When I was 6. My mom dropped me off at the base of Powder Mountain and said “have fun, I’ll see you tonight.” My ski instructor taught me some of the basics and soon enough I was snow plowing down the bunny hill like an old pro. After one exceptionally fantastic run, I made it to the bottom of the hill with a huge smile on my face, expecting to see the same matching smile on my instructor’s face. Instead of a smile, there was a worried look and a lesson. “Jason, if you want to become an amazing skier, you are going to have to start falling down.”
No one. Let me repeat. NO ONE, plays at the top of their game without first making a lot of mistakes and falling on their ass many, many times. If you aren’t falling down, you aren’t pushing yourself hard enough. If you aren’t falling down, you are not stepping outside your comfort zone. If you aren’t falling down, you aren’t progressing.
Start falling on your ass. Don’t beat yourself up for it, celebrate it. If you are surrounded by friends or colleagues who like to belittle you, beat you up, or treat you as a child for your mistakes, then do what you can to remove them from your life. They are the kids who sit at the base of the mountain mocking you for falling down, yet are no where to be seen when you successfully navigate your first double black diamond.
Adam Greco
Emer Kirrane
Eric Peterson
Evan LaPointe
Kevin Rogers
Michele Hinojosa
Pritesh Patel
Rudi Shumpert
2 Comments
you ski? Good stuff J. Good stuff. I’m scared to fall, but the landings usually softer than I expect it to be.
Jason, what you bring up is one of the most undervalued lessons. As a seasoned skier (30+years now) one of the best expressions that I’ve heard was after many years later, in high school on our race team. It was simple and important to future success and drive.
“Balls to the walls with snot running up both cheeks.”
While a bit “blue”, the sentiment is still important – fast is important but so is the importance of going with all you’ve got without being distracted by short term problems.
I’ve also heard “helmets are for people that expect to fall”. On the surface it seems a bit glib but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Expect to fall. Not being ready to handle what happens as it is happening isn’t the fault of the fall but rather how you plan to course correct or take the bump and get back up. If you step out on day-one with a helmet then you are scared to take a real risk.
The best form of protection is experience. A couple bumps only prove that you’ve made enough mistakes to be creditable.
-Lee