Why Do You Want To Take That Leap Of Faith?

Twelve years ago, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. I had looked forward to it. I wanted to do it. When it came time to jump, I was terrified – but not for long. It was so exciting I wanted to do it again as soon as we landed.

This story is a great metaphor for what we do in business – or life outside of the business world – when we take a leap of faith and embark on something new.

I’m Curious

• Which leap of faith have you been thinking of taking – but you haven’t yet?
• Who can you think of to support you in this endeavor?

Transcript

Greetings, Dr. Stephie here. Yesterday was my birthday. Today, I came across some pictures from my past on Facebook, and I thought this could become a fun nugget. 

Today’s question is, “Why do you want to take that leap of faith in, let’s say, business or other things that you do that you haven’t done before?

I went parachuting 12 years ago on my 44th birthday. Here are some pictures from this day. Here we are on the plane. Here’s my husband. Of course, we did the tandem jump. You have to be trained to do solo jumps. When it came time to jump out, my instinct told me not to jump. But after a short (?) moment, I jumped. Look at my terrified face right after I jumped out of the plane. Oh my gosh. I’m trying to remember what I am supposed to do. Oh yeah, wait, I’m supposed to stretch my arms out!

You’re tumbling and tumbling. The guy I’m jumping with knows what to do. On the other hand, I’m still trying to figure out the answer to the question, “What am I doing?” 

This uncertainty, of course, happens in split seconds while we are tumbling. 

Here, we are in the right position, stretched out. Now, it’s turning into fun. It was quite the thrill, and then we landed, and it was over. I exclaimed, “Wow, this is so fun! I want to do this again right away.” So far, I haven’t had a chance to go again. 

To have this sort of experience, you must take that leap of faith. How does this apply to other things we’re doing? 

If you’re unwilling to choose, you can’t have a quantum leap of progress in your life, business, and nonprofit. As I said a few days ago, there are different risks. 

Of course, you want to ensure you’re not dying in the process. 

• We confirmed that the people we jumped with had good safety records. 
• I wasn’t jumping out of the plane alone. Maybe that’s a good point, too, because, if at all possible, don’t take those leaps of faith completely on your own. It is important to have some support system around you. That makes you safer and just a touch more comfortable. I can tell you I would not have jumped out of this plane solo (not without the right training leading up to it). 

On the other hand, you often must take a leap of faith to progress.

I’m Curious

• What sort of leap of faith have you been thinking about taking?
• What do you want to achieve? 
• What experience do you want to have?
• Who do you need on your team to make taking that leap of faith easier, more comfortable, and just a touch safer? 

Please let me know.