Kayaking over a waterfall.

Have you ever had a really knotted piece of string? Fine string or light line really balled up about the size of a bowling ball? Imagine if one end disappears into the knotted ball and, miraculously, another end sticks out on the other side. What do you say or think if you have one of these and you really need to use it? Are you a "cut it" person? A "throw it away" person? A "hide it and let someone else deal with it" person? Or do you relish the challenge. I recently had one of these balls of string. I needed it to hang some kayak slalom training gates across a river. What surprised me was the response from my students when I handed them the knot. "Impossible," said one. "Let's cut it," said another. Others just busied themselves with other jobs, hoping I wouldn't ask about it. In the end, I was the one who had to sit down and sort out the ball of string — something I seem to do quite a lot of.

How do you solve problems or tackle challenges? The ball of string model surprised me because the logic is incredibly simple (even for a paddler of small brain) — the string is not broken, there are two ends and it's simply a matter of persistence before all the knots and tangles (obstacles) are worked out. Persistence is a powerful tool.

The outdoors makes a great place for dealing with "balls of string" because it has, literally and figuratively, so many of them. The other great thing is that the feedback loop for not dealing with your "ball of string" is very short because it normally involves your safety or comfort, or a combination of the two. Action and reaction, or the need for initiating reaction, are often separated by mere minutes or even seconds. This makes the lessons we learn in the outdoors and the metaphors we transfer to "other" life so incredibly relevant.

Over the last few years I have been encouraging people to make audacious plans and goals and set about trying to achieve them. How much hard work is required, how long it might take and how many "obstacles" might pop up on the way mostly surprise them. They also discover there is no such thing as a free lunch. Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eye off the goal. In our present society it's very easy to just see the barriers and obstacles rather than focusing clearly on the desired goal. Once the goal or action has been established then it's time to apply a healthy measure of persistence. The only language a "ball of string" understands is persistence.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Use your own "ball of string" as a free consultation with the skills of persistence and then use those skills to set about making some other things happen for you. Next time someone congratulates you on achieving a goal or task, just tell them you have "balls of string."

Graham Charles is part of the Adventure Philosophy team. Check out their website at www.adventurephilosophy.com