First off, this is a little longer than intended, I tried to shorten in, but was unsuccessful. It is still not terribly long though. (one of the photos I took above.)
Having completed my backpacking adventure, I wanted to follow up on the experience and of course tie it into business.
The backpacking trip was scheduled far in advance, just as you would prior to starting a business. We did not know what the weather (economy) would be when we started planning. As we come into town the morning of; it is raining, not a hard rain but rain nonetheless. Last minute trip to the store to pick up some rain gear, kind of like forgetting that key document to starting a business that won’t prevent an opening but will make it a little bit harder.
When we arrive we begin to put the final touches on the packs we will be carrying and lift this 40+ pound pack on our backs and get started. By the way, that’s a lot of weight and makes a huge difference in how fast you can go and how quickly you can wear out.
Going up and down the trails, up one mountain to a beautiful overlook, then back down in the valley. Up another for another overlook, then back down. Sound familiar? We all are very familiar with those peaks and valleys of profits and cashflow. By the way, the backpack becomes heavier and heavier throughout the adventure.
At 7.5 miles we pass by the first camp as we make the decision we are going to push forward to the next one at 10 miles. Yes, we are overachievers! About 7.6 miles I wondered why in the world we did that, but there was no way I was going to give up, nor was I going to go backwards. As it gets to early evening we arrive at the camp at 10 miles. No one is there but us, not that many people eager to do the extra. ( I don’t blame them.)
There’s a problem though, I had committed to my wife that I would check in when we got to camp, and… we are in a valley. I drop my pack and head forward a half a mile to find high ground to get a text out to no avail, I head backwards from camp a half a mile with no success either. My decision is either to give up and for her to be worried or to grab my pack and forage forward on my own to reach high ground. (is all this sounding familiar with your business or life?)
About a mile past camp I am exhausted and am looking straight up at yet another mountain. By this point it is getting dark and becoming dangerous to push forward with both my legs that are worn out as well as not knowing what is lurking in the dark. I decide to stop and set up camp and will have to continue on in the morning. I am out in the woods, in the dark, on my own, and trying to set everything up on my own and unaware of what might be out there. (I know this sounds familiar for all you business owners out there.)
Obviously it was a toss and turn kind of night, hard time sleeping with the wonder of what was this or that sound and not knowing how much further I had until I was going to come across anyone. In waking early the next morning, I packed up and headed out and was only about half a mile from another camp and high ground to get a call to go through, but as we know in business you never know where that light is to the end of the tunnel and sometimes it feels like it will go on forever in the dark with no help.
The rest of the couple of miles from there was a breeze! I had seen success and was capitalizing on that success one step after another.