Green to Black – Get Down Any Hill
Ski markers:
🟢 Beginner is green.
🟦 Intermediate is blue.
◆ Advanced is black.
⛷ High gusts of wind blew clouds across the wide sky while shaking the forest treetops.
The white powder, smooth under my skis, allowed me to cross down the mountain at a pace faster than my comfort zone. Skiing down majestic Vail peaks, I noticed an unexpected shift … in the wind, and surprisingly, in my mind.
❄️ I was in the flow. Frigid air bit my cheeks and nose, the only skin exposed to the elements under my goggles and helmet. Toes and fingertips numb, the temperature was 20 degrees before the wind chill.
🟢 After years of skiing a few days a season, not much in Colorado terms, I still believed I was a “beginner” skier.
Each ski season, I began like a wobbly amateur on the mountain – hesitant and uncertain – scared to fall, break a bone, and embarrass myself.
💥 This was a reasonable fear due to a previously traumatic collision. Many years ago in Mammoth, California, a reckless snowboarder committed a “hit and run,” striking me down from behind, and leaving me face-planted on the mountain alone with a broken wrist.
🚑 What followed was the ski patrol finding me, carting me down the mountain, and an ambulance ride to the emergency room where I waited for 5 hours before seeing a doctor. He reset the bone (ouch!) and applied a cast on my dominant right arm up to my shoulder and down to my fingers.
For eight depressing weeks, this blue plaster cast challenged everything from showering to doing my sales job that required all-day typing on a keyboard.
Because of this prior experience, I clung to the green beginner runs longer than necessary to stay safe and out of danger.
So just recently, a few days before Christmas, I turned a corner literally and figuratively. In an instant, my confidence rallied, and elusive courage made an appearance.
🟦 With a flair for adventure, I skied past the green catwalk, and boldly turned a sharp right down a steeper blue hill. The freedom of flying downhill faster was exhilarating. I had more fun testing my courage and decided to choose blue runs all day.
Going faster, controlling my speed, and stopping on a dime, a new belief was formed, “I’m better than I thought!”
An interesting realization crossed my mind, “What’s different?” The answer was nothing. I was simply taking the same techniques - mastered on green runs - and applying them to steeper challenges.
In life, this happens often. We stay at a basic, entry level of proficiency due to a habit of self-limiting beliefs and a fear of failure.
➡️ Ask yourself:
· Where are you ready to stretch into a new challenge?
· Where have you stayed safe?
· What would you do if you could not fail?
📌 You may be an individual contributor and comfortable in your job. You may not YET believe in your capacity to earn a promotion and pay raise that would include managing your team.
However, what skills may be transferable:
Are you a parent managing your family?
Are you managing cross-functional committees?
Are you “managing up” helping your boss succeed?
Are you a good listener and coach?
If so, you already have several key skills.
🌟 Believe in your ability to reach higher and farther. Take a risk and fail forward.
Fortune favors the brave is a timeless quote for a reason.
🏔 Today, when asked if I am a good skier, I can finally say “Yes, I am.” However, my GOAL is to respond with a common Colorado remark, “I can get down any hill.”
I love this analogy for any life challenge. Whatever mountain you want to conquer, whatever next level you want to achieve, believe that YOU CAN get down any hill.
◆ My next ski goal is to advance to the black diamond level. New skills will be necessary, and the learning will continue. It’s a lofty ambition, and I know it’s right for me, because this is something I would do if I could not fail.
🥳 What is one 2023 goal that excites you? Post it on your wall, go for it, and most importantly, make sure you have fun trying.