Projects, projects, projects.
And the dreaded deadlines imposed–self or otherwise, never seem to end.
There’s a deadline for making sure your holiday gifts arrive in time (not to add any unnecessary stress to your last-minute shopping).
But many of the most angst-inducing deadlines occur on the job.
That’s right.
Our professional lives can be the single biggest deliverer of stress-related deadlines.
As an old newspaper guy, I developed a matter-of-fact attitude early on regarding deadlines.
Working on weekly papers in the Navy, I understood if I wanted a story run, it had to be in by such and such a time on such and such a day.
My body developed an internal clock for it, too. I was young and probably didn’t understand what the pit forming in my stomach indicated as I typed feverishly on an IBM Selectric in an attempt to edit, re-write and polish all the last-minute articles that needed to run in that week’s edition.
Typically, we don’t receive any payoffs, rewards or bonuses for not making deadlines.
But, depending on the time of year and the particular individual, that is not always the case…
…
CC Sabathia is a southpaw pitcher on the New York Yankees. A former Cy Young Award winner when he pitched for the Cleveland Indians, CC has been a Yankees mainstay since 2009 when he was integral to the Yankees’ World Series title efforts.
Mr. Sabathia had a deadline of sorts related to a contract incentive last year. He needed to pitch 155 innings for the season in order to invoke a $500,000 innings-pitched bonus.
But he fell short as many of us do from time to time.
Ejected for hitting a batter in the final pitching opportunity of the 2018 season, Sabathia ended up with 153 innings pitched.
Sports imitates life and life imitates sports.
More importantly, and depending on who your employer is (and the time of year?), sometimes coming very, very close to meeting your goals, productivity requirements and contract incentives can be reason enough to be considered as having met the deadline for the purposes of receiving credit for doing so.
According to a story in USA Today by Steve Gardner, “…when the Yankees’ 2018 payroll was calculated for luxury tax purposes, an extra $500,000 was included.”
CC ended up receiving his $500,000 innings-pitched contract incentive from the Yankees despite the fact he was two innings short from officially earning it
…
Yes, most of us do not work for the New York Yankees.
And so many of us do not enjoy the same levels of generosity and good will that a potential Baseball Hall of Fame baseball pitcher does from his employer.
We fall short more often than we care to admit.
We fail at reaching some of our goals and we do not expect compensation for doing so.
We are conditioned to steel ourselves against failure with phrases such as, “Close but no cigar” and “Wait ’til next year.”
The Yankees are still considered the “Evil Empire” by many non-fans–a reference back to the days when owner George Steinbrenner would lavish expensive contracts on baseball’s annual best class of free agents.
CC received a big contract when he originally signed with the Yankees. He’s made a lot of money. He would not have been bitter if the Yankees did not come across like they have. But they did and he appreciated it.
…
As this holiday season comes into full swing, perhaps we should all take heart that while we may not reach our goals as this year’s end approaches, it most certainly will not be for lack of trying.
And who knows. Maybe someone might appreciate that.
‘Tis the season.