PETER SHANKMAN
| POSTED ON August 17th, 2010 | 15 COMMENTS | + ADD YOUR COMMENT |
So over the weekend I went skydiving. Gorgeous weekend – Was impossible not to get some air time.
I’m going to tell you a story, and relate our industry to skydiving. And I apologize, because I promised myself, after my first year of skydiving, that I’d never do that again. See, most skydivers, when they start out, (and I am totally including myself in this) get into this “the whole world is like skydiving, here are fifty examples of why!” mentality We’re so in love with the concept, that we think it’s totally obvious that everything in the entire world should be like skydiving. And it’s cool for a few months, until we realize that not everything in the world is like that. (Hi, Sydney! I love you! Smooches!) :) But hey, we all did it.
But I find myself telling this story anyway.
So parachutes have something called “Dive loops.” Essentially, a parachute’s rate of descent can be greatly increased by pulling down on these little material handles on either side of the parachute. Instead of flying straight forward and only a “little bit” down, you fall greatly down, and only slightly forward.
This is handy for getting lower quicker once your canopy is open. Problem comes if you do it too close to the ground, your canopy can’t “recover” in time for you to gracefully touch down onto the ground. This is often called “bouncing,” as in, what your body does, and leads to many broken bones, and getting made fun of unmercifully.
Over time, though, you learn to use your dive loops to make your descent that much quicker, and much more accurate – Think of it this way – the tighter you make your circle, the better accuracy you have as to where you land. To make the circle tighter, you need to go down faster. It might be scary, but if you’ve learned, and trust your skills, you’ll be fine.
Five years into skydiving, and I’ve never used my dive loops. Until this weekend.
At 1000 feet, I started my approach. I don’t know what made me decide to do it this time – I guess I knew I had the skills, and was sick of my accuracy being as crappy as it was. So, approaching my final turn, instead of simply turning my canopy using my toggles, I pulled down hard on my left dive loop – And I turned, and I descended. Fast. I knew how much altitude I had, and how much I had to play with before I had to “plane out” and level off. I trusted my skills, and trusted in what I learned.
And it WORKED. I planed out by 150 feet, with plenty of room to spare, and landed closer to center than I’ve ever landed in my life. I spent the rest of the day annoyingly telling anyone who would listen how well I did on my first dive loop-assisted-landing. I was positively giddy.
Breaking out of the normal approach landing was scary as hell, though – No doubt about that. Yet now that I’ve done it, it’ll be easier next time, and the time after that, until I know that I’m good at it, and it’ll become second nature to me – muscle memory.
Why do I bring this up? Muscle memory: Think about the last time you did something scary that you really, really wanted to do – Remember when it worked? Then you did it again, and again, and again, until it was second nature?
Think about that the next time you want to try something scary but are afraid to. Think about how great you’ll feel when you get it done – And think about how awesome it’ll be once you can add that to your repertoire – once you own it. Once its yours, and you can pull it out whenever you need it – Because you’ve mastered it. And that’s what life is. Mastering things, one at a time, and learning from the times you haven’t quite gotten it yet.
Think about that the next time you’re afraid to do something – and then just do it. Worst thing? It doesn’t work, and you retool to do it again.
At least in that case, you won’t wind up with any broken bones.
Thoughts? Lemme hear them below.
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Yeppers. Great story Peter. I bet EVERYONE can relate over something similar. I volunteered to represent my Public Speaking Class in College in the School contest held each semester. I hated speaking but knew I would get an A since no one else wanted to do it, since it was very short notice (absentminded professor!). So I gave my speech in front of 8 people thinking, Done. Got my A. Then learned a week later I was one of 5 finalists having to give the speech in front of 300 people in an Auditorium. Do you remember the scene with Albert Brooks in Broadcast News? That was me. 20 years later…..18 years of direct sales and presenting experience! |
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What you didn’t realize, Peter, is that my “letters to skydiving” and relating dating to skydiving, is actually me writing about my love life. Chew on that. ;) No but really, obviou skydiving-related bias aside, great post. And, regardless of any promise you made to yourself, there are two things I see here. Great writing, and a great metaphor. Meditation aspect of skydiving aside, one of the reasons I really do like it so much and I talk about it incessantly is that I’m able to take my lessons from freefall and under canopy and apply them to my life as it exists beyond the dropzone. And, back to that whole promise you made yourself thing, I think you should can it. Should you obsess about it like I do over on my blog? No, your audience here would likely hate you. But I don’t think anyone would mind seeing a bit more of your wisdom acquired from throwing yourself out of perfectly good airplanes applied to business practices every once in awhile. Thanks for calling me out. The fact that you said “smooches” made this post. ;) |
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Thank you again. You inspire others. That’s why it was worth it to tell anyone who reads your blog about your inner skydiver thoughts. How many lives have you just motivated with one simple idea. (“Take that fear and shove it”). Skydiving is like life. We all have to know when to pull on some kind of “dive loop” to get where we want to go faster. |
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I was lucky enough to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro last year with my sister and brother. We did the Western Breach route, which is more beautiful and less traveled, but also a bit more dangerous because it’s a true rock climb over the breach. unlike the rest of the route, which is more like a hike. We were scared, tired, cold and aching from 6 prior days on the mountain, but we did it, one foot in front of the other. The moment we hit Uhuru Peak, the feeling of accomplishment was one I had never felt quite so keenly before, now knowing that anything is possible, one step at a time. |
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If ever there was a time to get our “fears” in perspective, it’s been the last 18 months. You make a great case for shaking it off, getting a grip, and realigning what’s what. If ever there was a living example of cut-the-kvetching, it’s you. Thanks for the reminder, Peter. |
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Boy, I can SO relate to that feeling. My entire 2010 has been one big jump o’ experimentation with my Old Maid Cat Lady retail site! The number of average daily visitors has increased each month, and sales are starting to follow suit. If I can ever figure out the “dive loop” of getting shipping charges to work correctly, it could land right on target! |
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Thank you for that. Actually Makes me wonder about why I’m not skydiving. Always wanted to try. (Hi Mom, hope you don’t read Peters blog!) You took a step further then you ever did before- instead of simply enjoying what you are fantastic at. and now, you see how it can make you a “more perfect skydiver” and make you land closer to the center then ever. It’s that tweaking that makes the same rush and enjoyment get an all new twist. Peter- would it be fair to assume that you’ll be using those dive loops again? |
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“I trusted my skills, and trusted in what I learned.” Trust…That’s what it’s all about. Trusting ourselves enough to make great things happen. Well said Peter! |
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I will never skydive…. and yes, I can say never. However, I can relate to this post. I always doubt myself going into situations even when I know I can master it. After the initial dip of the toes, I feel confident and ready to rock. Thanks for the inspiring post. I needed a lift today :). |
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Believe it and you shall see it. Great story. I think in the end life is all about these kind of moments and memories. |
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I stumbled upon this post right at the time when I was thinking of how I was going to actually implement a project that I proposed to my client yesterday. Since I have never done anything like this before, I already started to regret saying that. But now I realize that if I don’t make the first step, it may never happen at all…Thanks so much for the inspiration! |
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Great post! I can relate and love your advice. Thanks, Peter! |
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Thinking. It’s always the same thing. To think is to go insane. Sent from my iPad 4G |
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