Taking a leap of faith

“You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes because that’s where the fruit is.” – Will Rogers

I am often reminded of this quote because Hollis Carter had it as his Gmail signature for quite some time and needless to say, the bulk of my email communication consists between our company team.

Taking a leap of faith and “going out on a limb” takes guts.  To me, it’s basically doing something that you are not used to doing and you’re not 100% sure what the outcome will be.  The bigger the leap of faith, the less certain you are on the outcome.

Speaking literally on the matter, I remember the first time I went skydiving; I did it tandem, but my adrenalin still got quite the thrill (the fact that I was only 16 using a fake ID only added fire to the excitement and adrenalin rush I was experiencing).  The plane door opens at just under 15,000ft and it really doesn’t feel natural to jump out.

But you jump and experience a feeling unlike any other.  One that I’m not capable of describing with my small vocabulary and not-so-great grammar skills.

I am a risk taker and something get’s me going when I take leaps of faith, whether they be literally speaking OR metaphorically speaking.  Come to think of it, most everyone could benefit from taking leaps of faith more often and going out on a limb and doing something out of the ordinary.

Black Swan Theory was developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.  Taleb regards almost all major scientific discoveries, historical events, and artistic accomplishments as “black swans”—undirected and unpredicted.  ‘Out of the ordinary’ events.’  Many black swan events have changed the course of history; some for the better, and some for the worse.  I believe that taking a “leap of faith” and getting out of the ‘ordinary’ swing of things every now and again will yield you bigger, and sometimes better results.

Looking back on life, the big leaps of faith and out of the ordinary events seem to be the ones that make the largest impact on us.

Be decisive and make a move today,

Marc Horne
HC Consulting Group

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