Wobble Recovery
In business and in life, we like to celebrate our victories. We often think that our victories define our overall success. But on the journey, we wobble. Our wobbles, and how we react to them, have more to do with our success than our victories ever will.
Lately, I’ve been trying to summit multiple peaks around Crested Butte, Colorado. As a novice, many of the mountains here are intimidating to me. But I believe that to grow, I have to go outside my comfort zone from time to time. This last weekend, I set out to summit Belleview Mountain. It’s 13500 feet and scrambly. For many in this area, it’s an easy ascent. For this non-climber, I wasn’t so sure.
As I started up the ridge from West Maroon Pass, I could tell immediately that it would be challenging. I traversed the first few obstacles easily, and then the going got tougher. The rock in this area can be very flaky, and it was here. I don’t climb up anything that I can’t climb back down, but sometimes your mindset can shift in the middle of an activity. I found myself on a ledge, looking up at flaky rock that seemed impassible, looking down each side at big drops, and realizing that simply turning my body around to face the other direction was going to be difficult. I suffer from vertigo – my head started to spin and I knew panic was just around the corner.
THIS IS A WOBBLE. And this is the wrong place to wobble.
I’m lucky. I have a wobble recovery script for these moments:
1) Recognize what is going on. This a wobble. Simply knowing that makes it less scary.
2) Remind myself why I am here – it’s my choice to push my boundaries.
3) Engage in something that I do well, and will calm me down. For me on a ledge this means: eat something.
4) Return to my consistency. There are only a few rules and I am following them. There is nothing to fear.
I turned around and headed back down the mountain. I’ll be back.
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As an entrepreneur, you know that consistency is the key to your success. Eventually you’ll get to a place where taking the right actions Monday through Thursday matters more than closing the big deal on Friday. (If you are taking the right actions consistently there will be plenty more big deals coming your way).
But consistency in business is harder than consistency on the side of a mountain. It doesn’t seem so critical, so it’s easier to let it go. What is the business consistency that you are struggling with right now? Are you frustrated because no matter how important you know that it is, there is always something that comes up and stops you doing it?
THIS IS A WOBBLE. And this is the wrong place to wobble.
Consider creating a wobble recovery script for yourself. This is situational set of actions to take when you wobble. For example:
1) Recognize what is happening. Knowing what is occurring makes it more manageable.
2) Remind yourself why this consistency matters. Why is it important to you?
3) Engage with a part of it that you do well.
4) Make a conscious choice whether to continue now or to set aside another time. You might fail this week, but you’ll be back.
Consistency is hard. In business it is the most common wobble. Create a wobble recovery plan that allows you to keep coming back.
And take heart, every successful person that you can think of has had many more wobbles than they have had victories.