Insane Courage

I always love it when I find success tips in unconventional places.  Yesterday my family went to the movie theater to see We Bought a Zoo.  The whole movie was great, but one quote truly struck me.  When the son confronted his father about some girl problems, the main character's advice was: "You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it."

Now, I'm not quite advocating "embarrassing bravery," but there certainly is value in that line.  One thing my coach has been stressing to me is to be "cautiously aggressive," and I have been working on implementing that into my usually overly conservative strategy.  He had me write it on a piece of paper and put it in my locker, my wallet, on my desk, or wherever necessary in order that I am constantly reminded of it.  This seemingly paradoxical instruction is actually a big hint on how to get in your opponent's face and go after him while not making mistakes yourself.

However, we can't be afraid to make mistakes.  Countless successful inventors, businessman, and athletes have learned some of their greatest lessons from making mistakes and bouncing back from them.  As hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."  We don't realize just how true that is until we stop to think about it.  How are you going to get a take down if you don't shoot?  How are you going to pin the guy unless you try turning him?  This works for anything in life.  Take twenty seconds to go do the thing you've been putting off for too long.

Take shots,
Jeff