The sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage is one of history’s major maritime disasters and has become a prominent event in popular culture. The luxury liner, deemed unsinkable by its designers, was the largest and most luxurious ship of its time. The Titanic was 882 feet long, 92 feet wide, and sported 10 decks. It weighed 46,000 tons and was designed to carry over 2,200 passengers and crew.
The British passenger liner struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912. Although designed to carry 64 lifeboats, the Titanic carried only 16 on its maiden voyage, leading to a significant shortage of capacity for passengers and crew. This resulted in the loss of over 1500 lives, many succumbing to hypothermia in the freezing waters of the Atlantic.
The iceberg that sank the Titanic was a massive object, estimated to be 400 feet long, with over 100 feet of its height visible above the waterline. It likely broke off from a glacier in Southwest Greenland and made its way to the North Atlantic. Despite melting for months, it weighed an estimated 1.5 million tons at the time of the collision.
The iceberg’s flat shape and low height above the water made it difficult to spot in the dark, especially during a moonless night. Although the crew was aware of icebergs in the vicinity, the Titanic did not slow down and struck the iceberg at a speed of 22.5 knots, slightly below the ship’s maximum speed of 23 knots. The iceberg was spotted only seconds before impact.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Icebergs are large pieces of freshwater ice that have broken off from a glacier or ice shelf, a process known as calving. They come in various sizes, from small “growlers” to massive “ice islands.” So-called tabular icebergs have flat tops and steep sides, while non-tabular icebergs are shaped like domes, wedges, spires, or pinnacles.
Truck or piano-sized icebergs are referred to as “growlers,” and house-sized icebergs are known as “bergy bits.” An iceberg with a channel formed by erosion is called a “dry dock.” Large icebergs can exceed 240 feet (75 meters) in height and more than 670 feet (213 meters) in length.
Icebergs drift with the ocean currents, driven by the wind and waves. Because only a small portion of icebergs can be seen above the surface of the water, they pose a hazard to ships due to their massive size and weight. As a result of the Titanic disaster, an International Ice Patrol has been created to track icebergs and warn ships of impending danger.
Icebergs are formed from freshwater accumulated from snow over thousands of years, making the ice very pure and safe to consume. Iceberg melt contributes freshwater to the ocean, which can affect ocean circulation patterns. It’s a crucial part of thermohaline circulation, which helps distribute nutrients across the globe.
An iceberg’s weight can vary dramatically, from thousands to tens of tons, based on its size. The massive A32a iceberg, for example, is roughly 40 miles wide and covers an area of about 1,500 square miles. It measures around 1,312 feet in thickness, making it about three times the size of New York City. The A32a iceberg weighs approximately 1 trillion tons.
That’s 2 quadrillion pounds, fifteen zeroes after the 2.
Said another way, that’s 2000 trillion or 2000 million-million pounds.
A few years ago, my wife and I cruised the Inside Passage of Alaska. One of the highlights of our cruise was the day we spent at Glacier Bay. Our Holland America cruise ship, the Volendam, paled in comparison to the massive glacier we approached. As we watched, house-sized chunks of ice tore away from the face of the glacier, weighing between 100,000 and 200,000 tons each, displacing thousands of gallons of water in the process.
As these massive house-sized chunks of ice peeled away from the glacier, our 61,400-ton cruise ship rocked back and forth in the Bay in response to the water displacement. It was a sobering moment to realize that, as great as man’s accomplishments are, nothing compares to the awesome power of nature. We were witnessing the birth of icebergs on a colossal scale, a process that is repeated again and again, not only at Glacier Bay, but at similar locations around the globe.
Once these massive chunks of ice struck the water, and the waves subsided, only a small portion of the iceberg remained visible above the surface of the water. Why? Because ice is less dense than the surrounding seawater, it floats. A significant portion of an iceberg, typically 85-90%, lies beneath the surface of the water.
This gives rise to the expression “tip of the iceberg.”
It’s a reminder that there’s more to the iceberg than we can see with the naked eye.
This is the lesson of the iceberg.
What others see when they see us, and what we often see when we see ourselves in the mirror, is only a small part of who we are. What’s lurking beneath the surface is often more substantial, more impactful, more influential than others (and we) realize.
If only 20% of an iceberg is visible above water, what’s in the 80% lurking below the surface?
More importantly, if only 20% of who we are is visible to those around us, what are they (and sometimes we) not seeing in the 80% lurking below the surface of our lives?
Let’s examine eight elements of YOU, lurking below the surface, waiting to be revealed.
First, it’s untapped potential.
While those around us only see our success or failure in the moment, that’s only a small part of the story of who we are. What others don’t see, lurking beneath the surface, hidden from view, is our discipline, our resilience, the lessons we’ve learned from failure, the countless hours we’ve put into developing ourselves. They don’t see the sacrifices, the tough choices we’ve made, that have molded and made us the powerful people we are.
