forleapsake.com

I was in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago…enjoying life.  We spent 10 days there: 5 days we were on Maui and the rest of the time we were on Oahu at Waikiki beach.  While on Oahu I had the pleasure of traveling with a group to the north shore to go skydiving!  I felt compelled to do so:  how can I write a blog about “taking the leap” without having taken “the leap of all leaps” myself!  This was something that I had always intended to do and the trip to Hawaii presented a wonderful opportunity to do so.  I believe that life was meant to be lived now and not to be feared!  Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”, and I subscribe to that philosophy. 

Of course there are analogies between skydiving and taking the leap from the regular world of work to entreneurialism.  Some of my observations:

GO TANDEM (if need be)

Since this was my first jump, I thought it would be best to jump tandem.  I’m sure most are familiar with this, but the procedure goes as follows:  the professional jumper has the parachute on his/her back and the newbie is strapped in front.  The professional is responsible for knowing when and how to deploy the chute, so the novice is free to go along for the ride. 

While this is not a direct analogy, there are lessons to be learned.  Perhaps for your first attempt at being an entrepreneur it makes sense for you to enter into  a partnership or maybe you are one of several shareholders in a small start up corporation.  If your entrepreneurial venture is not one of these, at the very least you should join yourself to a mentor or at least become a part of a mastermind group that shares your values and will encourage you along the way.

STAY “IN THE MOMENT”

As we climbed higher in the small aircraft, those on the ground began to appear smaller and smaller: 2,000 feet….5000 feet….12,000 feet above the ground!  There were several folk (who also had never done any skydiving) that began to look a little nervous.  Several voiced their discomfort.  I admit to briefly having similar feelings, but then I took a good look at my surroundings.   The sky was clear blue with white puffy clouds…you could see the mountains below on one side and the clear blue ocean surronding them.  What a gorgeous day it was!  What a wonderful opportunity to skydive from such a beautiful location in Hawaii!

The lesson is this: don’t focus on what MIGHT go wrong as your entrepreneurial venture unfolds.  Focus on the beauty of the situation:  you have time freedom (if you do it right, that is); you are the “master of (your) fate” and “the captain of (your) soul” as William Ernest Henley said in his famous poem, “Invictus”.  You are living your life on purpose and charting your own course; a course that only you can set.

NO TURNING BACK

Admittedly the first several seconds of my leap took my breath away!  But after I got my bearings, I could totally enjoy the view.  It didn’t feel like FALLING at all!  It felt more like….like I was FLYING!  What an exhilarating feeling!  If you’ve never done it, I encourage all to give skydiving a try;  it will change your perspective on life as a whole!  It reminds me of a quote that has been attributed by many to Guillaume Apollainaire: 

“Come to the edge”, He said.  They said, “We are afraid”.  “Come to the edge”, He said.  They came and He pushed them……and they flew”. 

Once I was out of the plane, there was no need to worry about whether I had made the correct decision.  There was no sense debating with myself about whether my friends, neighbors or colleagues would think that I had lost my mind:  the decision had already been made, there was no turning back!  It is the same on this journey as an entrepreneur:  do not second guess yourself.  Do not debate whether you have made the correct decision.  Plow forward, always looking ahead, NEVER behind!  Trust your instincts.  Know (don’t “hope”) that you are going to succeed.  In fact, expect to be successful and you will be!  Just keep going and all resistance will eventually fall away.  In Andy Andrews book, “The Traveler’s Gift”, he stated it this way: “I will persist without exception”.  Winston Churchill said it this way: “Never, never, never, never, never, never give up!”.  I couldn’t agree more.

For the thrill of the jump,

Dino Herbert

Tags: andy andrews, become an entrepreneur, Entrepreneur Mindset, entrepreneurial mindset, guillaume apollinaire, hawaii, helen keller, invictus, william ernest henley, winston churchhill

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 12:47 am and is filed under My initial jump. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.