I sit in the driver’s seat of a Formula 1 racecar, my clammy palms grip the steering wheel. Whether from fear or excitement, my heart is ready to beat out of my chest . With a mile wide smile plastered on my face and my hands on the wheel, I am ready to go.
I begin to take my foot off the clutch and press down on the gas. *Clunk-Clunk*. Silence. I have stalled out. Clearly, I am off to great start. Eventually, I let my desire for speed take over my nerves and challenge myself on each lap to push myself (and the gas pedal) harder.
I was at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Carmel California to race cars with the Lucas Oil Race School. The plan was to learn more about driving, test out some Cooper tires, and fulfil one of my lifelong dream adventures– becoming a race car driver for the day!
Racing Formula 1 Cars Can Improve Your Workplace Skills
During the tire comparison test, I hopped in the driver's seat of a pearly white sports car with a professional driver riding shotgun to instruct me on turns. “Hold it, hold it…” my instructor said. I held an adrenaline-inducing fast pace as I took the car around a corner, faster than I ever thought possible. With white knuckles on the wheel, and the car practically on two wheels, I felt empowered. The Cooper tires impressed me on my second lap as they didn’t slide out like the Goodyear tires did. This small difference gave me another huge boost of confidence, and on my final lap I pushed the gas pedal even harder. What a thrill it is to scare yourself and push yourself harder than ever before.
My job often takes me on incredible adrenaline-inducing adventures, but it wasn’t until this one that I started to think about the benefits of heart-pumping activities. After this trip, I realized the adrenaline from adventurous activities helps create a serious boost in self-confidence. I began thinking more about the benefits of adventurous travel and the lessons that it brings back to the workplace.
Research shows women suffer from more stress and anxiety, and they are less assured than their male counterparts in the workplace for a number of reasons. Women can benefit greatly from alleviating stress and boosting their confidence during their time outside of the work place.
Adventurous travel not only helps to reduce this work-related stress, but can also lead to a magnitude of other benefits widely used by women in the workplace.
Increased Productivity
Spending time outside can recharge our mental and physical well-being. Disconnecting from technology and boosting your heart rate will not only give you a well-deserved break, but it can also put work and life into perspective, helping to decrease stress and burnout.
Employees that take their vacation come back to work with replenished minds and have been proven to be more productive than employees who don’t take vacation.
Improves Teamwork
Participating in adventurous travel generally means trusting in someone else other than yourself. This increases trust and communication with others, improving team skills.
Stimulates Creativity
Adventure and travel have the ability to increase tolerability for uncertainty, both good and bad. When traveling, things do not always go as planned. Experiencing unplanned events in a place where you are already out of your comfort zone can teach you to creatively cope with uncertainties in all areas of life, especially the workplace.
The more places you see and the more experiences you have, the more innovative ideas you will have to fuel your creativity in the workplace.
Enhances Problem-Solving
Problem-solving and creativity go hand-in-hand. Travelers must be prepared to solve issues quickly, adapt to unfavorable circumstances, and often Macgyver their way out of less than desirable situations. While doing this, they are crafting creative problem solving skills they can take into the workplace. Additionally, advanced problem solving skills will create a boost in confidence when it comes to decision making.
Cultivates Networking Skills
Traveling forces someone to build relationships around the world, and improves cultural awareness. Adventurous experiences and travel both create lifelong bonds due to collectively overcoming fears, shared difficulties, and sharing once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Travel creates opportunities to interact with others that you may otherwise not have contact with and forces you out of your comfort zone– strengthening networking skills which can be utilized in the workplace.
Makes You More Interesting
Adventurous activities and travel make you a more interesting person. When looking for candidates, employers are not only looking to fill the job description, but also positivity in the workplace. Employers are looking for interesting people, with a wide set of skills, and a greater knowledge of the world. And, let’s face it, no one wants to hire someone who’s boring– adding adventure traveler to your life resume will ensure you won’t be dull!
Hones Leadership Skills
The set of skills practiced while participating in adventurous travel activities creates leaders. When traveling you are forced to make decisions on your own that affect yourself and others. The ability to make good decisions and lead others while traveling translates easily into good decisions and leadership in the workplace.
Boosts Self-Confidence
Of all of the skills acquired through adventure travel, the most important is the boost in self-confidence. Increased confidence will lead to an improvement with negotiation skills, handling work-related disputes, and an assurance in work produced. It will also transition to more self-confidence off the job, creating a more harmonious work-life balance, and what woman couldn’t use more of that?
As the day at the Laguna Seca raceway progressed, the adrenaline kicked my adventurous spirit into high gear, I was thrilled for the final portion of the day, the competition. I had gained a wealth of self-confidence during the day by taking myself outside of my circle-of-comfort, and I could visualize myself beating everyone else. With each straightaway I came to, I passed more and more cars… then I started lapping some of them. Eventually I placed second, losing out to the winner by only 2 seconds.
Not only did I leave Carmel, California feeling that I could race a car, but I also left feeling that I could take on the world-and my workload. When I arrived home, I felt refreshed and threw myself into my work with a new mindset. Work felt easier and more enjoyable, I stepped up my game in work negotiations, and felt more confident, realizing there’s a lot more benefit to adventurous travel than just having fun.