Yesterday, I hiked Mount LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park with my friend Dr. Randy Small. Randy has set a goal to hike all 900 miles of Tennessee trails in the Great Smoky Mountains. Hiking the 2500 elevation change to the top of LeConte was one more notch on his belt. It was a beautiful hike to one of the highest mountains in the Smokies. There’s a reward at the top with breathtaking views and a lodge (Mount LeConte Lodge) for those who want to stay the night.
We talked about a lot while we were hiking including our families, politics, adventures, my job as an inspirational speaker, goals, and more. On the hike down, we talked about fear. Randy commented to me that he had a healthy respect for heights. In fact, he said his stomach got queasy when he climbed too high or was too close to a ledge with a sharp drop. He said when climbing a tower, he just had to start climbing without thinking. He told me that if he thought about it, he might just talk himself out of it. His responses made me think about my own fears. I thought about my experience only a day before on a high dive at a public pool. I started up the ladder to the high dive THINKING I would do a one and a half dive. When I got to the top, it seemed that all I could imagine was a less than perfect one and a half off the high dive. I actually saw myself going too far with the dive and landing on my back. I felt the pain of that and imagined the embarrassment that I would feel with my kids right there and friends standing nearby. I hesitated, looked around, then chose the safer swan dive. “Chicken”, was the first thought I had when I surfaced from the pool. BIG chicken. Though I had successfully completed that dive many times, I let my fear take a stronghold on my actions. Instead of visualizing myself successful and seeing a picture of a well executed dive, I did the opposite and I waited. I didn’t heed the advice of my hiking buddy given to me just days before… dive right in. Of course, there are risks with diving right in but the downside is worse to me than the risks.
Food for thought:
1. Have a well executed plan. Practice and prepare before you perform, attempt, or act on a goal. See yourself as successful and eliminate the negative thoughts like “I can’t do this” or “what if I fail?”.
2. Think of the pitfalls BEFORE you get ready to do something so when you are ready to execute, you can “jump” with a healthy confidence, knowing you have already addressed the potential downsides.
3. When the moment comes to take the first step, don’t wait – just do it. Avoid the someday pitfall. The best someday is this day – TODAY.
Tim Richardson is a professional speaker and author. Tim writes and speaks about how to build community (with customers, with co-workers, and in the community where you live). His programs focus on how to increase employee morale, lower employee turnover, increase customer loyalty and build a better sense of healthy community in cities, states, and countries all over the world. He is a community builder by volunteering in scouting, youth sports, and as a board member in several organizations including president and founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com
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