Secondly, it’s undiscovered resources.
Many of us, in fact, most of us, have skills, talents, and abilities lurking below the surface level of our lives. These have yet to be discovered, developed, and deployed. They are lying there, latent, waiting to be revealed to us (and the world) when we try something new, venture into the unknown, and keep asking ourselves, “What if?”
Thirdly, it’s unreleased hurts.
Just like an iceberg may contain impurities, buried beneath the surface of our lives may be unreleased hurts that are holding us back from achieving our full potential. Part of the process of personal growth is evaluating our experiences. There are times when we have to forgive others, and sometimes ourselves, because of past hurts. Failure to do so means we continue to carry excess emotional baggage that only weighs us down and holds us back.
Fourth, it’s unfulfilled dreams.
I believe everyone has been put on this earth on purpose, for a purpose. But until we discover that purpose, it remains an unfulfilled dream in our lives. Once we discover our WHY for being, that dream still remains unfulfilled until we believe that we are capable of achieving it. In my book, Black Belt Leadership 101, I remind my readers, “You cannot achieve what you do not believe.”
Fifth, it’s unrealized goals.
Unrealized goals are the ambitions, aspirations, and visions we’ve held onto that have yet to come to fruition in our lives. They represent areas of untapped potential and areas where we yearn for growth and achievement. These goals are often unrealized either because we lose focus, get distracted, or we lack the persistence to continue until we succeed.
Sixth, it’s unknown unknowns.
Hidden beneath the surface of our lives are things we need to know, but don’t yet know, that are holding us back, weighing us down, and limiting our potential. These can take the form of unknown risks we’ve yet to consider as we pursue our goals and dreams. They can also take the form of overlooked steps in the process that can cause us to stumble or fall. Unforeseen circumstances, hidden vulnerabilities, and unexpected events are problematic because we’re not yet aware they exist.
Seventh, it’s unattained objectives.
Similar to unrealized goals, unobtained objectives are the plans and purposes we’ve yet to achieve for a variety of reasons. While many of these objectives may be achievable, they haven’t been reached yet. Other unrealized goals may be unobtainable due to a lack of resources, training, or ability. It’s important to focus on the objectives we can achieve, even as we work to improve ourselves to a point those unobtainable objectives can be obtained.
Eighth, it’s unexplored opportunities.
Every single day, life is trying to reveal to us new opportunities, often disguised as challenges. When we only see the challenges at face value, we fail to see the opportunity that exists within the situation or circumstance. This is why personal growth is SO important. As we stretch the quality of our thinking, we increase our ability to not only see, but to seize these challenges and wrest the opportunities lurking beneath the surface.
Let me conclude with the Iceberg model of personal growth.
The iceberg reminds us to look beyond surface behaviors and explore the underlying thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and values that drive our actions. As we look within, we gain a greater understanding of who we are and what we are capable of saying, doing, and becoming as we continue on the journey of daily personal growth.
When we learn to look below the surface of the people in our lives, we begin to recognize and understand their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and values. This enhances our perspective, deepens our understanding, and improves our empathy toward our fellow man.
The iceberg also reminds us that transformative change only happens when we go beyond the surface of our lives and get to the root of self-limiting beliefs and behaviors that are holding us back. Change first happens within, reshaping our thoughts, beliefs, and opinions of ourselves as we move beyond “I can’t, so I won’t” to “I can, and I will.”
The most significant personal growth happens beneath the surface through self-reflection, introspection, developing self-discipline, and learning from mistakes. This “invisible growth” eventually paves the way for visible achievements in our personal and professional lives.
The iceberg serves as a reminder that obstacles are a part of the journey, requiring that we be present in the moment so we can make any necessary course corrections to avoid disaster. Situations and circumstances may require that we pivot, alter our course, or change direction to continue our forward momentum unabated. The road to success and significance is sometimes a winding road, allowing us to traverse the terrain and avoid the challenges that may float or drift in our direction.
Lastly, the iceberg reminds us that our inner strength lies deep within us, below the surface. Focusing on building our character and developing strong values, establishing those non-negotiables that govern our lives, and guiding our actions. These, in turn, define the behaviors and characteristics of our lives that we model before others.
A final lesson from the iceberg.
Take time for introspection and reflection. Much of what we need to learn, experience, explore, and develop lies below the surface. Take time to evaluate experiences, uncovering and applying the lessons that are there to be learned. Evaluated experience is not only how we learn, but also how we examine how we apply what we’ve learned to our lives.
Practice being mindful. When we are present in the moment, we become skillful observers of life as it happens.
By embracing the lessons of the iceberg, we can cultivate deeper self-awareness, foster more authentic relationships, and navigate our personal growth journey with greater insight and intention. It’s how we discover what’s below the surface and realize that we are more than capable of saying, doing, becoming, and accomplishing more.
