Headwinds and Tailwinds

One of the things we learned a lot about this past winter while living on the sailboat was the impact of headwinds and tailwinds. On a boat if you head into wind, say at 20 knots (mph), it's really difficult to get anywhere. You have 20 knots of wind pushing back against you, you pound into the waves - it's really hard work for very little progress.

We experienced the same 'headwind effect' while on the tandem this past week. Pedaling uphill with a strong wind pushing against us left us gasping, having to stop because we were too tired to go any further and pushing the bike on foot. We made progress, but it was slow and painful.

Compare this to the tailwind experience, sailing with 25 knots of wind pushing you along - easy, comfortable with the elements aligned to move you along or bicycling with the wind at your back, at times you don't even have to pedal!

How often do we take advantage of or ignore the impact of headwinds and tailwinds in the rest of our lives? There are economic headwinds (recessions) and tailwinds (business booms), financial and career headwinds / tailwinds. Have you ever experienced a financial tailwind? Where everything is on a roll and the money is just rolling in? How about a career tailwind where you're the 'chosen one', in with the boss, making great progress, can do no wrong?

Recognising and taking advantage of those tailwinds is a key to maximising your progress and the speed at which goals are attained. Recognising that the winds change is also essential! As many have found, economic 'winds' change - just because the money is rolling in today doesn't mean that the wind will be blowing in the same direction tomorrow. As humans, I think we believe that just because things are one way, they will stay one way - and they don't! One of our key learnings from sailing (which we're applying in the rest of our life) is that when the wind is blowing in the direction we want to go, a tailwind, we sail - because tomorrow it might not be.

The other thing we've learned is that if we're battling a headwind, perhaps we should change direction and go someplace else! If it's going to be a battle with little to no progress, why not change direction and do something entirely different? Tough economic market, nobody's buying? Rather than bashing one's head against the wall, use the time to develop new skills, business or personal. Design a website, a new line of business, become an expert (only takes about a year to develop deep expertise in an area).

If business or the economy are absolutely rubbish, why not do some of those personal things that we always put off because we're too busy? Rent out the house and go backpacking through America, Europe or New Zealand. Those things we put off also don't have to cost a lot of money. How long have we been putting off getting fit (exploring our world by foot or bike costs nothing) or not made the time for our important relationships because we're too busy? How about that novel you've always wanted to write or starting a blog if you've got something to share? Why not take some of that time (that we ordinarily don't have) and share it with those we don't typically have a lot of time for - our children, our siblings, our aging or more distant relatives?

Rather than battling into a business headwind, why not turn it into a personal tailwind?