The Power of Yes.
Yes. An interesting word that carries with that one quarter of a second of vocalization a whole lot of potential consequences. Learning surfing for me was a series of yes answers. I didn’t grow up surfing. Surfing is one of the most difficult sports, I have ever learned. And I am not really that good at surfing. But water appeals to me. Water was my second home for many of my formative years, and my comfort level is very high in the water.
For every surfer at every level there is a Moment of Truth when the waves get bigger than your ability or when the waves challenge your ability level. The size of the wave matches the persons ability. The bigger the wave, the better and more experienced the surfer needs to be. Most of the time the evaluation of whether or not to ride on a particular day has been made by making evaluations while on the beach.
The second part of the evaluation process is can you actually paddle out to the point of taking off on the waves? Everything is relative. The bigger the wave the more power the wave generates and the greater the risk for the surfer given their ability.
In Tronconnes, Mexico, Manzanillo Bay sits on the North end of the beautiful beach community. Manzanillo Bay is a point break with the waves running to the left making the wave perfect for goofy foot surfers. The break requires a fairly sizable swell in order for the waves to really be rideable. A swell is the wave cycle at a place at any given time.
I woke up early and had some success early in the morning inside part of the break and gaining confidence I moved outside and found bigger waves where the consequences dramatically increased.
There is a strange but very much survival of the fittest pecking order between surfers that comes with surfing. The whole concept of just catching a wave when the waves get better isn’t the only competition in play. When the waves are in demand, you have to be stronger and faster or maybe its fitter and wiser, but in the end you have to be in a better position than the others in the water who occupy that same space to get on the wave coming in.
I had done it. The board and me were where I needed to be. I had won part one of the race. The waves had picked up their size, and I was truly excited. This excitement comes from really not being a surfer. I was really a skier from the time I was little, and I had taken up surfing in my 20’s and really was behind the learning and athletic curve of being a surfer.
As the wave rose out of the ocean, I worked to paddle and position the board so I could get my rather large self on my board and ride this wave. I have been battling more athletic dynamic people on the ski hill and in the waves for quite a while. Being 6’3” and weighing 245 pounds is not an athletic advantage in certain quick muscle twitch situations. But I had put myself in position A, can’t wreck now. The rush of water was cleaning out under my board, the rise of the wave was creating the power needed to propel both my board and I forward. 
The moment of truth! I love the moment of truth. The moment of truth is where success and failure come to a crossroads where there is no other option. This is the moment where you truly feel alive. This is the moment in the football game where it’s 4th and 1 with 2 minutes to go and you have to go for it to try to get the win. Success equals another down. Conversion equals an opportunity for success. Failure to complete the task and well, you lose. Failure. The moment of truth is black and white. There is no gray. All your hard work comes down to this one specific moment. Failure will suck the life out of you. Success will result in a forever story.
As I wobbled on the foam and fiberglass, time was ticking. Decision time. The waves had jacked up and the swell had gained enough size that I had to make a decision. There was a long way down a very steep drop. The brief second of debate was very real. Was I in over my head? Was the wave too big for my ability? Man the takeoff was steep. Not really a good thought at that moment in time.
Waves generate a crazy amount of power and feeling this power was making my adrenaline boil. Ah, adrenaline…. the fuel for life. A feeling like none other. The feeling of trying to do something that your body isn’t quite sure it wants to do. The moment where body and brain conflict and endorphins explode creating a feeling of momentary bliss and insanity. The ending result is tingle in the fingers and the brain.
I paddled two more times with as much power as I could muster. My arms instinctively set on the sides of the board and push my chest up arching my back and driving the board down the wave, I could feel the wave propel me forward, and I quick as a cat…. wait cat? How does 245 lbs sprint from prone on the water to standing on a board? Well as a cat is incredibly incorrect. Was my athletic move to get myself in a position ride this beast going to be enough to get up?
I was headed down the face of the wave. Note: I said down, not across? You want to ride with the wave, but I had taken too long to get up and going. Now the pressure was on to make the bottom turn and get out across the wave to get the ride I had worked so hard to make happen. The pressure was even greater as this was a backhand turn for me as I am a regular foot surfer on a goofy foot wave.
