Mastering Fear by Brandon Webb & John David Mann

Author:Brandon Webb & John David Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2018-08-06T16:00:00+00:00

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LET GO OF THE COCONUT

A friend of mine from the Philippines tells me how they trap monkeys in his country. They dig a hole, place a coconut in it; the monkey reaches in, grabs the coconut, and his fist is now too big to pull back out. He’s trapped. All he has to do is let go of the coconut. But he won’t do it. Why not? What keeps that monkey’s fist clenched? Fear. He’s afraid of losing what he has. So he keeps the coconut—and loses his freedom.

I did not want to keep the coconut and lose my freedom.

What kept Kamal adhered to that poolside wall on the first day of our swim lessons? What prevents people from taking the risks they need to take in order to achieve the things they dream of achieving? What keeps people stuck in relationships that aren’t working, in dead-end jobs they hate, or even, as in my case, in great jobs that nonetheless are holding them back from something that could be even better? They can’t let go of the coconut.

You can achieve great things.

But first you have to let go of the coconut.

Mastering fear starts with a decision, then proceeds through rehearsal, so that you’ll be as prepared as possible to make that jump into the unknown and take action in the face of your fear. But nine times out of ten, when the time comes to make the jump, something keeps people from actually doing it. Something they’re holding on to.

For Kamal, it was the edge of the pool. In our life journey it’s called “home.” Before you can take that leap into the unknown of your adult life, you have to leave childhood behind, cut the apron strings, kick away the training wheels. You have to leave home. You have to let go.

Letting go is where you relinquish control, release your grip on the door frame before jumping out of the plane. It’s where you step away from the ladder and walk out to the end of the high-dive board, take a breath, and stand there without visible means of support.

I stepped away from the ladder, out to the end of the high-dive board, and took a breath. Let go of that fantastic defense job and dove into another start-up.

Within a few years I was turning down a $15 million acquisition offer and well on my way toward having a company worth ten times that number. Rather than crashing and burning, this time the business was a flaming success. Worth the leap? Hell, yes. But none of it could have happened if I hadn’t first let go of the coconut.

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