I love a good adventure. A few weeks ago, I completed a 13.6 mile Spartan race in the mountains near Lake Tahoe. It was grueling, with a total of 4300 feet of elevation gain up to 9,000 feet. The first half went according to plan, but after a few hours, my stomach shut down, making it difficult to eat, drink, or run. That's when the real fun and misery began.
What I enjoy most about challenges like this is that there is no way to fake it. There is a kind of purity in facing something overwhelming. Either you go beyond what you thought you were capable of, or you give up.
On adventure
The call to service is always a call to adventure. It requires risk and fortitude. There is no single map for navigating your life. You must take the next step today and see where that takes you tomorrow.
Only with emotional resilience can you find the skill to navigate the uncertainties and dangers that lie ahead.
We all want to get something for nothing, but the most valuable things in life require sacrifice and paying the cost to experience them.
If you're hesitating on a decision, choose the more difficult path. It usually leads to a more valuable outcome.
Quotes
For two tedious months he waited off the barren, godforsaken coast at the mouth of the Santa Cruz, like one who, caught in a blizzard and not knowing where he is, waits and freezes within a stone’s throw of his own house, unaware that a few steps would bring him safe to shelter. Two months, two endless, senseless months, did Magellan brood in this desolate spot, wondering whether he would or would not ever reach the “paso.” Yet only two days south was the Strait of Magellan, which would bear his name for all eternity. Until the last moment he who, with Promethean gaze, was to unveil the last great mystery on the surface of our planet, had, like Prometheus, to endure the rending of the eagle’s claws of doubt.
All the more splendid would be the reaction when it came, for bliss is more glorious when we rise from the depths of despair.
Stefan Zweig, Magellan: Conqueror of the Seas
People always ask me, “What’s the secret to being a successful CEO?” Sadly, there is no secret, but if there is one skill that stands out, it’s the ability to focus and make the best move when there are no good moves. It’s the moments where you feel most like hiding or dying that you can make the biggest difference
Ben Horowitz, The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Questions
What would your wisest self choose?
What courageous choice can you make today?
EndNote
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