“The leader must be able to travel into an unexplored path”

As I reflect upon this statement, I realize the truth of it. If a leader isn’t willing to travel on an unexplored path, they really aren’t leading…they just simply follow in other people’s footsteps. A leader needs to know which path to choose, and confidently lead their group down it, ready to confront obstacles, make split second decisions, and help carry along anyone who is struggling behind.

Is that the way you lead, or are you afraid to try new ideas?

This in my opinion is such a key principle to follow, and really does a very succinct job at explaining why using the outdoors and adventure for leadership development and training is so effective. Teaching people to confront fears and feel comfortable when faced with new risks and challenges can be done outdoors better than anywhere else.

When I remembered that I done other scary traverses on harder routes, I realized that I would be able to do this one. I remembered, “I was afraid before, but it turned out to be ok. It will be ok this time.”

This experience can apply to all of life! When we face challenging and even scary situations in life, we must take a moment to think logically, instead of acting out of fear. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Have I had similar experiences before?
2. How did I respond?
3. What can my past response teach me now?
4. What will be my next action

Some simple things…but it can go a long way.

Informally it can be defined as how you explain what has happen to you; do you think events are personal, permanent and pervasive?

• Personal. People experiencing events may see themselves as the cause; that is, they have internalized the cause for the event. Example: “I always forget to make that turn” (internal) as opposed to “That turn can sure sneak up on you” (external).
• Permanent. People may see the situation as unchangeable, e.g., “I always lose my keys” or “I never forget a face”.
• Pervasive. People may see the situation as affecting all aspects of life, e.g., “I can’t do anything right” or “Everything I touch seems to turn to gold”.

People who generally tend to blame themselves for negative events, believe that such events will continue indefinitely, and let such events affect many aspects of their lives display what is called a pessimistic explanatory style. The definition of pessimistic used here is different from the connotations that usually go along with the word.
Conversely, people who generally tend to blame others for negative events, believe that such events will end soon, and do not let such events affect too many aspects of their lives display what is called an optimistic explanatory style.  Again, the definition used here is different from the usual connotations of optimistic.
It is important to note that the concept of explanatory style encompasses a wide range of possible responses to both positive and negative occurrences, rather than a black-white difference between optimism and pessimism. Also, an individual does not necessarily have the same explanatory style in all aspects of life, but may exhibit varying responses to different types of events.

Now I’m trying to theorize why this topic has all of a sudden jumped in popularity. About 1 month ago, I started weekly posts on how the Climbing Experience applies to all of life. Then articles started appearing all over the place. Of course I’d like to think that people saw me as the trend setter! But, for a more realistic theory, I’d say that it’s because we’re in the middle of this recession and people are making big life decisions, people are feeling stressed out, and also because we’re halfway through the summer and people are really wishing they were outdoors on some adventure.

I’d love to hear people’s comments on why you think this topic has gained such momentum as of late. Comment below!

I wanted to share, over the next few days, what some of the lessons I learned from climbing are.

There is nothing that is truly impossible.With determination, the right tools, the right training, and the right people, you can accomplish anything.

When I began climbing, I remember standing at the base of Route 2 (5.3) at Ralph Stover State Park’s High Rocks climbing area. I had big clunky hiking boots on, and was a bit overweight and probably hadn’t done ANY kind of exercise for a while… and was sure that I’d make it to the top. But much to my dismay, I did not make it more than 5 feet off the ground.

Now, many people may have given up at that point. But I, by nature am a very determined person and did not give up. Yes, on that day, I realized that it was impossible for me to make it to the top. But instead of throwing in the towel and thinking “This is for everyone else…even though I want to do it. I guess it’s not for me,” I went home and gathered up whatever money I had from my job as a waiter, and bought a pair of climbing shoes, a rope, a harness, 7 carabiners, and 100 feet of webbing. Then I bought a book that would teach me how to climb. I poured over whatever material I could find to learn how to do it, and I made sure to ask as much advice as possible from the people who took me out climbing for that first time.

