How Getting Lost in a Forest Can Teach You About Business

ORIGINAL BLOGGED BY THEBOOKRUNNER.COM - Stephen Turner

This week I have been enjoying a nice mid-week break at Champneys Forest Mere and I want to tell you about my run on Wednesday (and how it relates to running your own business).
 
As you may (or may not) know, I enjoy running and the odd Marathon (see my first blog) and currently I am training for the Chelmsford Marathon in October. Part of this training is a mix of fast 800m runs and slow 400m runs to complete on Wednesday this week, total run about 3 miles. Even though it was raining, I went out there and thought 3 miles should mean a couple of circles of the ‘lake’ outside and I’ll be back relaxing, with plenty of time before lunch. As it’s raining and a simple run around the lake, no need for my phone or headphones, I’ll enjoy some quite nature time.
 
So, I went out and felt great, bombing it down tiny trail paths through the forest round the lake and then up a hill into some MOD training ground. Running along that trail for a bit more before coming back down hill and looking to turn back around the lake and back to the room. Only, I couldn’t find the lake and ended up in a country estate.
 
No problem, still had plenty of time before lunch, about 90 minutes, so I asked someone in the car park where Forest Mere was. She said “about 6 miles if you follow the road to the end, turn right, through the lights round the roundabout…”. I thought I haven’t done 6 miles to get here, I’ll go the shortcut through the forest so asked what general direction was it. She pointed and off I went.
 
Two and a half miles later I’m now lost in Foley Estate and decide to ask the bin men where to go, they pointed the direction I just came from but to turn right at a junction. I sighed to myself (ok, a lot more then sighed!) and started bounding back the way I came, following the directions they gave, through another forest and I popped out on another road where I saw a runner.
 
I quickly shouted “Hey, are you going to Forest Mere”, she said “I was going to ask you the same, but I think it’s this way”.
 
I thought great, ran alongside her for a bit and then got excited that my run had almost finished so sped ahead to the top of the road so I could get back, showered and ready for lunch.
 
Only, I got to the top of the road, looked left, put my head in my hands and went “I’ve already #*?!#*? been here”. 3 miles later and I had ended up back at the County Estate. First I thought are you kidding me, then thought about where I can get a taxi, or whether I could steal one of the golf buggies. In the end we asked at reception what the best way was and they said the road route, and it wasn’t as long as 6 miles.
 
Admitting failure, I opted to run the road route and almost 5 miles later I was sprint finishing towards Champneys, running 15 minutes late for lunch and ready to apologise to Catherine for getting lost (again!).

​if you're trying to spot mile 3, it's behind mile 6!!! yep, 3 miles to the same spot.
​In the end, I loved it, I love getting lost and not knowing where I’m running to. Maybe I would’ve liked to get back a little earlier, but I did enjoy the run and being lost takes your mind off the actual running!
 
So, what lessons does this teach in relation to business:

1. Plan – if I planned better and looked at the walking routes, I wouldn’t have got lost (as bad) and achieved my target of getting back sooner. Without a business plan, you don’t know where you are heading and it will take you a lot longer to get there.
2. Prepare – again, if I knew I was going to get lost, I would have better prepared (water & phone). In business, it pays to be prepared, without preparation you could find yourself stuck in the business being reactive to everything that comes up.
3. Commit to an action and take it – a few times I was met with the option to go one of two or three directions. Indecision meant I got nowhere and was just standing there, so I had to commit to an action (a route) and ultimately test it and fail sooner. In business too many people get stuck in ‘analysis paralysis’ and end up taking no action and are in the same position years down the line, analyse your options, minimise any risk and take action. Failure is just a lesson.
4. Some people will tell you different things – I ended up asking 4 people directions and none of them were the same, and most of them were wrong! When we (Catherine and I) started out in business and gave up our jobs, a lot of people were saying this was risky, what are you doing, you should do it like this. Ultimately, it comes down to learning as much as you can and committing to yourself and being confident about it. In addition to this, you could get yourself an experienced coach or mentor that guides you through your business as they have been there before and made the mistakes themselves – a guide on my run would have made it a lot shorter!
5. In the end…ENJOY it – everything is a game so go out there and enjoy it. Sure there will be some pain along the way (wet t-shirt and lack of preparation meant my nipples were on fire for a couple of days!) and the route you take may not be the most direct/gracious/easiest, so just enjoy every part of it and know what you are doing it all for.

 
Thanks again for reading and if anyone wants to join me in the Chelmsford Marathon on 22nd October, I’ll see you there.
 
Have a great weekend,
 
Steve