Sometimes you want a different perspective.

With 3 weeks down and one to go in Barcelona before I head back to life in NYC, I wanted to see the city from a view other than on my feet.

So when I found a crazy looking rental car, I shushed my initial instinct to question who in the hell would want to drive that beast—and figured it might be fun with the right company. So I asked fellow business owner and the eternally positive Pam Ivey if she wanted to play hooky and join me for a day of adventure.

GoCars are the cooler, more tech savvy cousin of go carts. You do the driving while your virtual GPS tour guide dishes up stories at various points of interest along a pre-determined route. They’re bright as sunshine, loud as thunder and can be hard to steer.

Sure sounds like a business to me!

So it’s no surprise that we walked away from our adventure with a handful of good reminders about entrepreneurship.

#1 ::  You WILL go off track—and you’ll always bounce back.

GoCar knows drivers will get lost, so they reassure you that you’ll get updated directions if you miss a turn. And they don’t discourage you from stopping or going off the predetermined route if you want to linger along the way. So after a quick orientation of this silly looking machine, we peeled out of there.

In less than 2 minutes of leaving the nest, I missed a turn at the first roundabout. Two minutes. Really?!

The passenger can’t see the GPS screen from her seat, so while I tried to bond with our virtual guide, Pam quickly became my second set of eyes on the road:

Red light coming up!
We’re coming up on Gran Via…
Look at that hot guy!!!
(She’s single and fabulous, fellas.)

I’ll mention that GoCar’s GPS often tells you what to do a few seconds after you’re supposed to do it. So you might be in the left lane when she says, “turn right.” And sometimes she goes dead silent and you realize you’re on your own, amiga.

But we always found our way back to the route, even if we added a few blocks to the trip.

I knew I’d picked the right playmate when I tensed up and she gleefully said, “I don’t care if we get lost. We’ll have fun no matter what!”

Which leads to the second reminder…

#2 :: Choose a useful and FUN partner.

I’ve never tackled roundabouts as massive as those here in Barcelona. I wish I’d known what was coming so I could plan a little better, but nope, that wasn’t the way this worked. (Remember those GPS instructions often coming too little, too little late? Yeah, that.)

And I’m no pansy behind the wheel (thanks, Mom), but I don’t do nearly as well without a great navigator by my side.

Train tracks, kamikaze scooters darting in front of us—and not a single painted arrow or sign in our sightline indicated which lane we needed to make our turn when we hit the motherlode of roundabouts.  😬

We may or may not have looked something like this…

Feeding and focusing on the stress won’t makes things less stressful. Quite the opposite. And as tempting as it was, stopping for a cocktail to destress wasn’t the solution.

So Pam lightened it up when I was stressed. And I brought the laughs when Pam was tensed up. A perfect partnership.

#3 :: Own every bit of it!

When you have the courage to do things your own way, there’s no doubt there will be times you’ll look and feel out of place.

As we approached a shopping mall, we decided to take an intentional detour. Food? Shopping? Let’s park. So down to the underground lot we went.

We got the stink eye from some guy who clearly didn’t think a GoCar belongs in a parking garage at a shopping mall. My first instinct was to avoid eye contact, but instead, I smiled and shrugged  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

He can think what he wants, but we weren’t about to let one guy’s opinion ruin our fun.

In fact, the less you resist that sense of being out of place—the more quickly you’ll find your fans.

Later, as we drove down La Rambla, people waved, snapped pics and gave us the thumbs up—while others scowled, growled and middle-fingered up.

We waved at everyone and said, “it’s fun, try it!”—which got a smile more often than not.

The more we owned our crazy adventure, the more fun everyone around us had. And we didn’t care if anyone sneered at us.

When you’re truly making an effort to be a thought leader, you’ll do and say things that look ridiculous and feel out of place. Maybe even piss some people off. But you’ll find your true fans when you fully own every quirk and crazy in your circus. And you’ll attract more of the right people who will play along when they see you’re having a great time.

If I had known what we were in for, I would’ve brought a GoPro to capture the stares, the scenery and the giggles. (Which would be a great additional revenue stream for GoCar to add for an upgrade.) My cheeks still hurt from laughing into the next day.

Looking for a Starsky to your Hutch?  Click the link below and let’s hop on a call and talk about strategy for your next business adventure! 

https://calendly.com/carolynherfurth/conversation

#SundayCEO