Courage Part 1

Courage

In our Unbeatable Mind Academy lesson this month we are discussing Fear.  What causes fear and our uncomfortable physiological reaction to it?  Many think that fear is a natural human reaction to an external stressor.  See a tiger, experience fear.  Click into reaction mode – fight (not good idea with tiger), flight (best option) or Freeze (game over dude).  It may come as a surprise, though, that fear and stress arise not just from the actual event itself, rather it comes mainly from what we think of the event.  So, we are back to our monkey minds wreaking havoc over our perceptions of reality.

It is estimated that 90% of stress arises from mental anticipation of a perceived hazard or unknown situation.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn to think with courage instead of fear? Feeding the courage wolf when you are going negative is a start.  But let’s get some insight from someone who is wise in this area.

Jeff Wise, in his book Extreme Fear, has some good insight on fear and courage.  He is a writer for Popular Science and his blog is a great read www.jeffwise.net.

Jeff states:

“Courage is not just for heroes. Fear is an emotion we all deal with, and how we handle it is everything. How we grapple with our anxieties determines what kind of life we’ll lead — whether shackled by anxiety and dread, or empowered to conquer new challenges. Yet we spend most of our time trying to avoid fear, so we muddle along, rarely getting much better at the art of mastering it. That’s a shame, because with a little effort we can find the courage to push beyond our comfort zone and tackle new worlds“.

His findings mirror many of our teachings at SEALFIT / Unbeatable Mind.  Let’s review 8 of his principles, not in any order:

Principle 1 – Get Fit

Ok this is a no-brainer for us at SEALFIT.  We would add that functional fitness is a much better foundation for courage than the common definition or example of treadmill fitness.  Functional fitness provides a sense of courage to act and move whilst avoiding injury, especially in a crisis or high risk situation.  The training effect carries over to assist with stress management against fear and anxiety.

Studies have shown that exercise can ease depression and anxiety. And it can protect you from feeling stressed out in the future.  According to Wise, Princeton researchers found that rats who exercise grow neurons in their brains that are less responsive to the stress hormone cortisol.  So lest you feel like rat on a treadmill, get into the gym and start doing CrossFit or SEALFIT 3 to 5 times a week.  While there, turn your training into a “practice” for courage.  Couple your fitness training with breath control, positive mental control, visualizing courage rather getting eaten by the tiger.  You will be rewarded with less stress and a nice peace of mind.

Principle 2 – Lean on Your Friends

In Kokoro Camp, combat, or any intense situation you share with a complete stranger, you form a bond that is unusually strong.  Why is that?  I have teammates from the SEALs who I don’t see for years, but when we re-connect I feel the bond is still there.  Jeff Wise states that Oxytocin, the hormone that binds people in a trust relationship (ie: mothers and children and husbands and wives), has been shown to lessen the sensation of pain and fear.  Those who have been through Kokoro camp know this from experience.  Through teamwork involving sharing the pain of sacrifice, the shared risk of a common experience, and truly looking after your teammate, you will forge a bond that will last forever.

To be continued in part 2…

Speaking of Kokoro Camp, I received a great email from Patrick Barry, who was featured in LA Sports and Fitness, about his Kokoro experience.  When asked how he remained focused on such a daunting goal, he responded with his “7 R’s” – provided verbatim here:

Release: put out a personal Press Release to friends and family about what you intend to accomplish (I did this by announcing my SEALFIT attendance on Facebook to hundreds of people.  This drove me to not give up, lest I let them down).

Revisit: a hardship you’ve overcome in the past (my Golden Gloves training camps).

Repeat: view over and over what you intend to accomplish to gain an absolute familiarity (I viewed the Discovery Channel documentary of Navy Seal Class 234 over and over and over.  I watched all six hour-long episodes twice or three times each!).

Recruit: a team of supporters.  I asked for and got dozens of friends to be my virtual crew and send me positive thoughts all throughout Kokoro weekend…asking them send me a vibe of “just finish” each time they ate or drank during the weekend. I knew this during my suffering, and it either worked or acted as a placebo. One way or another, it helped me.

Relate: everything is relative, so find something harder than you’re setting out to do, then read about it or watch it or think about it.  I watched two scenes of The Passion of the Christ over and over the night before Kokoro , which illustrated much more suffering than I’d go through. I actually thought of these scenes on Palomar, thinking as bad as I felt that at least I was not carrying a heavy cross with a thorn of crowns nailed into my head and had not been whipped and beaten for hours beforehand.

Record: something in your head that you and say over and over and over that resonates inspires and motivates you.  I recited Invictus during surf torture in just this way, and it benefitted my classmates too.

Reason: find a profound and substantive reason for doing what you’re doing. Darren Kavinoky told me that one thing that kept him alive during endeavors like Kokoro was experiencing his daughter’s joy when he returned home with stories, medals, certificates of his adventures.  Had he quit Kokoro, he would not have been able to have such moments.

Thank you Patrick for sharing such great ideas!  Speaking of Kokoro, Luke Kayem, of CrossFit Scottsdale and SICFIT, will be filming Kokoro 21 with his team and streaming much of it on the SICFIT.com web site.  So if you want to experience Kokoro 21 vicariously on February 24-26, like I am sure you do, be sure to check it out.  There is still plenty of room in the camp – full benefit this time of the year!  Give us a call and ask about a payment plan.

Until next time, train hard, stay safe and have fun!