Tag: Life Lessons
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What I’ve Built So Far (90 days)
Over these three months, I’ve written and organized more than a hundred posts.Golf lessons. Food stories. Leadership reflections.Even a few experiments with AI and creativity. Each post started as a small note or idea — something that made me pause, something worth remembering.And somehow, piece by piece, those notes turned into a system. Now I…
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Cooking as a Chef: Life Lessons From the Kitchen
The kitchen was never just about food for me. It was a classroom. A place where timing, rhythm, and preparation taught lessons I carried far beyond the stove. Mise en Place — Everything in Its Place Every chef starts with mise en place — the practice of putting everything in order before the cooking begins.…
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Sharpening a Knife, Sharpening Yourself
The first lesson I ever learned in a professional kitchen wasn’t about flavor. It was about edges. Every good cook knows you can’t do much with a dull knife. Cuts get sloppy. Work gets harder. And sooner or later, the knife slips. That slip isn’t just frustrating — it’s a hazard. You’re more likely to…
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When You Inherit Someone Else’s Baggage
One of the harder parts of leadership is realizing that sometimes, when someone gets upset at you, it’s not really about you. Not long ago, I had a situation with one of our department managers. Earlier this year, he signed a new offer letter with a quarterly bonus tied to the net profit of his…
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From the Batter’s Box to the Tee Box: Turning a Baseball Player into a Golfer
One of my favorite challenges as a coach is working with baseball and softball players who want to pick up golf. At first glance, the swings look worlds apart — one happens with a moving ball, the other with a still one. But underneath, there’s a rhythm and athletic move that transfers beautifully. The Secret…
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Sharpening Your Excalibur: Playing to Your Strengths in Golf, Business, and Life
There are a thousand ways to make a birdie in golf. Draw it in, fade it in, chip it close, or roll in a 20-footer. The beauty of the game is that there isn’t one “right” way. But here’s the trap: too many golfers, too many leaders, and too many people in life spend all…
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What I Learned from Len and Brian: Changing My Mindset in Golf
When I look back on my years grinding the mini-tours, I remember plenty of good rounds — but also the sleepless nights when I knew something was missing. Two players, Len Komar and Brian Wilson, helped me see what it was: my mindset. Playing for Par vs. Playing for Birdies I met Len after a…
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Kuyashii: The Bitterness of Failure and the Path to Growth
Last fall, my son Jou and his high school golf team faced one of the hardest lessons in sports: the sting of failure. In their practice round before the district tournament, they played beautifully — a team score of 307. Spirits were high, and hopes were even higher heading into the competition. But when it…
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About MyJLStory: Golf, Food, and Life Connected
When people ask me what MyJLStory is about, the easiest answer is this: it’s a collection of the lessons and stories that shaped me. From my years grinding on the mini-tours, to the kitchens where I first learned to cook, to the golf clubs and businesses I’ve managed along the way — this blog is…
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When the Customer Isn’t Right: A Leadership Lesson in Backing Your Team
In golf and in business, there’s a moment every leader faces — when the easy choice and the right choice aren’t the same. The easy choice is to bow to the pressure of “the customer is always right.” The right choice is to stand with your team when they’ve done their job with integrity. Last…