Life Lessons from a 7 year old

Where I live, we just had fall break. The kids got a 5 day weekend, so we packed them up and went camping. Well, if you call “camping” a condo in the mountains…which I do. 🙂

 On day 2 we went hiking, up a 3 mile trail along the ridgeline of the mountain. While we climbed,  my 7 year old daughter said something so profound, I chewed on it throughout the hike. “Mom, if we stop now, we’ll never make it to the top.”

The hike was pretty steep, and there were several patches where I had to keep a sharp eye on my feet because the trail was so narrow. Looking back wasn’t even an option in those places; it was far too dangerous. And looking ahead literally made me dizzy from time to time. And so I focused on my steps, one foot in front of the other.

Halfway there my daughter said she wanted to go home. But the only way home was ahead, not back. When she wanted to stop I was reminded of what my business mentor tells me all the time, “We don’t stop when we are tired. We stop when we are through.”

We finished the hike in 2 1/2 hours, much longer than we thought it would take. But the views and vistas we saw were unforgettable. And with my daughter being by far the youngest one in our group, she was crowned High Adventurer. Talk about smiles and giggles!

There are obvious life and business parallels I can draw throughout this entire experience. I’ll let you draw them. How do you continue your hike when all you want to do is stop?