While, skiing in the Rockies, we had 3 bluebird days and then snow planned for our final day. We got to the lift at 8:30 and it was closed until noon for the high winds. The nearby gondola line was over 2.5 hours. Most of my friends called it a day. I decided to see if we could flowly get to the other side of the mountain where lifts were open. What was the next step? See how long the line was for the gondola going down to the shuttle bus. It wasn’t bad so one friend and I joined it. The line for the bus also wasn’t bad, so we took that next step. Arriving at the other side, the line was also over 2 hours. We thought about stopping there, but decided to ask the staff what they thought. She said to walk over a very small hill and ski down to the next lift. Its line was only 20 min. Soon we were on the way up the mountain in the hard-falling snow. We had a good run and then the winds picked up to over 40MPH and temps dropped into the teens. It was a complete whiteout! We weren’t dressed for that and could have reasonably stopped there. There was a lodge at the top, so we just popped in there to warm up. When we came out the snow was falling hard but the wind was calm. We had many good runs on the groomers while the snow accumulated, but I was having a hard time keeping warm. Then a friend I had met the day before texted me and was on the same lift. We met up and started skiing the trees in the deep fresh powder where the higher exertion warmed me right up. We had 5 or 6 of the best tree powder runs of my life! A peek experience for sure! It was flow! Finally, on or last run we were at the top of this gnarly chute and I could feel the pull of the ego wanting to end on this toughest run! It would be epic!! And I didn’t force it and dropped in at a lower point and had an amazing run and came home in one piece. There were many times during that day, where we could have stopped and where we could have tried to force a certain outcome. We did neither, simply taking the next step each time it presented itself. We achieved flow and I had one of the best ski days of my life. I reflected on the many times I have tried to force things in my career, using tons of energy, and still not getting the result I wanted and feeling bad the whole time. And other times where I was patient, took the next available step, enjoying the process and enjoyed great results, as with my current advisory business. In my podcasting and writing, I have often not taken that next available step, stopping short, and I have not reached the flow state or good results.
Where are you not taking the next available step? Where are you trying to force, blame or control the outcomes that you can’t (like weather or stock price?) Taking the next step toward a goal and without forcing, has created miracles in my life in the last few years. I hope it will do the same for you.
All the best,
Art
