The term freeriding originally came when early snowboarders chose to break away from what they considered to be the restrictive confines of traditional ski culture and competition. You can find it being used in virtually any extreme sport to define a concept where there is no set course, goals or rules to abide by. It is amusing to look at the difference between how the term is used in Business and sport as it is almost the completely opposite meaning of the same term.
Freerider (In Business): A party that enjoys a benefit accruing from a collective effort, but contributes little or nothing to the effort.
Freerider (In Sport): A person that persues a sport, but does not confine the way they partake within the boundaries of competition or other regulations.
Freeriders contribute more than their share to the sports they partake in, so to think that in business it is seen as someone who does not contribute is laughable. Without them most sports would never take off as every sport started with ‘freeriders’ pushing to develop it. With little need for recognition or reward, these core riders do it for the passion and love of being out there doing their thing amongst the worlds varying terrains just for the craic.
Freedom (the overall expression that freeriding is amongst the sporting world) is not a reward that has to be earned. It is a right that we are all entitled to should we chose it. These days it seems too many people end up living around work, rather than working around life. This balance that many chose is not the way we should be dividing our life. Stress and lack of self fulfilment seems to come hand-in-hand with living around work. We all need time out for ourselves to recharge and re-energise so we can tackle what life throws at us. Just get out there and ride.