And…. the answer is? Failure!! You know what no one teaches you in surfing? Well, let me tell you. How to fall, crash, or eat shit is not in the surfing 101 text book. Crashing is done by learning trial be fire.
I have no idea if what I do is correct, as there is no professor to evaluate the slam and provide pointers on how to do better. All I know is I don’t want to go deep into the rocks below, and I want to protect the ole’ noggin. I covered my head and got in a ball. The idea is to stay calm and relaxed while protecting yourself. As I barrel rolled when I hit the surface, this wave wasn’t letting me get out. The beast drove me down. This wave had pulled me apart and now all limbs were everywhere, did I just see a toe by my ear?
I grab the leash and pull. The pull is telling me which way is up. Prior to this moment, I didn’t know which way was up. Plus time is short, gotta hurry, I know this. Time is precious, and I knew I had wasted plenty of it getting worked over by the wave. I break the surface and guess what, nope. I am facing the beach. Not the correct way to save time. I quickly change direction facing the wave.
Next thing I know I’m getting sucked up. This again is not good. I am now going over the falls backwards. I didn’t make it under the wave… Dang it. The wave has gathered force as it has gone from depth to shallow and the the back end of the wave powers over the front of the wave in a tubular manner. This suction can pick up the surfer and pull the surfer in the opposite direction, he or she was once headed. I am elevated and then piled drived going backwards and losing the advantages I had gained, in a manner that would have made Andre the Giant , the 7’4” pro wrestler, extremely proud.
I can’t figure out which way is up as the tumbling has got me super confused. I feel for the leash to try to gain guidance as a last resort. The leash is still there, and I quickly climb again. Again, not the way one wants to go about getting away from the danger of being in the crash zone of the incoming waves. Oxygen is shorter than last time. As the surface nears I start hyperventilating trying to find the precious air that will keep me alive. The surface clears and the sky is in view, and I suck the air filling my lungs with life. There is more time than last time. I pull the leash to get the board back within reach.
Grabbing the board and pushing it as hard as my tired body can, I head towards the side of the wave. There is little time to make progress and I only to move slightly away from the gnarled rocks that want to eat me. The break is a point break and the waves break around the point. In deeper water, the wave doesn’t break. I am trying to get to the side where the water is deeper.
Yes. I am exhausted. Laying on the board in a moment of safety, there is a voice. The voice seems to come from God. Instead the voice is from a weathered surfer standing on a large paddleboard. The voice says to me,”Hey big guy, maybe you outta surf a little more inside.” The voice was not god but from a legend, Gerry Lopez. In the surfing world, he is one of the founding members of popular big wave surfing. I may as well of been touched by the voice of God.
I had failed the Moment of Truth. My ability did not match the size and power of the wave. As I sat resting, many thoughts crossed my mind. The first of which was to get back to surfing, to get back on the bull. Then the thought, Was Gerry Lopez correct? I had failed. I had really come close to not having the oxygen, I needed to keep breathing. I had said yes one too many times.
Yes, is what we debate in life. Yes means trying something or doing something maybe you wouldn’t normally do. Or maybe, the question is the mundane of doing everyday. Yes, I will set my alarm, get up on time and get to work on time. Maybe it is a question like: Yes, I think starting this new business will be a turning point of success in my life.
As I sat on the rocks debating where yes can take you, I looked out at the point break and the waves were getting bigger and the surfers less. In not much time, the only one out in the water was the legend, Gerry Lopez. He was in his element working the waves and battling his inner conflict with nature.
The Power of Yes. I was in that position because I said, “YES!” Great idea….
Saying Yes is easy. You can appease others when you say yes. You make other people or co-workers or salespeople happy when you say yes. There is always a cost to saying yes. You must stop and wait to make that decision. As a manager or owner what will be the result of saying yes?
Or maybe the saying of yes to a marketing plan to make you more successful, but at what cost? Every yes has a cost. As a manager or owner we have to weigh those costs. If you don’t weigh those costs and do the proper research a simple yes can have very bad dramatic consequences.
We all have to be prepared for those consequences and determine the risk factor involved with a simple… “Yes”. For me I used this simple example of me saying yes, because this yes was supposed to be fun. But the consequences were very real. The waves at the time were above my ability level. I needed more practice. I needed more time in the water. To really have a conversation of could I have run out of air? was very real and put me in a state of what if for quite a while.
