What to do when courage isn't enough to push you to success

Courage is great. Yet it’s not always enough to ensure success when you take risks.?

I knew it was risky, yet also exciting, when I climbed up to Potato Chip Rock north of San Diego this past weekend.?

I ventured out on the 4.1 mile loop with a business friend, Bryce. We’re both Bay Area transplants loving the (usually) warm and sunny weather down south.?

Apparently, 400,000 hikers visit this rock that resembles a potato chip from the side. I’d seen so many locals post pictures of themselves on this oddly shaped formation and I wanted my photo here, too.

I had also heard about the gorgeous panoramic views to take in while standing on a rock that appears to defy gravity.

The hike up was strenuous, mostly from 1200 feet of elevation gain over two miles of ascent, with some sections of this paved trail at more than an 8% grade. That’s steep. The incline challenged me, but I knew to expect it.

I was so excited to reach the summit to finally see this very iconic rock formation. With dark clouds around, Bryce and I were taking our chances, knowing that rain might make the rocks slippery.?

Fortunately, it didn’t rain. Apparently, the weather forecast kept the usually crowded rock relatively free of people, so we could get our photos without the usual long lines of hikers.?

But I hadn’t read about the challenges in getting to the last portion of the ascent to the chip. The overhanging part (on which I’m pictured) is on a rounded boulder, so it’s tough to climb up it. Next to it is another boulder that’s flatter and easier to scale. The two boulders have about a three foot gap between them.?

To get to the chip portion, most people climb to the adjacent boulder and either jump across the chasm to the chip, or they sit on the nearby boulder, reach their legs across to the chip, and walk out to the edge.

When it was my turn to go out to explore the chip and get Bryce to take my photo, I saw the distance between the two boulders. I was too afraid to jump. Many people expressed their fears to jump. I wasn’t alone in my worries about falling.

But whereas most people could shimmy across from one boulder to the next, I was challenged by my height. Or really, my lack of height. I’m very petite. I simply couldn’t stretch across the gap.?

I started to get really sad. I was afraid that for all that effort of climbing up to the rock, I wouldn’t be able to get to the chip. My upper lip trembled and I began to cry.

I try to psych myself up to jump, but I realized lots of other people were not jumping across. To do so could be rather dangerous, due to the height of the boulders.?

I slowed my breathing down to feel more grounded. I intentionally felt my feet on the ground to get in touch with my strength. And then I put a hand on my heart and silently?asked myself what I needed.

I needed a hand. Literally. From someone tall. That person would need to stand on the chip side, and pull me over from the adjacent boulder.

So I asked for what I needed. A stranger heard me mumble, “shoot, I need help,” and he offered to work with Bryce to carry me across the chasm.

I was so thankful to a man named Keith and to Bryce for getting me onto the chip.?

The vistas from Potato Chip Rock?are vast and rugged. I literally felt on top of the world. The triumph of the climb and overcoming fears felt so meaningful, as did receiving support.?

Despite all the strategic, psychological, and physiological coaching I do to help individuals and teams to prepare for pressure, what I encountered in scaling Potato Chip Rock made me realize that sometimes, all the tools in my toolkit aren’t enough to allow me to succeed.?

In that moment of pressure, I needed to ask for support. I needed a helping hand.?

I share this to remind YOU:

When you want to achieve things that matter to you, sometimes you can’t bring out your best all in your own. You need others to help support you.?

I hope you’ll make it a habit to ask for the support you need from others, particularly when things are simple. That way, when actually you’re under pressure, you’re already skilled at and comfortable with asking for what you need.

With practice, asking for support can help you scale even daunting heights.

Now, over to YOU: Do you like to go hiking?

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