- The Edge of Greatness Newsletter
- Posts
- Face Everything And Rise
Check Out Our Sponsors
We started working with a few new teams.
If you follow me on social media you’ve seen my new shorts/reels and clips.
These are made possible by OpusClip.
OpusClip is an A.I. generated clip creator with brand functionality that makes cutting longer form video extremely easy.
Our second sponsor is ASEA.
Their revolutionary cell signaling REDOX molecule is changing the way we can impact our health.
Check out what ASEA and REDOX can do for you today.
1 Quote
Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them.
2 Lessons
Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything and Rise.
Fear is often at the center of why people give up on their dreams.
Fear is a trickster playing games in our head.
Using our doubts and uncertainties to create anxiety around an upcoming action or event.
But all fear is is an illusion.
It's a feeling about something that hasn’t happened yet.
It’s entirely in our mind.
Sure, something things out there are scary.
And we will never eliminate fear.
But, we can begin to walk with it.
We can begin to understand it.
The reason we have a fear response is to keep us alive.
Early in our development as a human, many things could kill us.
So, we’d see something new or out of the ordinary and fear would creep in to stop us from going over and touching it.
A scary looking animal is probably a predator.
That’s a threat to our life.
The fast flowing river, and we can’t swim, is a dangerous place.
But today we attach fear to things that can’t hurt us.
We create fear around speaking, starting a business, telling someone we love them, asking someone out, the dark, etc.
We have used our naturally wired response to danger and turned it into a crutch.
It’s a reason we don’t move forward with ideas or challenge ourself to try something new.
This is not what our fear response was designed for.
It was designed to help us avoid actual danger.
So, give this a shot.
Next time you’re about to take a big step in your life and you feel that tinge of fear creeping in.
Ask yourself, “Will this action kill me?”
If the answer is emphatically no, then it’s time to act.
If for some reason, that’s not enough to get you to move.
I run an exercise that I call, “What’s the worst that could happen.”
Then I try to think of the absolute worst possible outcomes.
Once I have everything laid out, I try to determine the likelihood of that outcome.
I also try to solve why that outcome will occur.
For example, I’m going to give a speech to a large audience at an event.
Obviously there are some nerves and I’m battling my fear.
The worst thing that could happen is I freeze up and then stumble through my speech only to not be able to finish and I walk off stage.
I’m still a live, a little embarrassed, but I’ll survive.
Why would this happen?
Because I’m not prepared.
I didn’t practice my speech enough.
I don’t know the material enough.
I get off track in a moment and don’t know how to get back on point.
So, to help with my fear I will practice my speech.
I will practice getting distracted during my speech and jumping back into it.
I will know my content thoroughly.
You can navigate fear.
Give this exercise a try and see if you can work through what’s holding you back.
If you need some additional help working through your fear, reply to this email and let me know your story.
You control fear, not the other way around.
Face Everything And Rise.
The future isn’t set.
Anxiety is common emotional state.
Probably more so now than ever.
With the amount of information and expectation and uncertainty of the future, more people I talk to speak of being anxious.
But anxiety is simple fearing a future outcome that may not ever happen.
Anxiety is built on what is yet to come.
We spend so much time looking forward to what’s next, that we start to build fear of outcomes that haven’t happened.
The only moment we can control is the one we’re in.
When we start to try to predict the future we begin the process of creating anxiety.
Some people create so much anxiety they become unable to act.
Imagine being stuck because of something that may never occur.
Worrying about an outcome that may never happen is suffering before it’s necessary.
Bad things happen, and suffering is a part of life.
However, suffering before the event only leads to suffering twice.
Fighting anxiety is about coming back to the present.
Living in the moment we’re in and focusing on the things we can control in this moment.
I’ve found a few things that help me are meditating, cold exposure, working out, and reading books to my kids.
The reason all of these things work for me is because the pull me into the present moment.
Meditating is about focusing on my breath in this moment.
Cold exposure always forces me into the moment I’m in because of the discomfort created by the cold.
Working out is similar, as the created discomfort steals my attention and thoughts
Reading to my kids is a new one I’ve discovered.
As I try to be more present as a parent, I’ve found that when I am reading or playing with them, I stop thinking about everything else.
The goal for you is to find things that bring you into the present moment.
It could be going for a drive, taking a hike, reading the Bible, calling a friend, or one of the ones I listed above.
There are many ways to eliminate the anxiety your feeling.
Most important is to remember that anxiety is a manifestation of what might happen.
But if you dwell on what might happen, you most certainly guarantee that outcome.
3 Good Things
Good Watch:
Fear is a complex topic. There are a lot of things that happen in a state of fear. This interesting video by Mel Robbins dives into what is fear and how to combat the fear we feel and face every day. Fear is absolutely real, but we can combat this fear.
Good Watch:
Here’s another perspective on attacking fear and anxiety that may resonate with you. Jordan Peterson dives into fear, anxiety, courage, and bravery in this video and how to create action in the face of the fear we feel in our life. I hope you continue to work for ways to eliminate the control fear has on many people’s lives.
Good Motivation:
We are all meant to live a life full of meaning. Greatness is available to every one of you reading this today. Here's a fun little motivational video to help you see what I see. Make today the day you start to step into courage to make the changes you want in your life.
Need a Coach?
As an athlete I always appreciated good coaching.
It often made the difference between a successful season and an average one.
When you’ve got big goal to compete at the highest level, it helps to have someone looking at the big picture, while you focus on the specific actions.
Have you got something big coming up?
Need someone to help organize the path forward?
Let me know what you’re working on and we’ll see if I’m the right fit.
I've spent the last 15 years working with clients as a personal trainer and coach helping them build healthy sustainable habits.
During this time I've learned the psychology of habit creation, the power of systems, and why simple works better.
I'd love to help you reach your goals.
I'm currently looking to add 2 new coaching clients to my roster.
If this sounds interesting to you, connect with me today and let's schedule a call to see if we're a good fit for each other.
Email me at [email protected]
Did you know?
I often forget to share all the ways you can connect and get involved with the Edge of Greatness project.
And since you’ve made it this far, perhaps you’re interested in more of what we do.
Free:
Paid:
Thanks for Stopping By
Thanks for coming by. I hope you enjoyed this week's issue. If you'd like more content before next Tuesday visit The Edge of Greatness Project.
If you're working on a project or just need some help, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to help you get to your next milestone. Just reply to this email.
It'd be great if you shared this with a friend. See you guys next week.