Today’s dot was written by Maelyn Sanders from Minot State University’s LEAD 201 Collaborative Leadership Class.
This semester I really wanted to try new things and put myself out there. Rock climbing caught my eye, so I gave it a try. I was very fearful the first day. I didn’t want to look bad or make a fool of myself. However, after the first climb, I took off and found a new hobby to enjoy.
I learned three things from that experience: Risks are scary, people don’t want to fail, and people love to be comfortable.
I was so scared to rock climb, I almost backed out. I would’ve missed a great opportunity to find something new I love doing. When first climbing, all I was thinking about was, “What if I fail?” “What if all these people laugh at me?” but, people always fail. That’s the beauty in life. If people never failed, we would’ve never learned anything new.
When I had my first failed climb, I was met with support and advice on how to overcome. I gave it another try with more confidence and determination to achieve the climb. Lastly, comfortability. All I wanted to do was the easy, safe climbs. I knew I didn’t want to mess up, so I stuck with what I knew I could do with ease. But what is the fun in that? Never challenging yourself will lead you to destroy your imagination and you will never truly know what you could accomplish.
At least with risks, you are always winning, no matter the outcome. You might not win the big prize; however, you are gaining knowledge. Learning and growing as you go, and every good leader should be willing to learn and grow rather than sit and wait for destruction. So, take the risk, nothing to lose, everything to gain.
