Falling Up

Choose your next adventure

"You can't fall from the floor."

These words caught my attention this week while reading an article in the NY Times. The CEO and founder of sweetgreen shared this memorable piece of advice he received when considering leaving his corporate position in exchange for opening a small local restaurant making salads. The wisdom is simple—when you're at the beginning, you have nowhere to go but up. The risk of failure feels different when you're already standing on solid ground.

Just days later, a colleague and I were chatting about our shared love for world travel. He'd recently celebrated with a friend who, on her birthday, crossed the border into the 193rd and final UN member state—joining what I learned is called the '193 Club.' (I didn't know this was a thing - wow!)

During our chat, he brought up a quote he read on a hospital bulletin board when he was in medical school:

"Most people live their lives like they have one more in the bank."

I paused - and thought - yes! This is exactly what I've been confronting these past few years. Working towards no regrets for not having done something.

In the chapter I wrote, "Be Bold" in the recently published "Leading with Self-Awareness," I described my own experience of hearing a call to be bold—to stop painting myself into a box based on stories I'd told myself. Or certain levels of comfort that were holding me back.

In the well worn grooves of the record that plays out our daily lives, it can be a challenge to remember the paintbrush has always been in your hands? That you can begin work on a new canvas at anytime? You can paint a new scene - placing yourself wherever you want to be - tomorrow, next week, next year.

This dream big thinking may sound ambitious or unrealistic or impossible at some stages on our lives- especially if change or risk could be problematic if you were to fall. That needle on the record can be a heavy lift.

The antidote? Start small. Get out of the house. Look up from your phone. Take stock of the course you're on and commit to one small action. Say yes to something that feels a bit scary. You've survived discomfort in the past and look at you - you're still here - smarter and wiser and more interesting because of it.

I know what I'm doing next. I'm leaving town for 8 weeks, which I'm feeling a bit nervous about for several reasons. It's one of those "it's never a good time but also as good a time as any" situations.

I'm taking the time to work remotely, to write, to visit family, to see friends, to revive my French language skills, and to rest. It's a huge privilege I know and one I'm not taking lightly. It's also my way of grabbing another canvas, of refusing to live like I have another life in the bank.

What would you do if failure didn’t matter?

What small step might you take this week to chart a new adventure?

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash