This information came from a session during the 2024 ELEVATE conference and expo. Don’t miss ELEVATE in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 2-5, 2025.
As you lead your lawn care or landscape company, you will face both successes and failures. The good news is that it is up to you how you handle these times in your life.
The fact is feelings are the perception of events within the body. Thus, how you feel is not the result of what is happening in your life. Rather, it is just your interpretation of what is happening.
Blake Butcher, a coordinator of employee wellness with Auburn University, says one way you can navigate your emotions is through the M.A.P. approach. He explains it can help you gain an accurate understanding of yourself.
M – Mindfulness
Mindfulness is maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, sensations and surroundings. Butcher says that mindfulness keeps us in the present rather than dwelling on the past or the future.
According to the National Science Foundation, the average person has 60,000 thoughts a day and 95% of those thoughts repeat. On average, 80% of these repeated thoughts are negative.
Your thoughts are like waves, you can’t stop them from coming, but you can learn to surf them. Butcher says you can achieve this by paying attention and asking yourself why you are behaving or thinking a certain way.
For instance, do you find yourself getting hung up on a rude comment or annoying interaction all day or do you focus on the bigger reality?
Butcher says that choosing to be mindful helps control your internal dialogue and stay ahead of things that may trigger your emotions.
A – Aware
Being aware is a state of being conscious of something and this includes social, emotional and self-awareness. Social awareness is our ability to understand others and the relationships we have with others.
Emotional awareness is knowing when feelings are present in ourselves and others and self-awareness is being conscious of our own feelings, motives and desires. Butcher says we don’t need to be so self-aware that we walk on eggshells all the time but we do need to be aware of how our actions affect others.
This requires getting to an uncomfortable place where you reflect on your habits and beliefs and question why you do what you do and why do you believe what you believe. Butcher says awareness is an inner knowledge that provides freedom.
P – Present
Lastly, being present is the state of existing in a place or thing. Butcher says this goes beyond just being somewhere physically. You need to be there in mind, body and spirit.
Choosing to be fully present with your team is one of the most precious gifts you can give them as they feel valued, seen and heard. Butcher says you don’t have to be a great conversationalist. It really comes down to asking questions and actively listening.
According to a 2010 study, most people are distracted from the present moment. The average person spends 47% of their time with their thoughts wandering.
When your mind is busy with distracting thoughts, you can’t be fully present for your team, which is why it is important to take care of yourself.
“If you’re no good for you, you’re no good for anyone else,” Butcher says.
For more content like this, register for next year’s ELEVATE in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 2-5.
