Surfers can’t order a wave. Their whole skill is paddling out early and sitting where good ones tend to break.
CREATIVITY
WHAT THIS MEANS
You cannot summon the conditions, only position yourself for them. A surfer has no influence over the waves and enormous influence over whether they are out there early, rested and sitting in the place where good ones tend to arrive. Almost every opportunity works like that. You do not control which chances come, and you fully control how ready and how close you are when one does.
Stop waiting to be picked this week. Do the paddling out part: turn up early, be in the room, sit where the chance is likely to break.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Where could you position yourself early and simply wait?
MORE IN PARADOX, METAPHOR & FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- A coin sorter works by size, not by value. The world sorts people that way too sometimes. Don’t believe it.
- Some bridges float on pontoons instead of standing on pillars. There’s more than one way to hold weight.
- Heavy backpacks get lighter when a friend carries one strap. Problems shared don’t halve, but they shift.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.