Labor Day Weekend was a sweet time of rest + adventure for me personally – I was craving both desperately!

I received a last minute invite to go paddle boarding with my friends last Saturday, and I was so pumped because paddle boarding was the one thing on my 2018 Summer bucket list that I had yet to knock out.

 

 

Now, the last time I tried to paddle board was almost 6 years ago and it was acomplete disaster.  Even on completely calm + flat water in Asia, I could never get the knack of it.

Anytime I would try to stand up, I was only able to stay straight up on my feet for mere seconds before falling off my board, legs and arms flailing as I crashed down into the water.

When I returned home from my trip, I was laughing with my friend about my paddle boarding experience and she asked ‘Did you ever put your paddle in the water, Em?’

My answer to her?  ‘No, I never got to that point.  I couldn’t even stay steady for more then a few seconds.’

‘Well, there’s your problem.  You have to immediately stick your paddle in the water and create forward momentum before you’ll start to become more sure footed.’

 

My friend didn’t realize it at the time, but she dropped a major truth bomb in that statement, about business + life.

I have found her words to be true anytime I’ve felt like I’m stuck in the same spot with flailing arms and legs.

The solution?  To stick my paddle in the water.

As I pulled my paddle board out into the open water on Saturday, I repeated that to myself as I hopped up onto my board.  As my second foot hit the board, I immediately stuck my paddle in the water and started to move myself forward.

And for the next hour, even when a storm crashed down out of nowhere and we had to get back to shore quickly, I just kept sticking my paddle in the water and pushing forward over the rocky waves.  Over and over again.  …and I never fell once.

 

 

I know it can be scary to stick your paddle in the water when you feel so unsteady, but I’ve found that in business and in life, action breeds momentum and momentum breeds confidence + sure footedness.

Today, I want you to think about what it would look like to put your paddle in the water.  And then?  Do it.

To taking on the open seas,