I had been working long hours all week and racked up some good kilometers running, so I decided to indulge in a lazy Sunday on the couch in front of the television. This is an act that has become foreign to me, but I thought I would give it ago. I managed to get to lunch time even with a short snooze, I had a great lunch and felt like a bit of cognitive stimulation, so I picked the IPad and proceeded to read Tony Robbins book ‘Awaken the giant within’. This is a life changing book I highly recommend!

However much I was enjoying my book, this was turning into a rather challenging day, sitting still is something I am just not good at. Four o’clock came and the inside temperature was at melting point, so I tried a quick swim in the pool. It was 30c outside and I was wasting this beautiful day sitting inside, this simply was not good enough. It was only my mind being lazy and telling my body that it is tired, so a quick change in mindset and I was off.

As you may have guessed by now I have an affinity to the mountain and I am lucky enough to live right at the bottom of an amazing mountain range. So I slipped on my Salomons, grabbed a bottle of H2o and headed for the nature reserve which is about 2km from home.

As entrepreneurs we all start out with the end goal in mind and it is usually that pinnacle point; where we believe the vast acres of golden eggs are laying. This being the summit of The Helderberg Mountain for me at 5pm on a Sunday afternoon, for me hiking is a time for reflection and unwinding. However, as I started today’s hike I began thinking about life as an Entrepreneur and how the synergies of hiking and entrepreneurship.  This set the scene for an interesting fun filled adventure.

About 15 minutes into my adventure I was invaded by a swarm of flies circling my head, they were clearly attracted by the perspiration that had set in and there was nothing I could do about this as perspiration was here for the rest of my journey, it’s hot out here in the South African sun. So I asked myself what the flies represented. Why are they here? These were my naysayers and they were there to test my will power and my patience. They stayed with me all the way to the summit, I could have waved my hands around trying to brush them away and caused myself frustration, but this would of only wasted a lot of useful energy. Instead like a true Entrepreneur I put the noise aside and kept moving forward as though they did not exist. You need to protect your attitude at all costs, sometimes this means removing people from your life. It’s a tough process and it could be people you love.

 Along your path you will face various challenges and many will require more effort than others, testing your strength and endurance. You can associate the many hiking challenges to entrepreneurship, like long steep climbing, having to lift your feet a little higher than usual, scaling over rocks on your path or having the courage to take a path less traveled. Taking the path less traveled usually involves a higher element of risk, which makes it a little more exciting and challenging. However, risk should always be calculated, with all possible outcomes considered. In my case today I saw an opportunity to save time, so instead of taking the long and windy route. I took a more direct route, which may have consumed a little more energy in the shot-term as it was a steeper climb and there were considerably more obstacles as I bundu bashed my way creating a new path, fortunately the risk paid off and I saved valuable time in reaching the next level along my adventure. Let me make this clear so as you understand, it is not always plausible to take a shorter route, as you may miss out on so very important lessons or opportunities. So always take the time to do thorough due diligence before making such calculated decisions.

Then there are unexpected occurrences, which may throw you of course. I am a fan as they provide opportunity for interaction, inspiration, learning and more. In my case I had the great pleasure of meeting two beautiful friendly ladies namely Marzanne and Beaulah whom I shared 30 most enjoyable minutes with. Marzanne make a point of reading Rich Dad poor Dad and Beaulah I hope your knee heals quickly. I love to meet new people, it’s exciting and you never know how each of you will impact the others life. There is always reason and value in new interactions.

So I started this adventure with a goal in mind, I still need to reach the summit and the sun was starting to dip. So I said my goodbyes and headed off. Although there were still a few challenging obstacles along the way, It only took another 15 minutes to reach the summit. This was it; I had set my goal and now it was achieved, time to bask in the glory. Now standing a little over 1100 meters up and feeling a great sense of pride as I relax for 10 minutes to take in the 360 degrees of breathtaking scenery.

Then there is that moment just when you feel like you have arrived and boom it all changes in a second. Suddenly I look at the time on my wrist watch, its 7:30pm and the gates of the nature reserve close at 8:00pm. Ah yes an oversight and another lesson. As positive as we Entrepreneurs are, I immediately saw the opportunity, to break a record.  A new goal has been set and I have deadline that I cannot miss or my car will be spending the night with nature. 29 minutes to descend just over 1100 meters and get in to my car and drive 500 meters to the gate before it is locked.  I had no choice, I had to make it. There were some scary moments as scrambled down that mountain today, but I was focused and I was going to beat the clock, my adrenaline was pumping and I was experiencing my most exhilarating sunset to date. There were a few slips and slides along the way, at one point I found myself descending 3 or 4 meters with my back on the ground and number of sole surfing moments as I skidded along the loose ground. The single track is always more challenging on the way down; I had hit the 4×4 tracks and was able to pick up the pace to a sprint with only a few kilometers to go. The end was insight and I was gasping for air, but I had arrived at that gate at exactly 8:00pm (laughing). It does not matter that I only made it just in the nick of time, the only thing that truly matters is that I did and that I acknowledged the lessons learnt and apply them going forward.

Entrepreneurship is a challenge in itself, you have to have true grit and persistence to see your goals through to what you perceive to be the end result and beyond as there will always be new challenges. Never give up!!

One of the most important lessons I would like to point out in my post is the power of your mind. With your mind you can make anything possible and if you apply yourself positively and act with conviction you will overcome anything. Your body will always follow where the mind goes, no matter what your circumstances are.

Entrepreneurship is definitely an uphill battle, however the rewards of achieving your goals far outweigh any adversity you experienced along the way and most importantly the journeys are always FUN!