When you have the feeling you want to give up on something—what do you make it mean? How does that make you feel?
The feeling of giving up on something may just mean it’s a sign to change gears—actions and or strategies—or aligning with your vision in a different way, or revisioning your vision in someway.
I know the feeling of quitting or being labelled as a quitter is a loaded one with feelings of guilt, shame and failure. Those are stories that keep us stuck.
My take on giving up on something is about knowing when to hold em and when to fold em.
Holding our vision, while embodying the flexibility and resiliency to reevaluate and strategically navigate situations, opportunities and challenges. As things change, we change, opportunities and opportunity costs change. Our choices may change.
Here’s some wisdom around this from being an extreme athlete and wilderness adventurer. Exploring my potentials into do or die situations—immersed in working with the laws of nature—requires high situational awareness and adaptability skills. Like how to strategically navigate challenge and change all day every day, including wildlife and the weather.
Exploring whitewater rivers in the remote wilderness consists of deciding how to run each section along the way. Scouting can mean not just reading the river from an eddy on the edge, but climbing a cliff to get a bigger picture of what lies ahead. Then planning your paddling route by reading the flow of the river so you can pick the main current to ride—which is also the path of least resistance!
For the most part you want to ride the main current, not only because it has the most velocity, and keeps the fun factor was on high—but because it’s most likely to be free from obstructions, especially deadly fallen trees. It’s the fastest and safest place to be. Path of least resistance right there!
Sometimes the main current is too big and you can’t choose a safer line beside it, so you gotta get out of the river and portage around it.
Usually you can only see as far as the next bend, and sometimes you can see further.
And sometimes you can see you'll be able to switch gears and take a rest from precision positioning during calmer straighter stretches.
But here’s the thing—even tho you have an ultimate outcome—a final destination—you have to give up on the notion of knowing exactly what lies ahead along the way of getting there.
Obviously you wanna know about natural obstructions like dangerous ledges and holes, perilous waterfalls, and roaring canyons—but also rivers are dynamic and log jams can spontaneously appear. So some obstacles you will know about—the other ones you won’t until you get there.
Same thing with business and life—it’s important to be flexible and expansive with our perspectives as well. Being able to look at our goals and dreams like destinations along the road—from the driver seat and a drone flying overhead. To pick the main current in each section along the way—to take us from where we are now to where we want to go.
Ultimately our fulfillment and growth are in the choosing the best current or the main path of flow—for each part along the way—in a play by play way.
How do you apply lessons learned in nature or sport to your business and life?
