I listened to an interesting conversation about the stress new college students face as they enter their first year of college and how we can help them prepare for that stress. My first thought for a solution was camping.
Growing up, my Scout troop went camping frequently. As a troop, we learned to depend on our group and the environments where we found ourselves for resources.
After high school, I spent some time in Honduras. That was an interesting experience for me being away from family, friends, and culture that I was familiar with. As I reflected on how camping had helped me prepare for Honduras, I realized that the real benefit of camping is not learning outdoor skills but in learning to be mentally flexible and to draw on the strength of the people and things around us. I learned Spanish and more importantly, I learned to appreciate the people I was surrounded by and I came to rely on their strength when things were tough for me.
We can’t always control our environment in business. The only thing we can control is our approach to the situation in which we find ourselves. How do we learn to deal with the unfamiliar? How do we teach the people around us to respond to unexpected situations? By regularly exposing ourselves to little bits of chaos.