By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to sharpen your sense of perspective. Reading time: 3:27

There I was on a precarious perch.
Just inches away from the plane’s open door.
Just inches away from the engine’s deafening roar.
Just inches away from the winds screaming call.
Just inches away from a 4,000 foot fall.
Just inches away from my first parachute jump.

I looked down. My eyes blurred. My palms moistened. Fright drained the saliva from my mouth. I was about to learn a significant leadership lesson in overcoming fear. Sweat trickled down my forehead. Wind flooded my face.

Wrestling, against that 80-mile-an-hour wind, I struggled to fling my legs out the side of the single engine airplane. I planted my toe on the 3-inch wide step. And let go.

Plunging, plummeting, toppling and tumbling, I fell 242 feet in four seconds. Suddenly, the screaming air quieted. The roaring engine faded.

My fearful, tearful eyes opened in awe wonder and majesty. I looked up and there it was: the most beautiful flower I have ever seen blossoming in the sky. Continue reading “Parachuting From Fright to Insight” →