MY LIFE CHANGING MOMENT
My understanding of life took a quantum leap when I succeeded in accomplishing the conquest that had haunted my childhood dreams, and I had survived. Heart racing, palms sweating, dizzy, and delirious, I staggered away from the high bar as my buddies cheered my victory over the intimidating gymnastic maneuver called a “Giant”. Let me tell you how I got to this point and what I learned that has helped me for a lifetime.
For those who didn’t grow up working out on the High Bar, a Giant is an acrobatic move requiring the performer to swing their extended body in a 360-degree circle while holding onto the bar with their hands for dear life. It’s glorious if you make it all the way around. It doesn’t end well if you don’t quite get your feet high enough. Gravity can take you headfirst into dangerous collapse.
THE CHALLENGE
Many days, fear kept me from attempting to go for it. Oh, I wanted to have the ecstasy that completing the ‘trick’ would bring, but I knew too well how much risk was involved. My hands began to perspire just thinking about mounting the bar with the intent to make the full swing happen.
THE SHIFT
My internal conversation reached a tipping point. I psyched myself up to the point where I imagined only a positive outcome. I did not allow even a trace of doubt to dilute my determination. At the next opportunity, I marched straight to the gym equipment, took a breath, jumped up, and grabbed the bar tightly.
After a few accelerating swings, I put everything I had into building enough velocity to complete the orbit, and I made it full circle. I triumphed over my fear.
I landed safely on the soft sand, a completely changed person. I had achieved a terrifying goal, and I had learned a secret that has served me ever since: Going “All In” allows a level of accomplishment that simply does not occur when you give less than 100 percent.
Until that point in my life, I held the false notion that partial work could yield ‘proportional results’. I thought that 80 percent effort might bring 80 percent success. But with this particular experiment, even 99 percent involvement would not be enough to get one's body over the crest, and stalling out could result in painful failure.
THE TAKEAWAY
This realization: that I needed to ‘go all the way’ has powered my purpose ever since. So the next time you are determined to achieve a goal, remember, give 100 percent committed effort if you want to achieve 100 percent results.