The next installment of breaking down the song “Elevate” is on decisions. Spiderman has to make decisions all the time - listening to the scanner, deciding who to help, deciding who to let in on his secret crime-fighting life. But I think what enthralled me about Spiderman as a kid was his ability to be so care-free,- the way he moves through the skyscrapers of New York makes Spiderman have to trust that there will be another building, another ledge, another flagpole to swing from.

He jumps before he knows the ending, and that’s sometimes what you have to do in making a decision.

Since there's no heroes anymore
Jump out the window, then put the mask on

I feel like I have been at a perpetual crossroads since finishing business school. I have been a good student, because it is a defined path. The semester begins, mid-terms, finals, move on to the next required course. There is a beginning and an end. And before the end, the timeline forces you to make a decision.

The lesson to take from Spiderman is:

Jump - this is the step where you say - f*ck it, let’s do this. It could come a few different ways - through careful planning and consideration is a possibility, but to really be effective in this way, that preparation was either the result of a previous failure or the f-it moment is a direct response to a failure. Or, you could just be so inspired that you’re called to create something - a creative work, a business, whatever - you have such a clear vision, that there’s no way not to do it.
Put on the Mask - Putting on the mask is the step of backtracking your way through the proper steps. Presenting to yourself to those who are there to call your bluff with the language, presentations and approach they want to hear. Putting on the mask means you have a way you want the world to see you, even if you can’t see yourself that way yet.

Some reflections on decisions from Stephen Covey:

Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. It also includes the capacity to overcome deeply embedded habits and to cultivate higher, more effective ones.

Power is synonymous with the ability to make decisions, the ability to direct your life in a way that is stronger than habit and the current of everyone else’s decisions.

Not only does making a decision reflect your strength, it also has to reflect your beliefs, which will be a part of you in any situation.

A personal mission statement becomes the DNA for every other decision we make.

I haven’t yet shared my mission statement publicly:

My mission statement

Creatively discover and unlock potential

Anything which detracts from that pursuit I should steer away from. So away I go, jumping first, putting the mask of confidence on, and seeing where the tumble of opportunity brings me.

I see potential in the way people pursue transportation solutions - getting from place to place faster or more efficiently has been proven to help the economy. It does so, because you’re able to get more out of life - in a business sense, this means more productivity. However, in a personal sense, it means doing more of what makes you you. You can visit family, you can develop personal business connection, you can experience a new culture.

Similarly, fitness unlocks your ability to live life better. You can move with ease with the children around you. You can explore nature, be confident in your body’s abilities to lift, jump, run, row, swim and process the food around you without ill effects. Fitness and health are to me, synonymous with potential.

The ability to find projects that excite me and bring them to life in the areas of transportation or fitness are the current career areas where I see my mission statement coming to life. In the future, I want to extend this to my own family, creating wealth (read: potential) and also funding other projects and companies to help others realize their own potential. The creativity will be saved for another post.

So, my take on the steps necessary to make a decision you’ll be able to be confident with are:

Decide on your DNA, on your mission statement
Do the research you can do, trying to test the things which will be the most difficult - have conversations with people, read, try to sell a version of what you’re thinking about
Say f* it and start the thing. Publish the blog, sing the song, enter the business plan competition, sell to someone you don’t know.
Figure out the small print. Put on your mask, and fake it, learn, fake it, change your mask, and keep going until the mask isn’t necessary.

The ultimate hero is the one who everyone recognizes and doesn’t have to hide the sides of her life. Superman, Supergirl, Nick Fury, Captain Marvel, Captain America. They have no mask and unlimited possibilities. But first they had to jump.