(This is Jack.)
Shark.
A fin breaks the surface of the water 50 yards out.
For a split second, my fight-or-flight response bubbles up - pushing logic out of the way like a bully.
But I choke it down.
"Ok, just a dolphin" I tell myself.
Sigh of relief.
I look back at the shoreline. My eyes confirm what I already know...
Way too far to do much of anything even if ... even if it had been my worst fear.
I turn back to see my 3 friends perched on their surfboards in a seated position. Feet dangling under their boards.
One of them sees what I just saw.
He turns to me and smiles.
I beat him to it with: "Don't even try to f@$% with me. I know it's a dolphin"
He quickly replies "Yeah. Besides, sharks don't announce themselves like that."
Thanks buddy.
It's a running joke with my surfing buddies because they know I'm afraid of sharks.
Don't waste your time quoting to me the stats and how I'm more likely to win the lottery than get bitten by a shark.
I don't care.
I suspect those stats include people that live in places like South Dakota who've never tasted sea foam in their lives and probably never will.
And frankly, it doesn't matter anyhow because if you're that one unlucky bastard ... stats don't mean squat.
And as I'm bobbing up and down on a surfboard that isn't big enough to hide my entire body from the creatures that call the ocean home - I see what I DO want.
A big wave.
And I've got this one all to myself.
There's no crowd of surfers today even though these waves are huge (by Florida standards).
You see right now there's a small tropical depression hundreds of miles away turning my Florida coastline into a temporary wave machine.
The water by the pier would normally be teeming with surfers fighting for turf.
But it's Wednesday, shortly after 7am judging by the sun over the horizon.
And if you work for "The Man" - Wednesday is just another day you trudge off to work.
If you work a j-o-b then the closest you'll get to these waves are the surf report on your smartphone while you're stopped at the traffic light.
I've been there.
It ain't fun.
(I'll be right back. Gotta catch this wave.)
Turn to the beach.
Paddle like hell.
The force of the wave pitches me up.
It's so damn steep looking down.
It seems impossible NOT to nose dive, but somehow I pop up.
I'm surfing down the face of this wave as it's trying to knock me off my board.
I ride it for 75 yards and decide to ditch instead of riding it to the beach.
Too much work to paddle back out from the sand.
I scramble to get back up onto my board and start paddling like mad to swim back out to sea ... back where my buddies are and the next wave will test me.
I've been surfing dozens of time this summer.
But today I'm reminded of how blessed I am and how good even small acts of defiance feel.
I smile with satisfaction as I run through a quick list:
Act of defiance - pushing past my fear of sharks and playing in their "hood" while I enjoy some of the best waves of the summer.
Act of defiance - being out in waves on a Wednesday when almost everyone else is driving off to a job they dread.
I used to spend Wednesday mornings in traffic.
I used to fight through boredom in the corporate meetings and listened to the self indulgent babble from Ivory Tower managers.
I've been shuffled from one office to another, moved like a stack of paperwork or an office chair.
A thing.
An asset to the company.
To be used as needed and replaced when worn out.
Back in 2002 I literally exploded in rage at my boss and kept running for daylight, scrambling to break away from Corporate America.
Do you remember this scene from "The Matrix" where Morpheus is talking to Neo?
"You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."
I discovered you can only live with that splinter lodged in your mind for so long before the itch grows into a compulsion.
One day you can't take it any more and you push past the fear.
Your desire to break out of prison is greater than your fear of getting shot as you scale the wall.
Act of defiance in the face of fear.
Fear doesn't go away when you decide to act.
I still had the same thoughts I'd had a thousand days before I quit:
"What will I do?"
"Will it work?"
"What if it doesn't?"
But something changed and I know what it was.
My desire to fight for a life of choices and freedom was bigger than my fear.
And that was enough.
Just like surfing 200 yards off the Florida coast - the fear is definitely still there.
But the rush from surfing is enough for me to push that fear down and stick it in a box.
I'm living proof that you can start with one small act of defiance and with a lot of passion, a lot of dedication, and a sprinkling of luck, you can engineer your life outside the gravitational pull of the "rules" the dictate the "musts" and "have to's".
So, today's plan is to surf until we're tired or the wind switches onshore.
I've got no pressing appointments before noon.
And on my way home, my buddies and I are stopping at F.A. Cafe to have a hearty breakfast.
They don't mind that we snarf down coffee and eggs while we're still dripping wet on their bar stools.
I figure I won't be at my computer until 10:45 at the earliest but that's just a guess because I forgot to wear my watch.
(I never wear a watch except sometimes when I'm surfing.)
Later today I have a meeting with an iPhone app developer I've hired to create a new mobile app I'll be releasing in a two weeks.
Before that, I'll log into Trello to see how my coders are doing with my other web based software apps.
(Some are already spinning off monthly revenue at a growing rate and some are projects I'll be testing soon.)
And just like a set of waves coming in, some of these aren't worth riding, some of them I'll nose dive or get "closed out", and some of them I'll ride all the way to the beach.
One of the things I've discovered is that the more freedom you have, the more opportunities you get.
More opportunities means you can be pickier about which ones you jump on.
And you create a situation where you don't have to know the future in order to "win".
That's what TLB teaches you...
How to test quick, fail fast and light, and get back in position to find a project worth pursuing.
The skills you'll learn from TLB can be applied to any business venture.
And what you start today may not be your main source of income 11 years from now...
Just as I'm doing very different things now than I was 11 years ago - but it all starts with a decision.
What's going to win the battle for your mind?
Your desire for a life of choices and opportunities...
Or your fear of failure?
Fear is a holdover from the distant past where it kept us from getting eaten by sabertooth tigers.
But the ancient artifact that creates fear can't tell the difference between getting eaten by a tiger and testing a new business idea.
I know the fear won't go away.
But I hope you know now that it's an illusion.
And you can push past it.
Start with a small act of defiance.
Come join us in TLB and join a defiant brotherhood of like minded freedom fighters.
http://tlb.io/join.php?v=e22 ($49.95/mo for 7-months)
Jack "defiant" Born
P.S.
Here's a perfect analogy about how one small act of defiance can cascade into a future you hesitate to even imagine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y97rBdSYbkg&hd=1
That large domino represents a life outside the "rules" that bind most people to a future they didn't really want.
The small domino is a decision to either move on with your day, or try something different.
Join TLB and discover how to engineer your own life where you replace old rules with the ones you want.
http://tlb.io/join.php?v=e22
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