I Saved My Leg With A String

🪑I was sitting at the top of Big Boulder in Pennsylvania, my back foot completely free from my snowboard, when I realized I had a problem.
The binding strap had finally given up after years of use. One good pivot at the top of the mountain and my boot just… popped free.

Now, for anyone who doesn’t snowboard: your back foot is EVERYTHING. It’s how you pivot, how you whip the board around, how you control your direction. Without it strapped in? The board can rotate independently underneath you.

Translation: I could twist my leg off at the knee if I tried to ride down like this.

💡𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴?

I could let her rip (and literally RIP). I could sit and scoot down the mountain on my butt (no thanks). I could head to the lodge and hope they had a replacement strap.

But here’s the thing - I had my family and friends with me. We were having a great day. And I was in NO mood to let a broken strap end it.

▶️𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩.

Or did I?

💡Here's what I actually needed: A way to keep my back foot secured to the board so I could safely guide it down the mountain.

See the difference?

One thing I learned growing up in the scouting program is to always be prepared. So I typically keep a small pocketknife and length of paracord (think- small but strong rope) with me when I’m on the mountain.

I dug into my pocket, pulled out the paracord, and got to work.

Within a few minutes, my boot was firmly lashed to the binding. I stood up, gave it a test, and resumed my descent. (Got a proper replacement strap at the shop later, but I was glad I had the rope when I needed it.)

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠:

When we’re stuck or trying to solve a problem, we can get trapped in the idea that we can’t proceed unless we have a 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦.

We think: “I need THIS specific thing or I’m done.”

But more often than not, a problem can be solved by unbinding our thoughts from the scenario and resourcefully finding another way to get the job done.

One of my favorite quotes (attributed to Harvard professor Theodore Levitt):

“𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦.”

Growing up, I heard my dad echo the shortened version:   “I don’t need a drill, I just need a hole.”

Sometimes the solution to the problem is to reframe the problem.

If my problem is “I need a drill, and I don’t have one” - I can ONLY solve that by getting a drill.

If I reframe it as “I need a hole, and I don’t have a drill” - suddenly I have a multitude of other fixes.

This permeates every part of my life - as a husband, father, son, friend, and professional.

❓So here's my question for you
What “drill” are you waiting for right now that’s keeping you stuck?
What if you didn’t need the drill at all?
What if you just need the hole? (or some string?)