A Word from Jeff on Crisis
I would love to tell you that I was incredibly brave in my adolescence, but nothing would be farther from the truth. I want to tell you that I wasn't scared of the dark, or of spiders, or heights. I wish I could tell you that I didn't have an unreasonable fear of leaving the closet door open all night – It still kind of freaks me out to be honest, mostly because of the leftover chores. The reality is that I was never a brave kid.
My parents, on many occasions, have recounted stories of my youth where I'd develop a mysterious limp after getting a papercut. That's just the type of kid I was. Everything was a crisis, a difficult, and a danger.
Now in my thirties, I'm covered in tattoos (sorry mom!), ride a motorcycle in arguably one of the most dangerous cities in the world (again, sorry mom!), and I'm the first to join in on an adventure along the way.
However, I wouldn't consider myself brave; I've just learned how to keep my composure in moments of crisis. Understanding that I can manage a crisis has helped me build enough confidence to lose many of my childhood fears (Although, still, I wouldn't say I like heights.)
Given what you know about me in the context of what you learned, I'd like to share a story about a life-threatening situation that my production team and I found ourselves last summer during a trip to Iceland.
A Trip to Iceland.
Our production team was hired to produce a few short videos for Sony last summer in Iceland. Three of us made the trip – the videographer, the producer, and myself. All of which have ZERO survival skills, nor should we ever be left alone to discuss how long it would take to resort to cannibalism if we were stranded in the middle of nowhere without food. (I think the going consensus was around a few weeks.) I digress.
We decided to rent a Land Rover Defender as our "hero car" for the videos we were shooting from a local car rental company. After our first Defender failed us (the oil line had frozen overnight) just a 30-minutes shy of the airport, they were kind enough to provide us a replacement.
Important Side Note: Every Land Rover I have ever driven has failed me in some way. It's a love/hate relationship.
For the majority of our four-day stay, I elected to rent a home on Airbnb in Hella as it was conveniently located to many of the places we wanted to film. We had planned on making our way to Vestrahorn (4.5 hours away) the next day after a quick stop at the Diamond Beach, and the logistics worked out perfectly.
The next day, we made our trip to Vestrahorn with snacks in hand and tunes galore (Mostly Linkin Park to be honest).
Vestrahorn and Mount Brunnhorn (Batman Mountain) are, without a doubt, a marvel to see. Getting a chance to see the peaks of those mountains with fog rolling over is a site that I will forever remember as was our trip back to the home we rented, 4.5 hours back home.
Somewhere during our trip to Vestrahorn, the windshield wipers on the Defender stopped working altogether. Usually, this wouldn't have been a problem if the right weather condition permit. However, an hour into our commute back, a snowstorm started, and a thick layer of snow started sticking to the windshield.
Zero visibility. A single-lane highway. No windshield wipers. Cliffs on both sides of the vehicle throughout the journey back. 4.5 hours back home. A gas gauge quickly moving towards empty.
Somehow we managed to make it back, clearly, given the fact that I'm recounting this story.
I wholeheartedly believe handling the crisis under pressure is what allowed us to weather that storm. Regardless of what crisis that you're managing in your life at the present moment, I'd like to provide you with three simple ways of managing the stress under fire.
Focus on what you can do right now.
In moments of crisis, don't focus on what you can't change. Focus on what you can change. Focus on how you can control the situation or your perspective and attitude towards the situation and try not to become distracted by what you can't control.
Pivot and put your energy into something productive.
Your energy should match your intention. Be it pessimism or optimism; the choice is yours. Look through the obstacles for opportunities to improve your situation or even better, turn it into a positive result.
Make Decisions. Measure Success. Keep Going.
One of my favorite quotes is from President Theodore Roosevelt, who said, "In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."Nothing could be further from the truth.
Indecision is a decision. Therefore, focus on making a choice you have a say in and measure the success and impact of your decision.
Always remember: Courage is ACTION in the face of adversity.
Video Above: Our Windshield Wipers Stop Working at (0:45).
How Did We Make it Home?
I'm glad that you asked!
As soon as the snow started falling, everyone in the truck fell silent. It was immediately apparent that we all understood the predicament that we were in and the seriousness of the situation. Because there was no hazard lane or area we could pull off too, I fully intended to keep driving the rest of the 3.5 hours home.
I knew a couple of things:
We were a road hazard if we just stayed in the middle of the road.
We had cell phone reception and, therefore, the internet.
We had a couple of tools at our disposal.
Given the circumstances, I elected to drive with the driver's side window open with an Ice Scraper Brush to knock down the snow in my view, while simultaneously shifting gears and driving with my right hand.
I then asked the producer to monitor our live direction on her GPS so that I could tell ahead of time which direction the snow would be coming from. If the GPS said we were driving into the snow, that meant it would adhere to the windshield vs. the side of the defender – placing us in more danger.
Know that information provided me ample time to make educated decisions about when and where to pull off, given our predicament.
A few hours into our trip, we'd find a small place to pull off on the side of the road to let the snow die down a bit before proceeding home.
Long story short, I still hate heights, but I'll be damned if I can't get us home in a snowstorm.