I began to run, do pullups, and lift weights. I began to surround myself with climbers who could teach me, and within 3 months, I easily climbed Route 2 at High Rocks State Park. As soon as I stood on top of that cliff, something clicked. I realized “WOW! It wasn’t impossible,” and from that moment on, I vigorously pursued climbing.

Now I am getting nostalgic and feel like writing more and more. But I won’t say too much more, except that as soon as I got to college, I got involved with Quest, the climbing guiding service at the University and continued to train hard and push myself. I remember saying “Climbing is great! But I’ll never do that Trad Climbing thing. That is just WAY too scary.” Well, within 3 months of being at college, I learned enough about trad climbing that I set out and bought my own rack, and led Route 2 at High Rocks State Park as my first trad lead. One thing continued to lead to another, and I eventually become a climbing guide and coordinator for Quest.

Through the experience I gained in climbing, I also became involved with conducting team building and leadership development programs through Quest and Corporate Institute, and even changed my major to Organizational Communication, with a concentration in Outdoor Leadership.

And here I am today, having started my own climbing guiding and team building company, founded upon the principles and life lessons I have learned through climbing.

So how did all this apply to me starting my own company?

Even though many people seemed to be in my way, and there were SO many obstacles to overcome, never once did I think that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I wanted to make it happen, so I was confident it would.

I made sure to surround myself with people who could help me. Building relationships not only benefited my business, but it also improved my life as I have been able to meet so many people.

I was not afraid and am not afraid to invest in my company. By making my initial investment into climbing, it opened the doors to a whole new world, and the same is true in business.

What might look difficult on the road ahead, only looks exciting to me now. Difficulties and trials only excite me more!

NEVER stop learning. NEVER think you know it all.

]]> http://www.ascentadventure.com/2009/06/reflections-on-how-climbing-helped-me-start-my-business/feed/ 0 http://www.ascentadventure.com/2009/06/trust-your-feet-the-climbing-experience-applied-to-all-of-life/ http://www.ascentadventure.com/2009/06/trust-your-feet-the-climbing-experience-applied-to-all-of-life/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:50:26 +0000 brandon http://www.ascentadventure.com/?p=1340 A few weeks ago, while guiding a trip at Table Rock NC, one of the ladies mentioned how she kept having to tell herself “Trust Your Feet!”, and that is what got her to continue to move forward. After the climb, she mentioned how that thought and concept really could have a good life lesson to it! I gave it some thought and wanted to share with you all some thoughts on how this climbing concept and experience translates into all of life.

She had climbing shoes, with “sticky-rubber” on her feet, which enabled her to stand on and obtain friction on rock and rock features that she wouldn’t have been able to use otherwise. But because she had specialized shoes for the task, she was able to accomplish her goals. I think we all have simliar experiences in life, but instead of convincing ourselves to move ahead, we give up, thinking that failure is imminent, due to fear of the unknown, and due to us doubting our abilities. Often, we have the tools we need to accomplish a task, but fear taking that next step.

Here’s an example:

It is your first month on the job, and you are given a new assignment at work to design a new product that would appeal to a key market in your location. You are given all the information you need….very detailed market research, an unlimited budget for developing the product, a team of people to help put your ideas into place, and books on what NOT to do when developing this product. Even though you have all the resources you need, you continue to have the thought of “But I can’t do this….I’m brand new. I have no idea how to develop a product. People won’t like it,” or whatever else your thoughts might be that cause you to doubt. So ultimately, the project is delayed.

So how does the trust your feet concept apply here? Well, in climbing, even though my client looked down on the cliff and saw the tiny holds, or featureless rock faces, she did not say “these holds are too small, I can’t move on,” but rather she said “Trust your feet.” She knew that even though it LOOKED impossible, it was NOT impossible because she had the right tools designed for that very purpose…to stand on small holds and featureless faces. She trusted her feet! AND she climbed to the top of the climb.

