, maybe more than a few. It’s tough to do that during the
year, but it’s all about working towards a goal. Let me be honest with you – I look at myself in the mirror
every morning and I do not like what I am seeing. I am ashamed of it and know I must change.

One of the things I did a few years back was cut out soda from my diet – I have not had a soda since Dec.
1, 2015 (yes, I remember the day). But, now I need to do other things to help myself get better and be
proud of what I see in the mirror.

If anyone has any ideas for easy things I can do to get better, please let me know.
But, while I am working on helping myself, I am also going to help others by continuing to write
handwritten notes to my #SIDFriends and #SIDFamily. I have sent over 300 notes in the last three years
to people in the SID community.

I also want to check in on others through other means (phone, text, e-mail, etc.). We all have to look out
for each other.

Let It Go – I am a person who never liked to talk about my issues, and I sometime let things fester to the
point where I am beyond myself sometimes and those issues consume me. In full disclosure, I have been
seeing a counselor for the better part of two years now and to be honest, it has helped.

I know I am not the only one who does this, but I can tell you that talking about it is a good start to
getting better. I am hoping to do better when it comes to that stuff and am going to continue to visit my
counselor at least once a month to make sure I have that outlet.

But, I also want to be there for others. So, if there is an issue one of you wants to talk about, please
reach out to me. I am here to help … or at least listen.

I am sure that this month’s prompt was supposed to be more geared towards athletic communications
and how you plan to change things this year. But, honestly, we all have to take a look at ourselves
because at the end of the day, we can’t let our work keep us from having a wonderful life

Until next time … HAWK YEAH!!