Taking the less obvious path

You stand in a crossroad with the option to go left or right. The path on the left slopes down, the one on the right upwards. You’re hoping to reach a waterfall but there’s no signage to direct you.

Which path do you take?

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You can hear the rush of water above you.

Which path do you take?

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The obvious path is to the right, the one that slopes upwards in the direction of the water.

You overhear a couple arguing. She’s impatient to find the waterfall. He’s flustered, there’s a patch of sweat on his back, soaking through his tee shirt. He’s explaining that he’s tried the path to the right but not found the waterfall. She’s not convinced so they walk back up the path again.

Do follow on the path upwards, towards the sound of water?

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This scenario happened to me today. I choose the path to the left, heading downhill. It turns out both paths led to the waterfall. Anti-climax, I know. Neither path lead to a horrible death like in the traditional “Choose your own adventure” books, thankfully. There’s no way to know why the couple didn’t find the waterfall at first. Maybe they didn’t walk far enough, maybe I misheard and they were talking about another path?

It made me think about some other paths I’d been researching yet hadn’t yet picked.

There’s countless opinions on the right business paths to take. How to grow your blog, your email list, your start-up company. You can spend your whole life reading this advice, learning what exact formula worked for others. You can gather all the evidence, consider all the facts, but you eventually have to pick a path and find out what lies beyond it.

The path that worked for those before you might not lead you where you seek to go. The less obvious path might be the more interesting way to your goal.

And if it doesn’t? Then pick another one and try again.

How bad could it be?