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Facing My Fears One Zip Line at a Time

This past weekend, I did something completely out of character, I went zip lining. I tend not to be adventurous and have a fear of heights, so this was huge. I wasn’t nervous during the initial prep with the instructors. It wasn’t until we started climbing the stairs to a very high platform that fear began to creep in. My mind raced with all the things that could go wrong.

When it was my turn, I looked down and felt a moment of panic. I almost said, “No, I don’t want to do this,” but instead, I dug deep and leaned on my inner game from my book Being Your Own Superstar: How to Expand Your Love Capacity and went for it. As I flew down the line, I panicked and put a hard stop on the brake to avoid hitting the top of the next platform. Unfortunately, I came up about a foot short and had to be “saved” by the instructor, who pulled me in.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson: even when I’m scared, a hard stop is not an option. I set a goal to not need to be “saved” again and to focus on hitting the top of the platform on each run. On my next run, I did just that. I even did the “Rocky pose” at the end, feeling elated and proud. It wasn’t a perfect 10, but it was a solid 8, and it was time to celebrate.

Another lesson I learned that day was the importance of quieting the inner critic and celebrating yourself, even in front of strangers. After my successful run, the group started encouraging and celebrating each other’s achievements. This made the experience even more fun.

I’ve decided to apply this mindset to my daily life. When fear starts creeping in, I will immediately pick a goal and only focus on the goal. I will not get caught up in hitting a 10. Instead, I will celebrate that I went for the goal rather than getting caught up in the fear.

Today, even while writing this blog post, fear of being vulnerable started to creep in. Instead, I set the goal to complete the blog post. I am celebrating “Rocky style.”