Last week I spent the entire week with a rag tag group of 12 and 13 year old boy scouts. Just as we were preparing to depart for camp on Monday morning a story broke about a 11 year old boy who had been drug out of his tent in the middle of the night by a bear and mauled to death. Needless to say, we had some very nervous mothers, not to mention boys.
It was interesting to watch the confidence of the boys increase as the week progressed. One of the merit badges they were working on was Wilderness Survival. When we got to the bear section the boys were all ears. That night as they built their outdoor shelter, it was evident that this was a major stretch for them. We left them in their shelter that night tightly huddled together underneath the stars with the local raccoons keeping watch. The next morning the boys were no longer timid 12 and 13 year old boys, but instead confident young men.
As I reflected on this experience I realize that just like boys and bears, we as business owners must not let our fears and brains get in the way of our success. It can be a stretch for us to “sleep under the stars” but the wins are worth it and the confidence gained can not occur in any other manner.
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This past week as a family reward I was able to take 3 of my sons and my daughter to see Les Miserable’ for the first time in their life. This is my favorite Broadway play and inevitably moves me to tear up. This showing was no exception.
I was intrigued with the perceptions that my children had of the play. I also took great joy in watching their reaction. The life long balance of mercy vs. justice, and having rules vs. total chaos really struck my children. They were particularly moved in the senseless death of Gavroche the young boy killed at the barricade.
My 14 year old son really made the summary statement as we were driving home that night. In relationship to Javert and his clench on hunting down Jean Valjean, he stated. “Man, I felt like going down on the stage and shaking the guy, he just needed to learn to let it go already.”
So it is. We all have things in our lives that we have to “just let it go already”. Whether a bad relationship, someone who has done us wrong, or just a bad experience. Those that end up most miserable and dismal in life are those who simply don’t let it go.
Today I was able to spend the day with a group of teenagers doing service projects and also participating in what are called Rope Courses. Ropes Courses are designed to test your mental focus and personal fortitude as well as generate team building experiences. One of the obstacles in particularly got both my nerves and brain going. This was called the Vine Walk.
The course involved a thin metal cable stretched between two poles about 20 years apart. The cable was bout 30 feet about the ground and placed up above the cable about 6 feet were several dangling ropes separated along the cable about 10 feet apart. These ropes could be held on to as you walked the quivering metal cable. Now these dangling ropes did not provide much stability, but just enough when pulled taunt that you would not spiral off of the cable.
Of course as you climb up the poles and attempt the traverse, you are on belay and fully harnessed for safety, but it really does cause your nerves to jitter as you attempt to carefully step across this “vine”.
What I discovered as I was doing this, was if I focused on the far end point of the cable, looking across, but not directly down, and deliberately blocking out the height factor, I was able to slither across that cable. When I would turn sideways with my feet and attempt to monitor the cable and its flex directly beneath me the cable would shake almost as vigorously as my nerves were.
As on this rope, so is it when creating a business. You can’ think much about how high you are, you have to trust the harnesses and belay, and focus on the end point placing foot over foot as you go. If you look down and spend too much energy on your exact position on the “cable” you tend to get wobbly and are more likely to fail.
Being an entrepreneur, my nerves were conditioned to the adrenaline rush of the vine walk on the ropes course and it did not paralyze me, as a matter of fact I found it invigorating.
I noted that a few of the young women that were gymnasts crossed the vine with grace. I didn’t! My crossing was plain ugly, but end of the day it does not matter, we both crossed it just the same. Both count and so it is in entrepreneurship. Most do not have the courage to even try. Getting across is the key, not how graceful the walk is.
