Life Lessons From 2017

Another year down. Another beautiful baby! Oh, and another back surgery - and I thought 2016 was crazy! As we wrap up 2017, I think it’s important to reflect on what life taught me this year. So let’s get to it and recap three areas of my life - family, personal, and business - that taught me invaluable lessons.

Lesson #1 – “They grow up so fast. Savor every moment.”

I can’t tell you how many of my friends, peers, and mentors have said these exact words to me. Now I finally get it. It just seems like time is flying! My son Henry is almost two years old now. In the blink of an eye he’s a little boy. Our beautiful baby girl, Aria Leigh, was born on Labor Day this year (and no, the irony of that day was not lost on us).

Aria has brought us so much joy and happiness. She’s almost four months old now, and once again, time is flying by. She’ll be walking before I know it. They grow up so quick!

I’m happy to say that I’ve made spending time with my family more of a priority this year, and will continue to do so. It has been the greatest joy in my life to become a parent. To watch my children grow, learn, and love. It has given my life so much more balance, happiness and purpose. Yes, I’m the stereotypical helicopter dad, but with good reason. My little boy is rowdy! Having two children under two has taught me a lot. It’s not for the weak-hearted and there is never a dull moment at the Ormand household. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

I want to thank my wife Jordan who is my rock and the best mother in the world to our children. Thank you for everything you do for our little squad. I love you so much.

Lesson #2 - “Take care of yourself. Make your health a priority.”

One of the hardest life lessons I learned this year had to do with my back injury and realizing how badly I neglected my health before I finally did something about it.

In December of 2016 I had surgery to repair a herniated disc at the base of my spine. Unfortunately, the surgery was not a success. The disc was too far gone. In delaying surgery for so long, I had made things worse. Over the next few months the sciatic pain slowly started to creep back into my life. I developed a bad limp and was unable to sit or stand for more than a few minutes. 

The pain began to dictate my schedule. My ability to be present for my families, both at home and business, was fading.

By the time May rolled around, things got bad. I was unable to walk more than a few steps and spent most of the day laying on the floor. I was in the worst pain of my life, scared to death of the surgery, and even more scared about what I’d do if it didn’t work. I had no choice. The surgery I needed was called an artificial disk replacement. So, on June 30th I had the disc replacement done. They had me standing upright and walking that day and home the next.

It took me a while to get back to 100%, but I can now tell you that my back is better than ever and I’ve now realized how vital it is to be proactive with your own personal health…just like with technology! This close call was enough for me to have a newfound appreciation for my health. I’ll never take it for granted again. Shout out to Dr. Hisey and his team at the Texas Back Institute for bringing me back to life.

Lesson #3 - “Progress, not perfection.”

I never understood why this was such a big deal…until now. The leadership team at Techvera continues to grow and shape the future of the company. We won several awards this year, such as Best of Denton County, Rising Startup in the Dallas Techweek100, and BVoIP’s North American Partner of the Year. This week we reached a goal I set out for the company over 3 years ago - to make a complete exit from the consumer services market and focus exclusively on working with small businesses.

It seems like everything is coming together. However, it hasn’t been without plenty of challenges and surprises along the way.

Curveballs were thrown at us we didn’t plan for.

Projects that didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped.

All challenges that we learn from and improve.

In the past, my perfectionist attitude has hindered progress and growth of the company. I see this now and understand that things will never be “perfect” and that progress trumps perfection every single day of the week. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Good thing my kiddos are teaching me some patience. It takes me stepping back every now and then to appreciate how far this company has come.

“In business, perfection is the enemy of profitability.” – Mark Cuban

I want to thank our team and especially clients that have worked with us as we have evolved over the past year. As for 2018 – we have some interesting plans for the upcoming year. New services we’ll be offering for our flat-rate clients, and some things on the horizon I can’t even tell you about…yet ??

Here’s to 2018. Cheers.

-RO