I remember a story Seth Godin shared in his 2008 book, Tribes. It was about a former U.S. rock-climbing champion, Obe Carrion. Obe was said to have won a tournament in an unusual way. He was one of four finalists; each had to climb a very difficult route up a steep wall. The first three finalists did the same thing. They entered the roped-off area, inspected the route, and then slowly began climbing--one hold at a time, trying to work their way up to the top. Two made it with a slip or two. One fell.
Obe was scheduled to go last. He came out of the isolation area and, like his predecessors, began by inspecting the route. Then he did a curious thing: he took twenty steps back, then ran. Up the wall. He didn't hesitate or interpolate or hedge his bets. He just committed and nimbly adjusted along the way.I was thinking about that as I considered the route I would take through 2010 as I navigate my business, my career, and of course my role in the Chapter. Like you, perhaps, I have this tendency to sometimes over-think things. To want to have most things planned out before committing to a course of action. "It's too risky...", "What if they don't like me...?", "I have to assess whether or not I have time...".
The irony is that I've tended to say these things about activities I've WANTED to participate in. Instead, I sometimes find myself some months later marveling in retrospect about how the things I WANTED to do had once again been OBE'd. That is, overtaken by (other) events. Events, in retrospect, that didn't really motivate me too much, yet to which I gave no thought about assigning as higher priorities in my life.
So here's a question: Pretend you can fast forward to a point six months into the future. What is it you wished you had committed to six months ago?
photo courtesy: digz.net
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