If you surf, water will get into your nose. You will be shaken like a rag doll. You will be turned upside down and beaten down by many pounds of water. You can’t stop then. Because that’s not the fun part. The fun part is when everything goes right. It’s warm, the winds are light, …
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Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#7): There’s no one right way to ride a wave.
There’s no one right way to ride a wave. On some waves you can go to the right or the left and either way is fine, it just depends on which feels better to you. Some surfers like to put their left foot in front and some surfers like to put their right foot in …
Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#6): Big waves bring big crowds.
The better the conditions are for surfing, the more surfers there will be out in the water. More people want to surf bigger waves in warm water on point breaks than smaller waves in cold water at a beach break. That’s just how it is, so don’t expect to show up at the beach and …
Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#5): Learn by watching and talking to other surfers.
You can learn a lot just by watching other surfers. What do they do differently from you, and why? Even when you see them make the same mistakes as you, you gain a different perspective watching it from the 3rd person point of view instead of the first person point of view. You can learn …
Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#4): Learn something from each wave.
Beginners will remain beginners if they don’t learn and change. There is something to learn from every wave that comes your way. What did you think it was going to do? What did it actually do? How did you ride it? How do you wish you rode it? There is also something to learn from …
Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#3): Start small. Surf small waves first.
Whenever you’re falling you want to fall the shortest distance possible, so it doesn’t hurt that much. When you go for a wave, you have to be prepared for what happens if you fall. This is true for waves of all sizes. Anyone who is successfully riding a wave has probably also wiped out on …
Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#2): Every little thing you do makes a difference.
Some watercraft are more responsive than others. You can jump up and down on a cruise ship, punch it, jackhammer it. The ocean will ever know. On a rowboat, it makes a difference which side you sit on. On a surfboard, you will wobble if you sneeze. On a short surfboard, you will rise with …
Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned from Surfing (#1): Surfing is fun.
Surfing is a unique sort of fun. There is nothing like it. Similarly, running your own business is uniquely rewarding—especially if you’re creating your own products. It’s the difference between having your own baby and babysitting someone else’s baby. You’re more invested when it’s your own baby. Some people prefer to be aunties and uncles …
Everything is better with friends.
I enjoy playing the game of poker enough right now that I sometimes play poker online with random Internet people I don’t know. Sometimes their comments are as mean as comments you see on the Internet. Sometimes I play poker with friends. This confirms for me something that everyone already knows: Everything is better with …
Find your reason for being
If you find your reason for being, you will be less shakable. For example, people like Elon Musk who have enough money to retire but are still working, are clearly working for something else. Tesla’s reason for being is not to make money. According to their website, Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition …