7 Things I learned About Success and Business Watching a Man Free Fall 23 miles Down to the Earth

7 Things I learned About Success and Business Watching a Man Free Fall 23 miles

Today Austrian extreme skydiver Felix Baumgartner became the only human being to break the sound barrier outside of an airplane after skydiving from 38 km above the earth.

That feat was amazing, and it made me think about what we all do on a daily level, and what we don't do.

I also thought about how we could stand to be a little more adventurous and take more risks.

Here are the seven things I thought as I watched;

1. There is power in putting your back up against the wall - I was watching the ascent and it dawned on me. There really was only one way down. To jump. If you watched the flight and jump, you realize just what that means. If you have no plan B, if you have to succeed, it makes you tackle problems just a little harder, and you don't give up. You can't.

2. Do go if the numbers say go, don't go if the numbers say it is not time - this wasn't the first run at this, he had previous attempts stopped by wind. Sometimes it isn't the time. Respect the numbers. Too often we go off emotion, but as study after study has shown, we are the best judges of risk. Get the numbers, live by the numbers.

3. Just because you didn't go the first time, it doesn't mean you give up. It doesn't mean you stop. This has been in the works for a while, he has tried before. Just because it didn't work the first time, doesn't mean you were wrong to do it, it just means you need to regroup, and come at it again on a new day.

4. Teamwork can make anything happen. Did you see the team behind him. Systems matter. Systems make things happen. Your business is made of systems. Teams matter.

5. Doing something that frightens everyone else, or everyone is afraid to do, and that leaves that opportunity wide open for you. Do what everyone else does, and you then are simply everyone else. Go where other are afraid to go, then use your head, train, get the numbers, build a team, and win.

6. Think big, and big things happen. This jump wasn't just a record breaking free fall 23 miles up, it was also a record breaking balloon flight, and it was also the first time a free fall broke the sound barrier. Three amazing feats, one jump. That was one man's dream that he slowly built one person at a time. Amazing feat.

7. Finally, Spacesuits are cool - agreed, not a business topic, but they are still cool.

You have got to watch the video.

D