Drifting has two major meanings. The first is a term used in motorsport where the drivers drift at high speed sideways through a pre-destined course and the second is the act of wandering from a set course or point of attention.
While drifting can be an art (as in the first example), it can also be a hindrance. Drifters can be very happy people indeed. If there is no need to hurry, then drifting can become a fascinating past time that can bring us much pleasure.
In business however drifting will eventually result in shutdown as he who drifts can not purposely build a business.
To do that we need specific targets, milestones that help us put one foot in front of the other until we reach our destination. Just imagine a climber to Mt. Everest. While Friar and I never intend to climb this mountain, it lends itself to what I’m trying to convey.
Base Camp
When we are at base camp level we are trying to acclimatize to our business, the surroundings and the people we deal with. We get friendly with some and squirm at others, but if we are not liking what we see, we will most likely turn around, never to return again.
Plus the cost to get to base camp is tremendous for most. Whether it is your lifetime savings, your time, or your effort, getting to base camp does take some planning beforehand.
Camp 1 to camp 4
Those intermediate camps are synonyms to what we do in business. Like the climber to Everest who slowly trudges his way up that massive mountain, stopping frequently to suck in massive gushes of air, we do the same in business.
We walk, stand still, take stock and then walk some more. Sometimes we even walk backwards. Sometimes people die and we see them strewn around the Internet. Remnants of once healthy blogs and websites are a mere shadow of their earlier glory. We step over them on our mission to the top and cast a pitied glance in their direction before we forget all about them on our move to the top.
The death zone
This is were you are exposed to the dangers of business death. When the icy wind of the peaks blow over your head and the air becomes so thin that every step is like someone is plunging a knife into your heart.
Surviving the death zone of business is often tough and takes time. Death lurks from many angles, often the most unexpected ones too. Be aware. Be ready.
The summit
You made it. Instead of drifting along with the masses you actually climbed the summit. Up here it is all sunshine and fun. The clouds feel so close that you want to reach out and touch them.
Go on - I give you permission to do so.
Monika
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Monika
Excellent analogies!
I’d like to add that the Death Zone is quite exceptional, if I recall it starts around 25,000 - 26,000 feet. There arent’ too many moutains out there that high.
People dont necessarily have to go there. There are still tons of slightly lower summits out there, that still require Camps 1 to 4, but offer equally great rewards.
For example, Denali in Alaska is 20,000 feet. It’s still an awesome accomplishment that very few get to acheive. But it’s considerably less lethal than Everest.
I guess a good metaphor for life is you can still climb the highest peaks, it just dosen’t necessarily have to be the HIGHEST one that everyone else wants.
You can try for the Death Zone, but be aware that it might come with a huge price. Or you can opt for a slightly lower elevation, still be a super-acheiver, but still keep all your fingers and toes.
It’s all about balance, I reckon.
@ Friar: thanks for this great addon to my post. You are so dead right. Like you, I’d keep my fingers and toes any day before aiming too high and lose them all.
Balance is a precious commodity and one I’m fighting with all the time. Over time I have gotten better though, but I’m still far from mastering it for good.
Hello there you two crabs
perhaps once you start to approach the Death Zone, you can put on an “oxygen pack” and cheat a little.
The trick being, to identify that which is the oxygen pack for your particular business, and use it to push to the summit.
Really great analogy today Monika!
@ Brett: Yes, I like what you said with the oxygen pack. It makes perfect sense. Like Friar said, limits can be at different levels for all of us and we still manage to come up trumps.
Brett
I heard that oxygen isn’t the total cure. You can breathe bottled gas but the low ambient pressure as a whole does a number on your body. That’s why they put altitude sickness victims in pressurized tents to treat them.
I also hear that some people are naturals…they can fucntion in the Death Zone. While others, no matter how fit they are, just can’t. It has to do with your genetics and physiology. People don’t find out until they’re actually up there.
I think this Death Zone is a good analogy for life.
If you’re miserable at your job, your family and friends suffer, and your health suffers…that’s a good sign that you’re in the Death Zone…time to descend to a lower elevation.
There, that’s enough of the Friar being wise. Now I just feel like being an Idiot.
Pinch. Pinch. Pinch. Lookit me. I’m a fiddler crab.
@Friar,
Hey brother, crabs have it all figured out… no idiocy there.
Yeah, either descend to a lower elevation, or get in a helicopter
Lots of good mountain climbers around here, eh? Fat lot of good that will do them, when they tear the mountain down.
@ Friar: “If you’re miserable at your job, your family and friends suffer, and your health suffers…that’s a good sign that you’re in the Death Zone…time to descend to a lower elevation.”
Loved it! Loved it! And what is wrong with being a crab anyway.
@ Brett: Helicopter, did somebody say helicopter? Cool. Love them. That reminds me when we were in….
Hi Monica,
I just subscribed yours.
Could you tell me on how to start earning… I have been blogging for quite a time… but never ever earned.
Regards
Rome
@ Rome: thank you for subscribing.
To start earning as a freelance writer, follow my freelance writing guide and see the job sites in my featured section. That is all you need.
@Monika,
Oh, helicopters are so cool. I haven’t been in one for a while, but lots of fun… maybe next time we’re in New Zealand, chopper out to White Island!
How I miss it today… we’ll get there!
-Brett
@ Brett: you will! Before long you will be there.
@Monika,
Working on it right now…
soon we’ll get to share a real flat white.
@Monika
I wrote Ellen a while back. I’m not thrilled about being a pinchy little fiddler crab. A cooler Zodiac sign would have been the Bull, or the Lion. Even the Ram.
In Chinese Astrology, I’m a dragon (which is at least respectable).
@Brett
My ultimate helicopter experience was to be dropped off on a glacier in the Rocky Moutains at 10,000 feet and ski all the way down.
That was back in 1991 and even then it cost $600 for one day.
God knows what it would cost now, and who can afford it? (But I can always dream!)
Hi Monika
Thank you for this post. It’s true that we all have to meet our own challenges, learn from our experiences and move onward and upward or change our course. As long as we keep learning along the way we’ll be fine.
@ Jenny: Great to see you stopping by. You said it how it is. I think learning along the way is the key or one of them for true happiness and success.
It is those who fail to do just that who keep struggling along their path.
Hi Monika
So true.