During the winter, we love hiking on mountain trails in Colorado. A few of my favorite winter trails are Tenderfoot Trail and Straight Creek Trails (Dillon), Peru Creek, Keystone Gulch, Wildernest, Rainbow Lake (Frisco), and Mayflower Gulch near Leadville. It is a winter wonderland that is hard to do justice in pictures…My favorite days are when there is a light dusting of powder that looks like acres of diamonds across the slopes and fields.
Lake Dillon, CO Photo by Yvonne Bryant
It is something that I miss since the move to Texas.
There are many lessons that you can learn while hiking that will help you reach your Business Goals. There is one that is so subtle, that you almost miss how important it really is.
What is the secret hiking tip to reach your business goals?
Photo Courtesy of Alan Bryant
Lets start with looking at this trail that we are hiking with Cheyenne. If you look closely, Cheyenne is on a narrow, compacted section of trail that in the summer is typically much wider.
You can see that the trail is defined as it goes through the woods. When you are hiking in the winter especially, you are looking for this defined narrow path.
You may be asking yourself…
“Yvonne, what does this narrow snow path through the woods have to do with me reaching my business goals?”
Lets look what happens if you step off the trail…
Photo courtesy of Alan Bryant
Cheyenne and I are on the trail here in Mayflower Gulch while Evan stepped off the trail and luckily only sunk about 18 inches. The snow was several feet deep in areas along this trail.
Some associates got off the trail they were hiking in Wildernest and got turned around in the woods (ie. lost). Luckily, they reached a small area that cell service and search and rescue were able to find them before the sun set.
When you stay on the narrow, compacted trail that others before you have gone on, you get to your destination more easily and faster. If you step off the trail, it is harder because you are breaking new ground (in some instances, it is dangerous…always let someone know where you are hiking…)
I call this the straight and narrow…
The secret hiking tip to reach your business goals is this…
It is easy in our businesses to get distracted with multiple choices (trails)…to want to break new ground…
I am all for breaking new ground and doing things differently when a CLEARLY DEFINED PATH has been set.
As an entrepreneur and business leader, you may be doing something that you or nobody else has done before. You still have to decide what actions you will take to reach the goal. You have to choose one path.
When you have a clearly defined set of action steps (your path):
- You move forward more quickly and easily. (ie. save time)
- It is less expensive than trying several routes at once.
- You can identify what is working – or not. (if things aren’t working out, you course correct the path.)
- If you have a Team, this allows everybody to move forward in the same direction.
When you get off the path (off the straight and narrow), you lose your focus and clarity.
As you move forward…
- What one big business goal are you working on?
- What steps (clearly defined path) do you want to take to get there?
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