Head First Into Hard
My friend recently signed up for an Ironman. The problem is he can’t swim. For him, it’s rooted in a deep fear of drowning. Terrified. Now, this is a no BS, no excuse guy.
He looks his biggest fear in the face and says: ‘Awe, F*ck It’
Because he understands that fear is something that can be controlled.
Fear: A response to a specific stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat, perceived as a risk to body or life.
Fear is your response.
Make sure you understand that. It is your response, nothing more. You are 100% in control of your response. Your reaction.
Fear is okay
Uncertainty is okay Doubt is okay What is not okay is letting any of those control you. You control how you respond. No one else.
Don’t let your ‘fear response’ stop you from doing the right thing. The hard thing.
The hard thing.
The world gets better when people get scared and do it anyway.
Do the things you fear Take the risks that make you uncomfortable Go where you are surrounded by doubt Anything other than that is the easy way out. And if you are rifling through your list of excuses, save them. Everyone has them. Either do or don’t but don’t waste your time telling anyone why you can’t. Get busy showing them why you can.
And never forget, with very few exceptions, worse things are happening to better people.
And if you lead, don’t be caught taking the easy way out while your team suffers. There is a special place for people like that where I come from. Standup for them. Protect them. Fight for them. If you can’t do that then you don’t deserve them.
The leadership axiom. “This Sh*t is Hard”.
It is about sacrifice. I bet Rob was scared. He did it anyway. He responded. How do your fears compare to the ones he faced that day? When you have to stand up for your team think about how he stood up for his team. Chances are your decisions don’t include close combat with people trying to kill your team.
Confront your fears. It means you might fail. It means you might get fired. It means your fears might come true. But if you go 'headfirst into hard’ then chances are you, and us will come out better on the other side. We thank you in advance.
Go headfirst into hard.