When you get older will you regret not spending more time with your family when you had the opportunity? Do you ever regret not getting in early on that Amazon, Apple, or Crypto stock? How about not spending the money to make that one key hire who would have changed the trajectory of your company?
Leaders know there is a BIG difference between sensing opportunity and seizing it.
In October 2020, Austrian professional surfer Sebastian Steudtner was participating in an event off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. He suddenly began to notice a giant wave beginning to form, in fact, it was the wave of lifetime. It is in moments like these when leaders are forced to make a life-changing decision. Do they move from sensing opportunity to seizing it? Steudtner seized his.
He instructed his Jet Ski driver Alemão Maresias to, “Get me this wave now.” Maresias pull him by rope to within approximately 60 yards from the wave. Once he released the rope and approached the wave, Steudtner recounted in this Washington Post article what he experienced as he seized his opportunity.
Seizing opportunity created an unforgettable experience. Steudtner said, “I’ll never forget what I saw when I started to drop behind the peak and saw the entire wave.” It was a moment he would never forget.
Seizing opportunity made him uncomfortable. This was a good thing. It stretched and challenged him, just like it would us. He noted, ““I started to accelerate like crazy. I had tears from the wind speed and was just holding on with everything I had — not doing anything funny, just hanging on.” But at the edge of uncomfortable, that place where you just feel like you’re just hanging on, is where greatness happens. By the time Steudtner had finished, he had surfed the largest wave ever recorded. He set a world record by riding a wall of water which measured 86-feet tall. I wrote more about the subject of leadership comfort in 10 Signs You Have Become Too Comfortable As A Leader.
Finally, seizing opportunity allowed him to do something no one ever expected. Steudtner concluded, “Being from Germany and Austria, I wasn’t meant to be a surfer. Anything that you can dream up and set your sight on, if you never give up and pursue it, you can reach it.”
Seizing opportunity creates unforgettable experiences, allows you to achieve greatness, and do things no one would ever expect. Understanding these realities, why wouldn’t you want to seize every opportunity that comes your way?
Below is a video showing Steudtner’s record-breaking performance.
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