Climbing has taught me:

1. When I encounter an obstacle, instead of just continuing to press forward haphazardly, I take time to look at my guidebook and resources, plan out the appropriate route, and make sure I have the necessary tools.
2. When I set out to accomplish something, I’m not afraid of giving it full commitment, since I know that I have prepared adequately.
3. I learn to trust the process. I go through the thoughts in my mind to help myself realize that the preparation I have done ahead of time helps me to take the risks now, and that many people have faced similar challenges in the past and have overcome using the same steps.

Just thought I’d share a quick thought on that!

This is a result of not prioritizing. When’s the last time you looked at your life and your job and write down what your priorities are each day?

For example, a sales rep may have a ton of paperwork daily, reports to fill out, sales calls to make, research to do, financial forecasting, etc. But are any of those more important than others? YES! For a sales rep, making sales calls is the most important, since the rest won’t matter if there aren’t any new sales! So therefore he could say, “Cold Calling is my #1 priority. Therefore I will do nothing else until I have planned out who I will call on each day and made those calls. Then I will do the rest of my tasks.” Then comes prioritizing #2, #3 , etc.

So give it a try…write out what your daily priorities are. This will make you accomplish much more every day.

What about climbing? How does this principle apply to climbing? Well…do the same thing. If you have 1 hour to train at the gym…climbing routes that help you train for your goals is more important than just doing situps Climbing is the best training for climbing. So climb first…then squeeze in supplemental training!

“The boss drives group members; the leader coaches them.
The boss depends upon authority; the leader on good will.
The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’
The boss assigns the task, the leader sets the pace.
The boss says, ‘Get there on time’; the leader gets there ahead of time.
The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown.
The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how.
The boss makes work a drudgery; the leader makes it a game.
The boss says, ‘Go’; the leader says, ‘Let’s go.’“

Of course, the reason our county is so progressive, and the reason that we have wealth etc. is because we have mastered the art of multi tasking, working non stop etc. I’m not advocating that we stop working hard by any means. That’s what makes our lives comfortable here. And it is also simply a cultural difference. But I am advocating that we all take time to see how much we miss out on life if we are not slowing down and stopping to enjoy life, family, friends, and leisure time as well.

The weekend LifeVenture retreat begins on a Friday night, lasting until Saturday evening, and combines Leslie’s excellent LifeSuccess teachings, (http://www.lifesuccessleslie.com) with experiential training and application by Ascent Adventure Consultants’ (http://www.ascentadventure.com) professional team building and training facilitators, to help participants learn and apply the principles being taught. The event will be held at Homewood Suites in Cary NC, where participants will spend the night Friday evening, and  then spend all day Saturday in the program. This is a unique event and the first of it’s kind in the USA. Leslie Flowers is an international motivational and inspirational speaker, teacher and coach and was tapped by former LifeSuccess Consulting President Paul Martinelli as an emerging leader in the personal and leadership development industry. Brandon Hensinger of Ascent Adventure Consultants works with groups of business people and professionals across the country to help them develop their leadership, management, and communication skills through experiential team building and training.

Leslie’s passion and teaching focuses on helping people to understand the human performance gap — why we don’t do what we already know to do — how limiting beliefs stand in the way of our success, and what is required to narrow that gap in short order. Her teaching also focuses on connecting people with their infinite potential and purpose. The principles and practices learned through her teaching sessions will be the focus of the experiential training aspects of the program, conducted by Brandon Hensinger. Brandon’s passion is helping people learn through experience and be empowered to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, leading to better leadership, performance, and overall success in life. Brandon’s activities are conducted based upon the fact that people learn better by doing something that reinforces what they have heard taught.

Leslie Flowers is based in Cary NC and is a dynamic LifeSuccess Coach (www.lifesuccessleslie.com), conducting seminars and speaking across the country, and helping others reach their full potential.

Ascent Adventure Consultants (www.ascentadventure.com) is a professional team building company, as well as a rock climbing guide service headquartered in Apex NC. They conduct trips and programs across the country.

For More Information, contact Brandon Hensinger at bhensinger@ascentadventure.com, or by calling 919-345-1087.

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Study the path you will take

When climbing, whether doing a first ascent of a route, or attempting a route that has been climbed before, the climber(s) always takes time to study the route that lies ahead. Often this involves talking with other people who are familiar with the route, reading accounts of the climb, pouring over guidebooks and topographic maps, and more. That all takes place before even approaching the cliff. Once the climber arrives at the base of the cliff, there are more opportunities to study the cliff face in front of them, making sure they can see the line that will be taken, and any dangers or obstacles that may lie ahead.

When a climber is disciplined to plan in this way, it greatly increases their chance of success. In the same way, in regular life, whether in your personal or business life, being disciplined to plan ahead increases your chance of success. For example, take time make sure you talk with others who have worked on similar projects or tasks, read up on the internet to learn some best practices, and begin to develop a game-plan so that you aren’t just flying blindly into a project. Then when the project starts, make sure that you take time to step back and analyze as you progress, to make sure you are staying on-track.

Makes sure you have what you need and that all resources are easily accessible.

Not packing well can lead to great difficulty on a climb. Preparation ahead of time to make sure that a climber has the right clothes, food, and equipment by making checklists and methodically checking off items as they are packed is key to making sure nothing is missed. Then the next most important thing is packing items in a way that makes them easily accessible. For example, packing food and water in a place that can be quickly accessed while climbing is imperative, so that the climber doesn’t have to unpack the bag every time they need food or water, which is usually very often while climbing. The same thing applies to climbing gear, and even warm clothes that may be quickly needed.

Again, this applies to real life. When tackling a project or task, preparing ahead of time by making checklists that help you know that you have all you need and have arranged all necessary details for a project will tremendously help your efficiency in completing that project or task.

Be willing to accept and face the unknown, confident that you have planned and prepared to the best of your ability.

When climbing, no matter how much planning goes into it, there is always an element of surprise. Situations arise which call for quick decisions and good judgment. When a climber has prepared well ahead of time, and as long as they have not been unwise and gotten in over their head, they will be able to quickly make a decision and succeed.

This applies to real life as well. By planning ahead of time, and arming yourself with the right resources and people, you will be able to make those quick decisions when surprises arise. Taking time to learn ahead of time and surrounding yourself with the right people to help increase your wisdom and judgment will help you to face the unknown. Rather than being afraid and retreating, you will be able to push on, knowing that you have planned, organized, and taken the time to learn what you need to succeed.

“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.

• Optimism has been correlated with better immune systems in healthy people who have been subjected to stress.
• Both lab research and survey research indicate that positive emotions help people who were previously under stress relax back to their physiological baseline.
• Positive emotions that come from optimism broaden one’s awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions.   Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources

The method for change is on the principles of what Positive Psychology calls “ABCDE” for Adversity, Beliefs, Consequences, Disputation and Distraction, and Energization.  In the next entry we will explore these tools.

- Author: Danny McCracken (dmccracken@ascentadventure.com)

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.

Check out the article. It is really informative….especially for managers. However, I also feel like ANY employee of ANY company could benefit from reading this because it will help employees realize some of the struggles faced in management, and may help employees to be patient as change is implemented.