On Easter Monday I went hot air ballooning for the very first time, what a fun experience! My husband and I got up at 2.30am to drive to the Hunter Valley where we met the ballooning crew before sunrise at 5am. After a safety briefing and drinking hot tea to warm up, we got transported to an empty field our guide judged as a good place to take off.
After some ground preparations we hopped into the balloon basket and slowly got lifted into the air. The people on the ground, the trees and the kangaroos became smaller and smaller until they looked like little black dots far below us. I felt a rush of excitement and a bit nervous at the same time.
Our guide explained how the balloon worked and what he was doing during the 55 minutes flight. As he was talking about hot air ballooning techniques and challenges I suddenly saw a lot of commonalities with business challenges.
Take Off: As we took off I was feeling extremely exhilarated but also a bit scared as I‘ve never been hot air ballooning before and everything was a bit new. I soon realised how I could control my feelings by focussing on the amazing landscape, the incredible size of the balloon, the noise of the gas and the smart invention instead of the height or what could go wrong. And the longer we flew, the more relaxed I became.
When doing something new or unfamiliar, business owners often focus on what they don‘t want to happen instead of what they want to achieve. Change this focus and you will immediately attract more of what you want. At the same time, the longer you have a go at something, the better and more relaxed you become. Suddenly something that seemed ‘scary‘ becomes normal in your business and you do it without even thinking about it.
Never a Straight Line: Hot air balloons never fly a straight line. They either go up or down. The higher in the air you are the bigger these curves can be as there is enough space. Our guide could control this almost unnoticeable movement by adjusting the amount of gas going into the balloon.
Your business never goes in a straight line, there are always ups and downs. The best business people know how to adjust when they are going down and vice versa. As a business owner or manager you know how much ‘gas‘ you need to pump into the business to stay on track. And the more room for movement you have in your business the bigger the curves can be without throwing it out of balance.
Results Kick in Later: The balloon‘s reactions to the amount of gas it receives are very delayed and it takes practice to know how much is needed to climb or descend a couple of metres.
In your business you make an adjustment and results often come delayed. This only becomes an issue when you are not patient and take a premature decision. For example when you change your sales process, you won‘t see results within 24 hours, you wait and see and adjust again and again after results have kicked in. This should be a never ending process of adjustment, testing and measuring your results.
The End in Sight: Before starting the balloon flight, our guide knew exactly where he wanted to go. He did his groundwork and planning before going up into the air. During the trip, he kept measuring wind direction and speed and was planning ahead to make sure this was going to be a safe trip.
In your business you must know where you want to land and have goals in place. Having goals helps you stay focussed and they are a good indicator to know whether you are on track or whether you need to change course.
To Your Success,
Franziska Iseli-Hall