Skyscraping individuals from Russia who happen to capture their adventures on camera while scaling up skyscrapers scattered throughout the world, from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, can teach us a number of potentially helpful lessons easily applicable to our everyday lives. Videos of such daredevils can be found on your favorite video-sharing websites. These intrepid explorers select from among the most iconic architectural structures throughout the world to secretly climb to the top of buildings and touch the sky.
While I do not necessarily encourage such death-defying behavior, I do believe we can learn tremendously from their traits and behaviors. To be very clear, I did not participate in the scaling of any buildings. My observations are based purely on videos available on most popular video-sharing websites. Nevertheless, following Russian skywalkers through first-person video instantly immerses you in situations which one would otherwise never find themselves in. These situations, albeit vicarious, can serve to teach us, ground-loving folks, a number of lessons we can readily apply to both our personal and professional lives. Below are 10 lessons I learned while shadowing Russian skywalkers.
1. Skywalkers come prepared
Russian skywalkers come equipped with all the gear necessary, and nothing more. They know the types of shoewear and clothing necessary for the task. Since they also need to maintain their anonymity, they also wear the right types of facewear to protect their identities.
It is also clear that they practice their craft regularly. A great many contingency plans are necessary to be able to overcome whatever obstacle presents itself as they climb and scale towards their destinations.
2. Resourcefulness is the skywalker’s mantra
Skywalkers do not overpack. They do not needlessly carry items that may weigh them down. Heavy, bulky, and unnecessary items may affect their balance as they climb towards their destination. At very high elevations, one quickly realizes that one’s problems are substantially small in comparison to the surroundings at such heights, particularly at seven or even ten thousand feet above sea level. Indeed, we must shed away unnecessary baggage which we all carry if we want to reach our most lofty of goals. Russian skywalkers literally leave all unnecessary baggage and equipment behind and resourcefully make use of the few things they have, including the barebones sneakers they tend to wear.
3. Zoom-in/Zoom-out: Constant shifting between short-term and longitudinal perspectives
To reach the pinnacle successfully, skywalkers must focus on both their immediate surroundings as well as the big picture. This requires constant task-switching between maintaining their balance and keeping an eye on their overall progress. I am captivated by the intense focus expended to
To be successful, one must focus closely on the task (or tasks) at hand while also beholding the big picture. Without the thirty-thousand foot overview, it is difficult to know how far one has to go before reaching the finish line. Uber drivers are expert in this trait, as are executives of cashflow-positive companies.
4. Reviewing past performances
As a consequence of recording their climbs, Russian skywalkers likely learn from their experiences and improve upon them the next time they decide to master a new adventure. Much like athletes analyzing their past performances or their competitors’ game through video, skywalkers can also scrutinize their scaling performance and also improve the next time around.
Similarly, it certainly cannot hurt us to capture and measure our progress and performance (whether good or bad) as we attempt to achieve our goals. We can certainly learn a lot about our capabilities and areas in which we can focus to improve ourselves. Both successful experiences and so-called failures (i.e. lessons) can provide us with information we can easily leverage to help take us much further towards our goal(s) the next time.
5. Risk takers
Russian skywalkers do not make use of ropes, carabiners, spotters, or nets to ensure their safety. They are all-in when it comes to reaching their destination and the camera captures all of this in living color. Russian skywalkers realize that without taking the risks necessary, they cannot enjoy the incredible panoramic views afforded by reaching their ultimate destination. In many cases, these risks may clearly outweigh the prize, though this is similar throughout a number of business and professional endeavors.
Risk-taking is an inherent part of high-stakes accomplishments, such as investing, launching a business or product, and even managing a team of professionals. Without risk, there is no possibility of benefitting from a reward. What’s important to realize here, is that many of the risks most of us may fear simply pale in comparison to the types of risks Russian skywalkers undertake. Such skyscaling helps put many of the risks we usually tend to avoid into proper perspective.
6. Fearlessness
One of the main challenges which many of us face whether in our personal or professional lives, or both, is that of fear. This is all well and good since our species would not have evolved to the point it is at now without such a safety mechanism. However, fear should be reasonably overcome in order for us to reach our goals.
Russian skywalkers demonstrate very little fear as they trek up the buildings they have selected for their adventures. If they have any fear at all, they certainly do a tremendous job of hiding it, nevertheless, it is also their fearlessness which helps them persevere and reach the heights of their dreams, literally. For some, particularly those with the fear of heights, fear can be incapacitating and paralyzing. Russian skywalkers seemingly have no such fear and if they do they likely transmute it into the courage necessary to help them reach their ultimate destination.
7. Perseverance
Russian skywalkers simply achieve their aims, point blank. They get to their destination atop every building they scale. There are no excuses to be made. No apologies. Efficiency is their hallmark and they get the job done. A number of steps must be taken to reach the top. Many obstacles, most of which are unexpected, must be overcome in some cases after repeated attempts. Russian skywalkers do not simply give up before reaching their destinations; they persist and explore alternate paths should they come across any sort of obstacle.
8. Agility
Russian skywalkers possess the flexibility necessary to change upward paths if need be. Not every path towards their goal may be available or even fruitful. Detours may need to be taken along the way towards the pinnacle and Russian skywalkers are willing to switch gears and change paths in order to reach their destination. This requires the ability to quickly think on one’s feet; not a very easy task, though it can be developed over time.
Likewise, many of us can learn to be flexible and agile in our approaches towards resolving our challenges. We may not always be able to take the paths others have found to be successful. There may be a need to create new paths in order to get to our destinations. Similarly, changes could be taking place throughout our trajectories leading to moving targets. Without agility, it may never be possible to achieve our chief objectives.
9. Expansive thinking
Russian skywalkers indeed have lofty goals (no pun intended). They literally aim for the sky and accomplish their objectives without fail. There is no trouble finishing what they begin, since in some cases it could mean the difference between life and death. More importantly, this expansive thinking encourages them to climb among the tallest of buildings, particularly those still under construction. Much like Russian skywalkers, we should also ask ourselves how we can expand our own set of beliefs to help us tear down perceived obstacles and begin to achieve our own objectives.
10. They focus on the present!
It is strongly important for Russian Skywalkers to focus on every single step they take as they scale up their target. Not doing so could be catastrophic. Ironically this approach helps them forgot about past mistakes which could prove debilitating if held onto. Much like holding grudges could hold one back, focusing on the present helps one lose track of past grievances and propel oneself further forward. This also means taking brief pauses to reflect; stopping to smell the roses on the way towards the finish line encourages one to continue on the path towards completion.
Many of the Russian skywalkers’ traits are clearly consistent with pursuing a forward-leaning path. Such a path helps minimize obstacles from their past which would otherwise paralyze them from a mental perspective. They literally avoid looking at the rear-view mirror, they focus solely on their pure aim, which is to reach the top. I encourage you to look for and watch Russian skywalkers’ videos on your favorite video-sharing website. We can readily apply many of the Russian skywalkers’ traits and behaviors both to our personal and professional lives on a practical level. In doing so, we may gradually develop more effective ways in which to cope with and resolve challenges that come across our paths, while simultaneously propelling us towards our ultimate goals.