Paintball – no pain, no gain, a lesson on character building

As we embarked on our mission to find the Heartbreak Ridge paintball fields, getting lost was the least of our worries. Fear, anxiety and excitement consumed us as we approached the 60-acre battlefield.

“Is it too late to turn back?”

“Maybe I could pretend I’m not feeling well?”

“I wish I brought more padding”

“Did I bring a spare change of clothes?”

Arriving at Heartbreak Ridge is as close as we had ever come to experiencing a war zone; army cars were parked at the entrance, the ‘shelter’ (office) was covered with army mesh, and our clothing resembled a military uniform – army jumpsuits with camouflage coloured goggles and guns.

Walking onto the first battlefield with our heads held high; guns ready for action, and our army-patterned jumpsuits freshly pressed, we were ready to win! Once the whistle blew, everything went downhill; learning to multi-task between holding the heavy gun, aiming at the right person, hiding from your opponents, and trying not to get shot all appeared to be rather challenging.

As we moved from demolition alley field (our favourite) through to the graveyard and finally the trenches, our determination to win quickly replaced feelings of anxiety, pain and fear and everyone was having fun.

Relevance?

Returning back to our desks, discussing the day that passed, we decided that paintball is a great character building sport that helps players learn the importance of teamwork and brings out key leadership skills and self-confidence.

The importance of teamwork, confidence and creative thinking are important factors in paintball and most industries and should continually be applied.

The three skills

1. Teamwork

The team that won each round was the team that worked together prior to commencing the game. Planning and communicating with each other about tactics to distract the opposition.

Sound similar to your industry? It definitely compares to ours.

Teamwork is the key to a successful business. Communication and planning with your colleagues benefits your business and combines key personal attributes to help achieve an outstanding overall result drawing upon individual strengths.

2. Creativity

Each paintball field is different to the previous one, meaning each team must be tactical and creative when constructing a game plan if they want to win.

In PR, we apply these skills when a proposal is being written; the most creative, constructive and concise proposal will stand out from all the others.

3. Confidence

As the day went on, everyone became more confident and started discovering if there was no pain there was no gain. The games started getting more competitive and the jumpsuits that were previously army coloured were covered in red paint.

In PR the more confidence you have in yourself, the more successful you are. This is important especially when you are applying for a job or have an interview with a potential client. Have confidence in yourself, your achievements and your success will follow.

The resolution

The year of 2011 ended with a lot of good paint that has helped us create the big picture for 2012. There are many motives for a new year – a time for change, a time for growth, a time for progression and a time to set goals. We see the New Year as a combination of these factors, yet will continually instil the importance of teamwork, creativity and confidence within our company and will be forever progressing – as should you!

We would like to thank our client, TPay for providing us with the opportunity to go Paintballing, no other work Christmas party can beat it!

– The InsideOut PR team