I’ve managed to turn fear into my biggest asset. From the time when I was a kid growing up with 5 older siblings, I was taught that I should not be afraid. But I WAS afraid. Afraid of both failing and succeeding.
My fears ultimately made me into a Champion, many times over. I learned how to contain and use that fear to make myself more motivated. I’d ask myself, “What if I’m not ready? What if I’m not training hard enough?” So what did I do? I trained even harder. I was “terrified” before every single match I had in the Olympic Games, 5 in total to be exact. But I used my fear to be the absolute best I could be. I’m still terrified when I get in that wrestling ring today.
There are two ways to accept fear: 1. Shut down and quit. 2. Harness it and use it to rise above the competition. Don’t think for a second that I never lost because of fear. I did. There were times I quit on myself because I didn’t believe. But I learned from those experiences not to allow it to define me as an athlete.
If you’re not afraid of anything, then you really don’t care about succeeding. That, my friends, is Damn TRUE!
