Living On The Wire

You may heard of Karl Wallenda, the founder of The Flying Wallendas, an internationally known daredevil circus act, famous for performing amazing stunts.

I recently came across a quote from Karl who said, “Life is being on the wire; everything else is just waiting.”

Are you on living on the wire, or just waiting?

To me, “living on the wire” means being where the action is, not waiting on the sidelines while you look to jump in. It means being fully engaged with your mission, being really alive.

Most of the time I live on the wire. It was living on the wire when we decided in 2006 to move 1500 miles across the country to a brand new community (Fort Collins, Colorado). There were social risks, financial risks and business risks.

After three wonderful years in Colorado, we decided we wanted to be closer to family and to deciduous forests and so moved last month back to the mountains of North Carolina.

Some people may have wondered if we were a little crazy to move after only three years, especially with the housing market near the bottom. It would have made more financial sense to stay put, since there are substantial costs involved in selling and buying, as well as moving.

Yet living on the wire requires us to trust ourselves to make good decisions, using our skills honed in the crucible of life’s experiences – that exquisite blend of knowledge and reason with our intuition and gut feelings. Then we can bravely step forward, focused on the wire, truly alive.

Living on the wire isn’t just about physical challenges or changes and relocations, though. It can also be about your internal attitudes and beliefs – not letting yourself play it too safe in your business and get complacent or waiting for things to change on their own.

Even when it feels like a high wire act, it’s important that you challenge yourself to grow new skills, such as learning how to better navigate conflict (a vitally important skill needed in both business and private life), how to delegate (one of the best skills anyone can master), or how to hone your marketing skills to grow your business to the next level.

It takes courage, determination and discipline to take calculated risks, which is what smart entrepreneurs do. They live “on the wire.” Life is too short to just play it safe. Don’t waste anymore time. Get focused, take calculated risks, and experience being truly alive.