So here’s some key application points for you:

1. Ask yourself, “What areas in my life do I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall? Are there resources I have that I’m not taking advantage of? Are there people I should be trusting that I’m not trusting in right now?
2. Pick a project that you are working on right now. What is the main thing you dislike about it? Is it because it seems impossible? Do you see the Trust Your Feet concept coming into play here at all?
3. What are some of the things you fear in life? Are you simply not taking advantage of the proven tools around you to help you overcome that fear?

Here are some great key points of application that I have seen teams develop:

• Share information regularly with employees and other team members.
• Prioritize. Learn to focus on the things that have the most value. Of you devote equal time to everything, you are sure to miss details and feel overwhelmed.
• Be optimisitic. Instead of looking at every project and assignment as drudgery, find ways to enjoy working together as a team, and find ways to turn seemingly meaningless projects into advantageous activities. In a book I read called “Organizational Communication” by Steven Corman, he discusses this very thing and gives the example of “If you are required to give a presentation, think about how you can use that platform to subtly champion your own cause as well.”
• Be humble. Many mistakes come about when you think your team is perfect. Be willing to admit to mistakes. You’ll never learn how to improve if you think there’s no room for improvement.

Just a few quick thoughts I wanted to share!

When people do then decide to give climbing a try, they are always overwhelmed with excitement when they get to the top of their first climb. The feeling of accomplishing something that had previously seemed out of reach or unattainable is unmatched by anything they had experienced before.

This is such an important lesson to learn in all areas of life. Here are a few bullet points that show how the experience translates into life:

• Never think that something is impossible. Left to ourselves, a task may be impossible, but by seeking help from others more knowledgeable and/or wise than us, we can learn what we need and gain the tools necessary to accomplish the task.
• Taking risk is necessary. Without taking risk, we will never grow and never move past the obstacles that seem to get in our way.
• Take on step at a time. Only careful, controlled movement gets a climber to the top of a cliff. In life, we need to learn to take things one step at a time, so that we can accomplish the tasks that are before us.

Applying these principles will help us to accomplish things that previously seemed impossible.

Over the next several days/weeks, I’m going to post short (one paragraph, or even less) blurbs on how climbing translates into all of life.

Apex, NC USA May 1, 2009 — Ascent Adventure Consultants is about impacting people’s lives and setting them out on the journey and adventure of a lifetime: when people experience climbing a cliff face, they are instantly aware of the existence of a whole new world; when people engage their fellow teammates or employees in a team building activity, they realize the greater degree of unity and success their team could be experiencing.

Out of a desire to increase their ability to do that very thing, Ascent Adventure Consultants has re-branded the company, and has launched a new website, aimed at communicating their core message: “Bringing Adventure to Life.” Their new identity communicates that they are not simply a climbing guiding company or team building facilitation company, but rather they are a company that helps people escape from the normal routine of life and experience something new and invigorating, and accomplish something that previously may have seemed out of reach. They do this through their  climbing trips and team building programs.

“Our new image will increase our ability to guide individuals on climbing trips and help business succeed through team building, which brings us great joy,” expresses Brandon Hensinger, owner of Ascent Adventure Consultants. “We look forward to seeing how our re-branding helps us impact our community through our courses in an even greater way, and to seeing how we can increase our ability to introduce people to a whole other world that exists.”

To support the re-branding of the company, Ascent Adventure Consultants has many climbing events coming up this summer and fall, along with new classes and new trips being launched. Make sure to visit their new North Carolina rock climbing and team building website at www.ascentadventure.com.

Ascent Adventure Consultants is a professional rock climbing guiding and team building facilitation company headquartered in Apex NC. They guide trips and facilitate training courses throughout NC, the USA, and the world.

For more information, please contact Brandon Hensinger, owner of Ascent Adventure Consultants of Apex NC, at bhensinger@ascentadventure.com, or 877-254-4617. More information can be learned about Ascent Adventure Consultants by visiting their website at http://www.ascentadventure.com.