Skills to Escape

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.

             -Henry David Thoreau

Success, in all aspects of life, comes from living in the moment. If you question your abilities, you stumble. If you allow yourself to be distracted, the distance between you and your goals increases. If your focus drifts to what's ahead, rather than what's in front of you, you will miss opportunities. Execute your plan in the moment and walk away the victor.

The exam room is one of the most stressful atmospheres. You are given a pen, an exam booklet and an answer sheet. Your success depends on your confidence. You cannot question your preparation. You can only take one question at a time.

As the clock ticks away, you have to organize your time being mindful that the test writer created the exam to be doable. The answers are within you, you only have to pull them from your mind.

At the office, the pressure is less, but the distractions are doubled. Social media wants you to engage; Paul from IT has a story from his Vegas weekend; Natalie from HR is looking particularly fabulous; none of this is relevant to the task at hand. Block out distractions, finish your assignments, impress the boss and aim for the top.

The clues for success are never far from your focus. Like a crime scene littered with evidence, deciphering what is relevant to the investigation often depends on recognizing the subtle hints. The smoking gun might point to a quick arrest, but the removed office file will establish a motive.

Confidence, periphery avoidance and meticulous identification are integral for proper execution. The most successful sports teams combine all of these skills to produce winning records that lead to podium placements. You have to be confident in you conditioning and playmaking. You have to avoid the distractions on and off the field. And you have to identify your opponent’s weaknesses so you can properly exploit them.

The Vancouver escape room is no different. We all enter with a set of life skills to fall back on. These skills anchor our confidence for escaping. With a plethora of distractions, from moaning zombies to, splattered blood, concentration is paramount. Identifying the clues for success comes down to a tightening of focus. As a team, proper execution leads to freedom.

Live in the present and escape the game.