Yesterday I watched a film, The Making of a Champion, that I first saw in the summer of 1979. It’s a documentary about the career of one of my heroes, Dan Gable.
Gable was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1972, and a man whom I can say played a pivotal role in my life, helping me become a champion, too.
Anyway, in this documentary, I heard Gable say something I didn’t hear him say when I was a teenager. And that was… “I get scared before a wrestling match.” He also stated that if you’re never scared before competition, you must be too cocky.
If you were to observe Gable, as I did, you would never detect an iota of fear. Yet, there was some present.
But how much?
Not enough to keep him from competing – which is the point. He wasn’t paralyzed by fear, which would be “out of your comfort zone.” Instead, he acknowledged being scared. He was comfortable with it.
Believe it or not, there are people who will tell you they fear nothing and no one. I smile and ask, “That’s good to know. Are you comfortable then, with the idea of walking a tight rope between two skyscrapers at the top floor?”
This question brings these people back to reality. Everyone has something he or she fears, something that is at least a little scary.
Sometimes the way to override a fear is to move forward anyway. The fright and the scare you feel is nothing but mislabled excitement and nervousness that are there to elevate your game.
But if there’s too much fear, if you’re outside your comfort zone, that’s when you need to divide the goal into stages and steps.
In the tightrope walking example, you’d be crazy to begin with a first attempt between two skyscrapers. You would want to start with a tightrope or slack line that is barely off the ground. Once you can maintain your poise and focus at that level, you can go up a bit higher.
That, my friend, is how goal getting works.
Anyone who says, “I’m not afraid of nuthin,” hasn’t examined what would scare him… A LOT.
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
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