On Top Of The World ...

Having just come back from my annual ski trip I feel like a week off!  After carting 3 suitcases, 2 ski boot bags and a double set of skis to the airport, standing in a queue for an age, the non arrival of an ordered veggie meal and an aborted landing ( during which time I literally ripped chunks out of the seat in front of me) and not to mention a sickly coach journey, we finally got to resort at 11pm. 

The next day and for the rest of the week for that matter we were up at 7.30am! Yes 7.30am every day then breakfast, searching for ski clobber, dragging the child out of bed and on the ski bus for 8.55am, boot room to don all our ski equipment, in the gondola and just about managing to meet my sons ski school by 9.30am!  I mean come on ... we are supposed to be on holiday! Why can’t ski lessons run a little bit later?  You know 10.30 would be great, at least by that time we would have all woken up and be raring to go!  There is one plus point though I get to drink brandy at 10am in the morning!  I mean it would be unthinkable at home but for some unknown reason I won’t even go skiing if my little hip flask is not brimming with neat brandy! I am also one of those people who doesn’t find it too natural to throw myself over a steep edge of a mountain so the brandy does it for me!  And after a full day on the 'piste' it then continues with the après ski ... a tradition they say.  Straight after skiing into the nearest bar still in all your ski stuff, people dancing in their ski boots (mainly Germans actually!)  looking like they are in a dance off at a ‘Robocop’ convention.  Let’s face it there is only one dance you can do in ski boots and that’s the side to side two step, anything more adventurous would undoubtedly land you on your backside ... boarders of course are the exception, they get to wear comfy boots and are used to being on their backsides most of the time anyway! (Now, now boarders out there don’t get tetchy you know it’s true!).

 And so it continues, what’s the weather going to be like today, is it sunglasses or ski goggles, base layers or not, what are the snow conditions ...  pretty much the same routine every day ... until you have to pack all your stuff and return home.  Why do it I hear you say, why put yourself through all that?  Well the answer is quite simple really ... nothing compares to the beauty of the mountains in the winter, the way it makes you feel alive and how you feel on top of the world, not to mention the sense of achievement as your skills improve.  The other question I hear you ask is what has this all got to do with business? ... well it’s the same thing really (stick with me for a moment), In business there are lots of elements to consider, things to do, plans to organise, decisions to make, tools to help you achieve your goals, lessons to learn, adapting to change,  tiring and thankless but when it all comes together, when all your hard work pays dividends and you see the results, that’s when it’s all worth it, when you feel on top of the world, proud and alive! 

Blog created by Michele Bentham from The Launchpad

So for me the two are the same ... you sometimes have to scare yourself in order to reach the top of the mountain but when you make it nothing compares to how it makes you feel ... so keep climbing, go as high as you can and then enjoy the view whilst you are there!

And like ski lessons if you need a bit of help to get there, then seek it out ... the rewards will far outweigh the investment http://www.thelaunchpad.org.uk/