Day Forty Five to Fifty one: We Will Cross That Bridge When We Get There

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"Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh, no, not I, I will survive" - Gloria Gaynor

I have survived the hands down craziness week of my life. On Wednesday morning to our surprise we were woken up at 4:30am and rushed to the first level of Draper University to start our survival week. We started a team competition from San Mateo to the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge ( it's 24.1 miles just in case you are wondering). We did everything from jumping into a freezing pool, selling a bike in Union Square, to getting someone to buy us an ice cream a Ghirardelli Square to earn clues to get us to the bus. After about seven hours of trekking around San Francisco, we found the bus and headed to the middle of nowhere California.

We drove for about an hour and set up camp at Tim Draper's Dream Farm and that's where the hard work really began. We spent five days fighting to prove to our classmates and ourselves we have what it takes to survive. We were challenged with a variety of tasks while being sleep deprived, hungry and cold, to see if we could break and keep on going.

We did everything from rowing in overcrowded boat for four hours across the bay, slept outside after a long cold hike, build a hut in the middle of nowhere and killed a chicken and so much more. It was definitely a challenge to keep a positive mindset and not give up but I made it.

Looking back on survival week there were some big learnings that came from those breaking points. My team mates were amazing and were a large part in how I made it through the week.

Three Biggest takeaways:

1.It’s all a mindset. If you can control that you can do anything.

About three hours into rowing across the bay one member of our team members started to sing and the attitude of the whole boat changed in seconds. We worked harder, paddled harder and made it to the other side of the bay with smile on our faces.

2. Trust your team.

There were many moments where it looked like we weren’t going to be able to do it but once we came together as a team we crushed the task. This group is full of amazing leaders but we all can’t be the leader at the same time. We had to take a step back sometimes and play the role of a follower and trust the person who is acting as the leader.

3.I will make short term sacrifices for long term success.

The week was not full of rainbows and cupcakes, most of it was really hard to be honest but looking back on the week it was a huge gain for me as a leader and entrepreneur. I made lots of sacrifices, sleeping in the cold, being uncomfortable and taking new roles but I am already seeing the effects of these challenges on myself confidence.

Driving back from survival week we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge again but this time in a very comfortable bus reflecting on the week. The saying "we will cross the bridge when we get there" came to mind because that's exactly what we did. We had no idea what survival week would bring and we took it one task at time. The life of entrepreneur is always going to be all sorts of crazy but if you take it one step at time, you can do it! You will not only survive but thrive.

Cheers,

Courteney