The 10 Keys of Tubing – Part 1

In case you can’t tell, I’ve been maintaining radio silence on our blog for the last week.  We are on vacation at the lake house in Michigan where my husband grew up and we have literally been on the go continuously for over a week!  In fact, I still haven’t cracked open a book!

The weather has been amazing and we have been outside fishing, tubing, water skiing and more every single day until yesterday.  And no, it hasn’t just been me & my hubby… At the height of the last week we had 2 speedboats going with 15 kids between the ages of 7 & 13 along with all the parents… all in all around 30 people!  For the next few days, you’ll get some pretty fun inspiration from my vacation…you see, there is motivation & inspiration literally in EVERYTHING you do in life, but you’ll only be affected by it if you are looking for it.  Are you on a constant quest to grow?  I know I am!

Today’s inspiration?  The First 5 Keys (of 10) of Tubing.  In case you don’t know what tubing is, we tie an inflatable to the back of the speedboat and kids – big & small – hang on for dear life while we whip around the lake!  From all of the laughter it sounds just like they are at Disneyland and somehow, they never get tired of it!  So every single day, Uncle Jim & Uncle Brad gas up the boats and our nieces & nephews and their cousins pile into the boat for at least 3 sessions a day.  It’s insane and so much fun.

As  I was sitting in the back of one of the boats I had an Aha moment…Tubing has lots to teach us!  So here we go…The 10 T’s…

1) Who’s got your back?  Whenever we take a crew out tubing, each boat needs to have “a watcher”.  Since the driver is focusing on where the boat is going, it’s up to the watcher to keep an eye on what’s happening on the tubes especially when someone goes flying off and into the water!  A watcher has your best interest in mind so they keep an eye on the hand signs and make sure everyone is safe and still hanging on. 

In your business and life… do you have a watcher?  For those of you who are aspiring leaders & directors, YOU are the watcher for your people & your sister consultants.  It’s not your job to DO FOR your people, just to help to guide, mentor & encourage them from a short distance.  You watch the signs for when assistance is needed and let your director know when someone goes flying off the tube.  As your unit & area grows, your director is driving the boat and may not always be able to keep an eye on everything happening behind the boat. 

2) Talk to your watcher:  Although your watcher is paying attention to what’s happening, they are not able to feel what you’re feeling or see things from your exact perspective.  The only way to make sure you are getting what you need is to communicate with your watcher.  In tubing, the kids use hand signals…thumbs up means go faster…thumb down means slow down…making an “S” movement with your hands means make an S-curve…sweeping the hand across your neck means “stop!”…2 left fingers up and 4 moving right fingers up means “we’re too close to the weeds!”. 

If there are no hand signals there is no way for your watcher to know what’s happening.  There is nothing worse than being uncomfortable and scared, but if you don’t communicate that to someone who can do something about it then nothing can possibly change!  This certainly applies to both life & your business right?  There is no such thing as a wrong question or inquiry.  The key is to communicate to someone who can do something about it.  You can complain all you want to your friend sitting on the same tube but he/she can’t change anything!

3) Shift your weight!  As you might imagine, whenever the boat makes a sharp turn the tubes go flying from one side of the wake to the other and if you allow the turn to pull your weight into the turn your tube will most definitely flip over and dump you into the water with some serious force!  How do you remedy that?  You shift your weight against the turn.  Once your weight is shifted it helps you to manage the turn much easier.

Life and business can certainly throw you some sharp turns…sometimes you can see them coming and other times they catch you off-guard right?  The question is, do you know how to “shift your weight” and more importantly, are you willing to do so?  When life throws you sharp turns – and it will – do you know how to offset the turn?  What do you need to do when your appointments postpone or you get a bunch of “no’s” in a row?  You can certainly allow the turn to throw you off your tube… or you can shift your weight and adjust.

4) Who will you ride with?  I watched one particular group of cousins on a tube who were most definitely mismatched.  This one constantly wanted it faster, that one wanted to slow down, this one wanted extreme tubing and that one preferred a tame ride.  You can just imagine that it cause discontent on all fronts! 

Having a running buddy makes everything more fun and gives you someone to go through thick and thin with but it’s so important that you both want to go in the same direction!  It’s not just a matter of skill level, it’s also a matter of destination.  The key is that you choose a running buddy with similar skill & goals!  If you run with someone who is not equally yoked, one will always feel behind & the other will always feel like they are pulling the other one up.  Not fun.

5) Comparison will stomp out your fun!  One of my favorite moments this week was when I heard my niece say ”I need a break”.  It takes a confident person to be able to say “I don’t need to do everything you do”.  In this instance, my niece knew that she was uncomfortable riding as fast as the others at that moment.  She was tired and injured and rather than playing the hero, she was willing to be big enough to say I need a break.

Be clear, no one knows your limits better than you do and it can be very tempting to play the comparison game… what will she think if I don’t go fast?  Will I be less than if I admit that I was hurt?  I have to achieve this challenge no matter how I do it.  Not so.  There is no “wrong” speed or “right” goal.  You were designed to be the best YOU that you can be… not the best “her” that you can be!  Be confident in what it is that you desire and be willing to stay the course no matter what anyone else says.

Whoo!  Take a moment to allow the first 5 Keys to sink in and think about how it truly can apply to your everyday life as well as your business.  There is so much wisdom all around us and it’s even more fun when you can actually apply it!  Tune in tomorrow for the next 5 keys to Tubing!