A Lesson for Surfers, Business Owners, and Everyone, Really!
What do Surfing and Running a Business Have in Common?
One of the reasons I love surfing and running my own business is because they are two things that don’t always come easy. The best things in life often take the most time. Running a successful business and becoming a better surfer have both taken me hours and hours of dedication, but that’s also why I love both journeys so much.
If you’re anything like me, you love to challenge yourself and grow. But you also love to grow intentionally. You crave a challenge but thrive most when a challenge is meaningful to you. Each of us has special gifts and talents—certain things come naturally to each of us—that we can use. The skills we hone and craft though? That’s what takes us to the next level and gives us purpose.
Honing Our Skills
What’s beautiful about surfing in Hawaii is there are different waves all around the island. Waikiki is where you learn: small waves and longboards. Then there’s Ala Moana, Sandys, Makaha, Tongs, Chuns, Pipeline, Laniakea, Suicides, Makapuu…the list goes on and on! I have endless opportunities to hone my different skills in these different waves. I learn how to make a late drop at Sandys, and work on my carves at Chuns. I build my stamina paddling out to Laniakea and increase my wave count at spots like Makapuu.
And in your business, you have to explore A LOT to figure out what helps you most. I didn’t know much before starting my business... most of us don't! It’s a process of learning and exploring – new tools and ideas – to figure out how to help yourself grow. In your business and surfing, it's also about finding supportive people to guide you along the way.
Getting Honest and Getting Persistent
I’ll probably never surf Pipeline or paddle out at Sunset on a huge day, but I have 100% gotten comfortable in bigger and scarier waves over time compared to when I first started.
Surfing is a beautiful ongoing lesson for a lifelong perfectionist like me. It’s a lesson you’ve heard a million times already in different ways, but one of the hardest to keep top of mind when the going get rough:
The only person you should try to be better than is the one you were yesterday.
Breaking Down our Unreasonable Expectations
No one expects a beginner to paddle out at Pipe, yet we have these incredibly high expectations of ourselves in different areas of life. I still catch myself thinking I should be able to paddle out at Pipeline (one of my many weeds) and I have to remind myself that the foundation of my surfing is strong. My foundation (my pop-up, paddling strength, breath hold) are consistently improving. I am better than I was yesterday.
When I first started my business, I was totally stuck in one definition of “entrepreneur” – fancy person in a fancy suit with a fancy sports car who made a bunch of money in some industry that was like a foreign language to me. All I thought was, “well I’m not that, so I must be failing”. When I surfed and saw a fellow surfer completely crushing it on a wave I would think, “well I’m not that, so I must be failing”.
But know what the person who catches a 50-foot wave, the person who catches a 2-foot wave, the person just starting a business, and the person whose been running a successful business for 10+ years all have in common?
They are better than the person they were yesterday.
Today is the Day! Start Right Now.
I can’t get back all the time I spent wishing I was someone else. That time is gone and done. But I can continue to focus on being better than I was yesterday. Everything else is just motivation. When we start a business, we have many preconceived notions about how it should look, how it should feel, what it should accomplish…what we should accomplish. We spend tons of time wishing things were different or better or more lucrative, but don’t spend much time taking inventory of all the amazing things we are doing better today than we did yesterday.
Beach Bum Creative is dedicated to reminding you of how far you’ve come while empowering you to continue to grow. Writing is history, memory, legacy, and story. Writing is the past, present, and an imagining of the future. Becoming fully connected to your own growth, achievements, and special skills is how you remember where you’ve been, protect where you are, and get really freaking excited about where you’re going. Beach Bum Creative helps you put it all into words so you never forget just how far you’ve come.
