Wilderness, Wall Street & Washington DC
As a “Survival Expert” I always expected survival and emergency preparedness to focus on being out in the middle of a wilderness without food, water, shelter and the most basic of amenities. Crossing a desert, buried in an avalanche, hiking in the wilds of Alaska, wading the gator filled waters of South Florida required a certain set of skills, physical and mental stamina and a strong drive to survive. Good news, the drive to survive is innate, buried within each of us.
Of late, I’ve realized that survival skills are necessary to navigate from the extreme backcountry to the executive boardrooms, from Wilderness to Wall Street to Washington DC. Now-a-days survival techniques are needed in both jungles of concrete and trees.
Now if you head into your jungle with a briefcase or a backpack, a calculator or a compass, if you smell of cologne/perfume or of bug spray and sun block, whether your forecasts are written in dollars and cents or rain storms and wind, the skill sets needed are one in the same. In the hands of “professional climbers”, the differences between scaling markets with investments or mountains with ice-axes, ascending elevations with slip-ons or crampons are really rather negligible. Survivornomics apply equally whether you are wearing Gore-Tex or Gucci.
Survival on Wall Street or in the wilderness comes down to self-reliance, independence and instant adaptation in the face of ever changing scenarios and terrains. Courage, passionate determination, stamina and foresight round out the list of survival techniques. The intangible characteristic of a true explorer (be they an urban or a wilderness explorer), is the innate ability to rely on yourself while thinking on your feet then instantly applying those “gut feelings” to meet your situation and surroundings. Business administrators and adventurers alike thrive while keeping on their toes.
It’s up to YOU. YOU can tap the inner explorer and succeed, or be left to the consequences of those who do not survive.
