The First Victory

One of the things I do when I am interviewed is to share content that I have never shared before in public.

Last week, during a podcast interview, I shared something I had never shared publicly or privately—not with my family, team, or coach. The interview was a few days after my Honor Foundation Swim in San Diego, and I was still processing how that day played out.

I shared on the podcast that I was not physically prepared to do that first Hudson Seal swim. I had 100 days to prepare, from barely being able to swim 25 yards to swimming 3.1 miles from New Jersey to New York City, and that definitely was not enough time to prepare physically to accomplish that monumental feat.

The interviewer asked me how did I do it?

I told her I had to dig deep from the moments in my life to make it happen. Yes, I had a strategy that I share in detail when speaking, but that was not enough.

When I was a senior in college, I took an elective, a 100-level course in philosophy, to earn 3 hours toward graduation.

I took this class pass/fail. Since I knew nothing about philosophy, I wanted to have some leverage, as if I received a C, I would get the credits and it wouldn’t affect my GPA.

The final assignment was to write a paper about “pride.” I pulled an all-nighter to complete it, and yes, those days when you had to write it in a little blue book physically, nothing online.

When I was researching the topic of pride, I read some of Plato’s teachings. Since it was philosophy, I may have a shot at a C if I included some thoughts from a philosopher.

One of the things I read and incorporated was a statement from Plato.

“The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile”.

I received an “A” on that paper, the only “A” I had ever received in writing during college.

I told the interviewer that I was facing a massive challenge and didn’t have the physical talent or training to complete it in 100 days. So, I had to dig deep and “conquer myself ” first. What I interpreted that meant to me was that I had to have and believe in the mindset of extreme confidence in myself.

It was all about the first victory. I had to be confident that I could accomplish and align the task with the mission.

I have incorporated this strategy many times throughout my life, primarily whenever I was venturing into a discipline in which I had never had any experience or knowledge.

Then, I contrasted that experience with my recent swim with the Honor Foundation. I not only had the experience of attaining the first victory four years ago to call upon, I invested in the physical training to make it happen.

One thing you realize when you do something like this is that you can guarantee that something will happen that you did not plan for.

On my first Hudson Seal swim, I didn’t plan on jumping off a 13-foot bridge into the Hudson River. I had a wingman, a sherpa, to guide me through these unexpected challenges.

During my most recent swim in Coronado Bay, I had a challenge with sighting, and my sherpa was Wendy, a kayaker who kept her eye on me as I was swimming solo for the first time.

I then shared a story with the podcaster that I heard from Greg Louganis several years ago after the 1988 Olympic Games.

He shared that in diving, there is a “sweet spot” on the diving board. When you hit it, everything starts and usually finishes well. But it’s a small spot, so most of the time, you don’t hit it. He said when he doesn’t hit it, ” I just have to deal with whatever take-off I am given.”

That is the mindset of having the first victory. You develop enough confidence in yourself to deal with whatever hand you are given.

I told her that was not only what happened that first Hudson Swim; I had confidence that I could deal with whatever hand I was given, including the recent Honor Foundation swim and on January 15, 2009.

What I shared is that when you are going down in a plane into ice-cold water and then have to get out of a sinking plane, you have to deal with the hand you are given.

Your first victory is having the mindset of confidence.

When I speak to businesses, I share the three things that I have found that companies are looking for in a new hire.

Confidence, Competence, and Creativity.

There is a reason that confidence comes first. It would be best to get that first victory before anything happens.

The next time you face a new challenge in something you have never attempted or something suddenly happens, remember that the first victory is to have confidence that you can deal with it. There are others who have come before you who have done it, and you can model their strategy to “get it done.”

Keep challenging yourself. You grow when you face the challenge and conquer it. Develop a mindset of confidence in yourself, and remember;

“The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile”.

Your pathway to a Limitless Life is to embrace the uncertainty that comes into your life, think about the possibilities, look for opportunities out of it, conquer yourself first, obtain that first victory, and that will be the moment that your transformation begins.

And you are on target towards having the Limitless Life you desire.