Teh Chad

Today shall be a grand day! Foundations will be set and infrastructures rebuilt. The tasks performed shall put us in place to not only beat the competition, but kill it!
Today the things that have been eating at us will be eaten. The burdens on our minds shall be lifted. The filters that have been choked will be cleaned out.
Today we will learn something that makes us better at what we do. We will learn something that makes us better with people. We will learn something that helps us put things in perspective.
Today the efforts of the past will show their fruits. Friendships of old shall remind us of how important we are to them. Someone will bring us something small that will brighten our afternoon.
Today opportunities for greatness will present themselves. And we will see them! We might even go after one of them!
Today we will accomplish things worthy of dead cow!

Rereading my last post, I felt like I lost the purpose of the post. There were two points I wanted to make.
Take risks! Take risks safely.
Most people are afraid to take risks. Taking small risks teaches you how to deal with it. We all will take many risks in our lives. We will drive cars. We will go swimming. We will make financial commitments when we have jobs that may not last. We will open up to people about who we are. We may even do something fun like go to a Denver Donkeys game. Yet even football games have risks (I seem to remember a CU football game a couple years ago). Taking risks is part of our being. People need to do it.
The part that I don’t believe came across real well was my second point. Take risks, but take them as safely and simply as you can. When I did Long’s for the first time, I trained my butt off for a good couple of months. There was no doubt in my mind that I could physically do it. I took the real risk out as much as possible. People knew where I was. I had more than enough protection from weather. I had too much water. I had plenty of food. I would have to get hailed on before I’d have a bad day and I had done my homework on that too! As many variables as there are in a task like that (or anything for that matter), I wanted as many of them on my side as I could get.
Small business owners must take huge risks to keep their business running. Their employees depend on them to make the correct decisions. These things are not easy. However, these are the people that become great. These are the Mark Shuttleworths and Richard Bransons.
Go take risks! However, take the danger out of them where you can. You’ll be amazed what you are capable of!

I was reading a little bit ago for a blog post I was writing. It didn’t really fit the purpose of that blog and I like the idea so I’m posting it here.
As some of you know, I taught people how to climb for almost eight years. Many people consider climbing a “dangerous” activity. Well, climbing is really very safe relative to other things like driving a car. I digress. Climbing seems high-risk even though our main focus is safety. As a result of my climbing and taking that “risk” to try something new, I’ve been all the happier over the past few years.
This is an excerpt from an interesting article I just read:
“A 2005 German study concluded that people who take above-average risks have a higher-than-average index of life satisfaction. Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that among business managers in the US and Canada, those who take greater risks are the most successful. More risk, more reward—not to mention livelier cocktail-party conversation.”
Ever wanted to do something labeled “crazy?” Go sky diving! Go learn to shoot a gun!

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to climb Long’s Peak. I spent a solid couple of months hiking on super-easy trails near where I live. I did a little research on the trek and took a guess on how much of this and that I would need. Once the season opened for that hike, I picked a weekend with good weather and called a friend who lived near the mountain. It was most definitely one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, but I would regret not taking that chance. I had an awesome time spending about 9 hours by myself and it totally paid off.
Doing that was a solid risk. It’s a relatively remote place, especially as you near the top. It was worth every step!