A few years ago, I was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico doing a canopy glide. If you've
never done a canopy glide, it's a blast. You are riding on a 3/4" - 1" cable over, or through, a forest. You are hanging below the line. So, it feels like you're suspended in the air. It is a blast.
The first canopy glide that I ever did was about 60 feet above the canopy floor (they get much higher). You can travel at speeds up to 60 miles an hour, and the only thing that stops you is how you manipulate the pulley you're gliding along with. It's intense and exciting.
On the first ride, we had short runs of 50 to100 yards. At the end of the day, they reached out to 600 yards. You can feel totally out of control at times. For an adrenaline junkie like me, it's great! On this particular course we got to the end and stopped in a tree.
OK, so shouldn't we end on the ground somewhere? No, that wasn't part of the ride. You had to rappel down to the ground 50' below. Really? I've never done rappelling. It was interesting. You either rappel down, or you stay in the tree. I learned to rappel, and loved it!
That makes me think of the things that challenge us in business. Sometimes, you need to be stuck in a tree with no way down before you'll try something new. It was a challenge to learn how to rappel on the spot. But, if I didn't, I couldn't get down. In business, you learn to adjust, or you stay stuck in the same place. Today, that could be fatal to a business.
Business is great when things are going well, but when things get rough, you've got to challenge yourself to do things you've never done before. Sometimes, it's uncomfortable. Sometimes, it's a totally new experience, but in the end, you'll be glad you did, and you'll be better at what you do because of it.
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