Catching trout with your hands

Catching trout with your hands

by | Aug 1, 2020 | Results

Have you ever done something so exciting that a scream or a yelp spontaneously erupts? That is what it is like when I have caught a fish with my hands. It’s tricky to try and catch a slippery trout with your hand. It requires calm, quiet, slow movements, and a lot of patience. When trout spawn they swim upstream and they tend to “rest” under the banks of a stream. Notice in the photo I am laying down next to a stream while slowly placing my arm and hand underwater. Mind you, the water is mountain cold so about every 5 minutes I have to remove my hand out of the stream to warm it up. This process may need to be repeated several times before you grab the fish. As I place my hand under the body of the trout, I use my fingers to lightly “tickle” the belly of the fish. This calms them and keeps them in place. Once I think I have a good handle on steadying the fish, I will slowly wrap my thumb on the spine and my hand underneath and grip hard to pull the trout out of the water. “SCREAM!” It is quite exhilarating.

How can this relate to your experience in business or working on a project? Think about those tasks or projects that are repetitive and there appears to be no progress or movement forward. It takes time and it may even be boring. Perhaps you are working on tasks that don’t excite you or you feel like no one is paying attention. Then suddenly there is a break through…a phone call from a client who finally accepts your offer, a visit from an outside executive that recognizes what you have been working toward, or your boss appreciating your tenacity and will to stay the course. “SCREAM!” Sometimes in the quietest, slowest and most methodical kinds of actions can lead to the most amazing results. Stick with it and stay the course.

Bucket filler or bucket drainer

Bucket filler or bucket drainer

by | Jul 28, 2020 | Tidbit Tuesdays

Are you a bucket filler or a bucket drainer? In other words, do you add to someone’s life (bucket filler) or take away from someone’s life (bucket drainer)? Think about your circle of people you surround yourself with…are there people who are draining your resources, energy, and attitude? If so, consider how you will move forward with how you come across to other people or at what point you will consider making some changes to the people who are in your circle of influence.

Know what you know and know what you don’t know

Know what you know and know what you don’t know

by | Jul 28, 2020 | Tidbit Tuesdays

There is power in knowing but there is attraction in what you don’t know. When you have done your homework, conducted your research and received the training and education needed, the knowledge gained boosts your confidence in what you know. When you don’t know, the attraction is moving toward the place of knowing by getting the information necessary to enhance your power. Don’t confuse strong opinions with knowing. When you don’t know something, don’t bluff your way through or make up information. The power is in the knowing, not in fabricating an answer.
The Third Option

The Third Option

by | Jun 23, 2020 | Tidbit Tuesdays

I was listening to a program last week on the John Maxwell site and he introduced a man by the name of Miles McPherson. He had just published a book titled: The Third Option. I had never heard of the man nor had I heard of the book before that day. As I listened I thought to myself “what a poignant time for him to have published a book like this.”

Although Miles McPherson had several key points to share about his book, I most connected to and resonated with the meaning behind the third option. His way of defining the third option was “Instead of winning an argument, win a heart.”

There are always two options to a discussion, to agree or disagree about an issue…democrat or republican, black or white, dog lover or cat lover, vegetarian or meat lover, east side or west side, Christian or Muslim…the list goes on and on. It’s difficult to change someone’s belief stance, particularly if that is your only motive in the discussion. But we can end at a better place if we reach out and ask questions, listen to the “other” side which leads to a better understanding. You may enter a conversation that is uncomfortable but the hope is that you have won a heart in the process of listening and experiencing greater comfort in the end.

Consider the third option as we navigate through this time of unrest and unpredictability. Instead of standing your ground and white knuckling your place on an issue, reach out, pay attention and invite yourself to understand another perspective.

Island Peak: The approach to climbing Island Peak

Island Peak: The approach to climbing Island Peak

by | Jun 16, 2020 | Mountains Climbed

This video was taken 12 hours before the climb of Island Peak. We had traveled to Everest Base Camp, and climbed Mt. Kalapathar (18, 500 ft.) the day before and had acclimatized well for the ascent of Island Peak. We were on our way to Island Peak Base Camp at 16, 200 ft. This was a desire of mine since 1998 and the time had finally come. Excitement and nervousness all bound up together. We proceeded to wake up at midnight to leave for the climb. It was a full moon so there was no need to use headlamps for most of the way. Ice Axe, Crampons, ropes and jumars to ascend the final vertical 300 feet to the top made this climb particularly interesting, varied and challenging. We stood on the summit of Island Peak at 9:00am.