Stay Rational Through Fear

I was on the chairlift in Vail and I dropped my glove. I decided to go get it. It was in an out of bounds area so I spoke to the ski patrol before going to retrieve it. The patroller suggested that I would see a break in trees just below and to the left of where my glove was. I followed his directions but never saw the break in the trees. I continued down the hill and promptly realized why this area was out of bounds. There was a stream that cut across the trail. At this point going left was no longer a good option because there was a steep uphill climb. I decided to go right into the woods. It was downhill and I figured I would eventually run into a trail and find my way to the base. As I took my trek through the five-foot deep snow, it began to occur to me that it was getting late. It was 3:30 and the mountain closed at 4:00.

Off in the distance I saw some very large pine trees that were spread out. It looked like a trail. The problem was that there was a fifteen-foot wall of snow between where I was and the potential trail. I began to pack the snow with my skis and slowly climb this wall. I got about half way up and could no longer get leverage to climb higher. I was exhausted, soaking wet from all the snow that had gotten inside my jacket, and to make matters worse, I had no cell phone service. The temperature the night before was in the teens so I knew I wouldn’t survive the night. I refused to accept the idea that I wouldn’t get out.

Suddenly I heard what sounded like someone skiing above me. I yelled and he stopped. He began packing the snow from the top of the wall, creating steps so that he could lower himself to reach me with his ski pole. Once I reached the pole he was able to pull me out. I followed him until we got back to a trail.

Throughout this experience, fear crept in several times. I just acknowledged it and put my focus back on the task at hand, getting myself out. In the past I may have been overcome with fear. In this instance I was able to stay rational through fear. Deep down I knew I would get out and I did everything in my power to reach my objective. This got me to a place where I was in a position to be rescued. I am convinced that this is the reason I am here today.

As we delve into the idea of staying rational through fear, there are some factors that can make a big difference in helping to maintain the right mindset:

Knowingness—If you have a sense of knowingness in a given situation, it instills confidence. Confidence and fear rarely exist simultaneously. I recently did some work with a colleague on public speaking. He is brilliant guy and an expert on the topic he was to deliver. He just had an intense fear of public speaking. I was able to bring him to understand that he knew his topic better than anyone else in the world. There was nobody in the room that could pose a question (relating to his topic) that he couldn’t answer. His acceptance of this knowingness was a tremendous confidence builder for him.

Preparation–If you have an opportunity to prepare in advance it will chip away at your fear of the unknown and help build your confidence. In the case of my colleague, once we established his expertise, we needed to prepare his remarks. We did this by creating a structure that he could follow. This structure would help him not only deliver a clear message but also help him to remember it. He now knew not only what he was going to say, but how he would deliver it. His fear eased further once he came to this realization.

Practice–A critical component of preparation is practice. If you practice to the point of mastery there is little left to fear. For my colleague, I suggested that he practice his presentation in the mirror a minimum of 30 times prior to doing it in front of an audience.

Perseverance–Very few soldiers are able to make it through the Navy Seal Training program. There was a study done to determine the characteristics that got the successful soldiers through. What they determined was that size, strength, nor physical ability was a common thread. It was perseverance. Those that had the will to continue on, despite insurmountable barriers were the ones that succeeded.

We face challenges everyday. The question is, how do you stay rational through fear? You need to have the confidence to know that you will be successful. If you do everything in your power to prepare yourself, and you have the mental strength to persevere, then your odds of success increase dramatically.