Those of you who follow TED no doubt shivered while watching Lewis Pugh’s presentation on his cold-water swim in Mt. Everest’s Lake Imja. For those of you who are currently sweltering and want to cool down, go to TED.com. Enjoy.
As a former big-mountain climber myself, I related to the shift in thinking it required for Mr. Pugh to be successful in a strange and hostile environment with something he was expert at in more familiar surroundings. I’ve been there and know the intense commitment one must make to learn anew how to behave in a strange environment. Old behaviors and expectations are not only insufficient, they can be downright destructive, or as in Mr. Pugh’s case, almost fatal. A harsh school.
Here on earth (or at least back at sea level); old behaviors, rigid practices and expectations that are not aligned with reality can be equally as destructive (in some cases at least, they can also be fatal to ones career). How often then, do we all ask ourselves if our reality has changed and should new behaviors be learned? As Mr. Pugh learned, we often overlook the most basic aspects of our environment and instead maintain a rigorous commitment to our past behaviors (after all, we’re good at them). How often do we only realize after it’s too late that we should have looked around before we jumped in and recognized that we were no longer at sea level?
We all know the world has changed dramatically in the last few years. Are we being as quick to recognize that in addition, we may also no longer be at sea level?
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