I was recently a guest on Bryan Dodge’s radio show on WBAP in Dallas (see his website) after which we had great steaks at the Saltgrass Steak House (always a good place for a steak…..I eat there nearly every time I’m in Dallas) and talked for a few hours.

Our conversation was intense—go figure, Bryan is a wonderfully intense guy. At one point he said to me in his best imitation of an Old Testament Prophet, “A bigger wave is approaching. Be sure you step forward on the board.”

Huh?

“Step forward on the board.” He repeated.

The look of brilliant clarity on my face revealed my confusion, so he explained to me that he was speaking “surfer dude” language. Apparently he’s taken some surfing lessons and learned that when you are on a wave, transitioning to a larger wave, your intuition is to step backward on your board in effort to elevate the front of your board onto the top of the next wave. If you do this you’ll wipe out. Instead, you must act counter-intuitively and step forward on your board. The pressure on the front of the board actually causes the board to rise on the water. (About now all my physics friends are saying “well, yeah” and the rest of us are still going “Huh!”)

Bryan went on to admonish me “Don’t just lean forward. If you lean (meaning you haven’t really committed, you’ve just sort of paid token attention—-put in half-hearted effort) you’ll also wipe out. You must step both feet fully forward on the board.” You must commit to the next wave.

Interestingly enough this conversation came in the middle of one of the biggest weeks of accomplishment I’d ever experienced, both professionally and personally. An enormous period of accomplishment had led up to an incredibly huge week capped off by my dinner with Bryan. What he didn’t know though, was that I had said to a couple of key leaders on my team on more than one occasion that week “I feel like we are riding a huge wave and I just need to be sure and stay on the board. Don’t do anything stupid and wipe out.” Then Bryan comes along and without knowing of my wave metaphor says “Step forward on the board.”

That’s awesome. And if you think God doesn’t orchestrate things like that, we’ll then your brain is broken.

That conversation was two weeks ago. Every day since I’ve been thinking about what it means for me to step forward on the board.

What would it mean for you to step forward on the board? In what area are you holding back, slacking off, or hesitating? What big wave of opportunity awaits evidence of your commitment?

I’m convinced some people commit “surfer suicide.” They see the next big wave and it scares them because they know it is going to require them to get out of their comfort zone and develop new capabilities. So instead of stepping forward into greater achievement, they step back and “accidentally” intentionally wipe out.

Next time I see you will you be hangin’ ten? Or, are you going to have sand in your shorts?

Step forward on the board!