A co-worker of mine races catamarans. He’s been doing it in the Caribbean since he was little. He now plays with high-performing, foiling multihulls and these things can go at bat-out-of-hell 60 mph on the water! He’s regaled me with some exhilarating and entertaining stories. Most of them are full of laughs, but some are real life lessons he’s actually adapted for the business world.

He asked if I have ever heard the expression ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going.’ Of course. He said the Caribbean version is, ‘when in doubt, flat out!’ I hung on for another story.

In brisk winds that blow across the surface, water is whipped up creating small and irregular waves. For a catamaran with a shallow draft, these waves are not ideal as every bump and jerk is felt. The intuitive thing to do is to slow down, right? That makes sense, I asserted. “No! That’s the worst thing to do.” Why?

 

Shit happens—to everything and everyone. It’s not personal, so don’t make it that way. Just pick up and get out of shit as quickly as you are able.

 

“If you go slowly, you’ll feel every wake, every bump along the endless surface,” he said. Not only will you experience every kilodyne of stress, but it’s also not great for the boat either. Don’t forget, my friend told me that the waves are whipped up by the perpetual winds and even if you sat still, you would feel each pitch. And the fact that you’re progressing slowly means you are dragging out the agony and prolonging the onslaught both to the person and to the catamaran. There’s no chance you’ll come out ahead, much less besting your peers in the race. So, speeding up makes it better?

“Yes! It’s counterintuitive.” he said. When you harness the wind and accelerate forward, you can cut across the waves and ride the crests. In fact, at speed, you would skip over many wakes. It will still be bumpy and you may even feel greater pitches, but you’ll actually be rewarded with a smoother and shorter ride though choppy waters. There’s also a much greater chance you’ll emerge ahead further and sooner than you realize. So, in other words, don’t fight it. Go with the flow and even harness that energy!

“Yes! Life is kind of like this. Actually, strike that,” he asserted, “Life is exactly like that.” Shit happens—to everything and everyone. It’s not personal, so don’t make it that way. Just pick up and get out of shit as quickly as you are able. Overcome the inertia and just move. You’ll get further ahead and faster. In the meantime, you’ll learn something about yourself. In the end, you’ll be in a better spot. What a great lesson! I’m going to see how I can apply that in real life. “You already have,” he said. I have? “Haven’t you ever skipped a stone across the water’s surface when you were a kid?” Eureka!