The Liberated CEO: The 9-Step Program to Running a Better Business so it Doesn't Run You

CHAPTER 2

KNOW YOUR PEAK ZONE

As we discussed in the previous chapter, I ran into the occasional doubter about the financial sense of our worldwide sailing trip. We also heard from well-meaning people about the riskiness of it all. Putting my family out on the open seas with no access to hospitals, schools—not to mention In-N-Out Burger or Starbucks!—is courting disaster, in the views of some. (To reassure you, we take medical preparedness seriously, have advanced medical training, and subscribe to MedLink and MedAire, a concierge medical service, to which we have constant access through digital and satellite phone connections using Inmarsat's Fleet Broadband—to learn more about our experiences, see Appendix 1.) There's little doubt that Mandi and I share an adventure gene and thrive on new experiences. We're extremely tame and careful compared to some extreme sport enthusiasts, such as mountaineers (though I've summited Mount Rainer and a few other smaller peaks).

Extreme mountaineering provides a good analogy to the challenges of becoming a successful entrepreneur. If you're familiar with the reporting about the business of climbing Mount Everest, you might know what I mean. Hundreds of climbers converge on Everest with Sherpas (local Nepalese expert guides) and tons of equipment every brief climbing season. On Everest the area above the last staging area at South Col is known as the death zone, since the altitude, dangerous conditions, and low oxygen levels won't allow human ...