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I’m 47 years old. I feel like I’m only 21, but now I “enjoy” a lot of unexplained pain. I’m also starting to need reading glasses. However, yesterday I put on a snowboard for the first time in my life and tried something completely new. Let me give you a little background.
Twenty-six years ago, after college, I moved to Summit County, Colorado with my great friends Davin, Ted, and Dan. We lived the typical ski bum lifestyle. And I was pretty good at it. I was good enough to be a ski patroller at Keystone (though, to be clear, I was still the worst skier of all my roommates). There’s enough to ski basically anywhere in Colorado. I loved it, but after two years I went to law school.
Fast forward 24 years. I was a lawyer living in Chicago when the pandemic hit. Crime skyrocketed. Chicago was in decline. So his wife and I decided to pack up and move back to Summit County, Colorado with our son. We’ve been here almost two years now and ski every weekend in the winter.
Related: The lasting benefits of relieving discomfort
challenge
A few weekends during ski season, we go out with our friends Connor and Laura. Laura is a skier (an outstanding athlete) and Connor is a snowboarder (a great athlete). Even though Laura and I use the same medium, it’s really impressive to see the speed and power Conor generates on his snowboard. To be honest, I wasn’t that interested in snowboarding, but when I saw people who were really good at it, I couldn’t help but think, “I have to try it.”
Well, let’s go back to the beginning. Again, I’m 47 years old. Snowboarding is notorious for being extremely taxing on your wrists, back, butt, shoulders, and knees when you first start. So when I said I was thinking of trying it, most of my friends said I had lost my mind.
Still, I couldn’t shake my interest and wanted (perhaps needed) an excuse to try it out. Luckily his friend Chuck and his family were out to visit us, so I asked him if he wanted to go snowboarding for a day. His exact answer was, “I’m always having an adventure.”
So on a crisp morning in early March, Chuck and I grabbed our snowboards and headed into the mountains. Did we have a lesson? of course not. Too stubborn. We were both strong skiers, so we thought, “How hard could it be?”
Well, I don’t mean to alarm you. it’s difficult. really hard. As soon as I put one foot in, I realized I could barely stand. I was sweating profusely as I sat in the lift line. I realized that no matter how comfortable I was on skis, I was basically powerless on a snowboard. But we left.
The results were: (a) I couldn’t get off one lift without falling. (b) I was unable to make a toe-edge turn to save my life. (c) Literally, he fell more times a day on his snowboard (probably 30-40) than he had fallen on skis in the past 30 years combined. (d) I’m really cocky and confident when it comes to skiing. On this snowboard, “Paddington’s Easy Way Home” looked like a K2. (e) The next day I checked my injuries…I had two jammed thumbs, two sprained wrists, and two severely bruised knees.
Related: Do you want to be an entrepreneur? Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Compensation and application to entrepreneurship
Therefore, you are probably thinking that the day was not very successful – quite the opposite. It was really great and I can’t wait to do it again. Here’s why:
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As you get older, there are few things that are truly new and challenging. Life can be unpleasant, especially as an entrepreneur. The more successful you can be under those circumstances, the better.
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Fear is not a weakness. If you decide to overcome it, it will give you strength. Taking the leap into entrepreneurship inevitably comes with fear. But if you don’t jump, you’ll never fly. Embrace your fear and take the leap.
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Being humble reminds you that you are not as great as you think. We can all show humility from time to time. As an entrepreneur, you will fail. again and again. that’s ok. Failure teaches us. Learn from your mistakes and improve.
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Friends have the power to inspire you to try new things and the power to take action with you. Both are absolute gifts. As an entrepreneur, you cannot achieve your goals on your own. Create a great group of colleagues and friends. Let’s give them some inspiration. Ask them for help. And enjoy the drive with them.
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Pain is temporary, but self-improvement is not. When you start or run a business, you are likely to experience pain that will make you feel like quitting. It happens often. Moving forward through those pains is the only way to succeed. No matter how much it hurts, remember to take one step forward each day and you will eventually reach your destination.
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Finally, being an entrepreneur means you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Life is full of routine and often becomes monotonous. When you step out of your routine and get really uncomfortable, you can be recharged in ways you never expected. Additionally, if you don’t like discomfort, you might not like starting a business.
Related: Why stepping out of your comfort zone is the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur
Once I recover from this adventure, I plan to buy a snowboard and boots and go again. I’m sure it’ll hurt… again. I’m sure it’ll go bad again…again. I’m sure I’ll fall…over and over again. But there are new mountains to conquer. New goals to achieve. And it would be very uncomfortable to get there — and I’m completely comfortable with it.
