A little over a year ago, I went on a vacation with my family to Glacier National Park. While we were there, we took everyone on a hike to St. Mary’s Falls. St Mary’s is a gorgeous waterfall in Glacier, formed by glacial runoff. About halfway into the hike, there’s a bridge that crosses the river. On our way up, my boys asked me if they could jump off the bridge and into the river. When I agreed, they jumped, and came up sputtering and ice-cold.
A little while later, on our way down, my daughter decided that she was going to do the same, this time jumping from the cliff edge into the water. This is the daughter that took me skydiving with her – not because she loves skydiving, but because she was terrified of it, and wanted to prove to herself that she could do it. Similarly, jumping off the rock and into ice-cold water wasn’t something she wanted to do just for fun, but because she wanted to show herself that she could do it. After a long 20-minute wait, she finally did it. She took the leap, and jumped. She came up cold and sputtering just as the boys did, but she did it!
There are some things in life that you just have to do. They might be scary. Maybe it just doesn’t make sense. We all have that one thing that we know we need to do that just won’t leave us alone. The thought might come when you’re out doing an inspection; it might come when you get up in the morning or go to bed at night. Whatever it is you need to do – as an appraiser, or as a person – now is the time to take the leap. Take a lesson from my daughter: stop hesitating and go for it!
For more information on this subject, please listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:
Just Hold Your Breath and Jump
