Smashing Boards, Destroying Fears and Reviving Our Dreams

In this solo episode of Second Half Comeback I recap some of my favorite moments and takeaway lessons from my recent trip to Nick Unsworth's Ignite Conference.

In the episode I talk about what a great job Nick and his team did with the conference but instead of rambling on about it here, I'll just let you listen to the episode. I'm going to use these show notes to just dive right into the takeaway lessons and to provide a few of the links mentioned in the episode...so let's get right to it!

Actually , first let me direct you to Nick's website in case you aren't familiar with him and his brand:

Nick Unsworth: Life on fire

Here's the website for the Ignite conference: Ignite Conference

Ok, back to my takeaways from the conference.

The conference itself was a three day event that was basically divided so that Day 1 was about "Mindset", Day 2 was about "Marketing" and Day 3 was about "Relationships/Love". Most of my big breakthroughs came on day 1 which is good because somehow I rambled for 30+ minutes just talking about day 1 so i decided to limit this episode to just day 1 lessons.

If you've listened to any of my recent podcast episodes, you may know that I've been struggling a bit, both in my personal life and with the direction of the podcast. As far as my struggles with the podcast go, I've mostly been struggling with doubts, fears and the dreaded "Imposter Syndrome". So the day 1 mindset content was of great interest to me. By the end of day 1, I had a couple massive breakthroughs.

Here are quick summaries of the two big breakthroughs from day 1 of the Ignite Conference (honestly, It's just easier to listen to me talk about them in the podcast episode and check out the video of Nick talking about getting "in-state".)

Finding your "Moment on Fire" and learning how to get "in-state"

Nick talked at length about finding your "moment on fire" and then guided us through an exercise. The idea is to think of a time in your life that you felt truly powerful, unstoppable, on fire! Close your eyes. Visualize this moment of triumph in vivid detail. Remember how you felt. Remember how your body felt. How were you standing? What were you thinking?

When you visualize this moment in vivid detail, how does it make you feel? Can you tap back into that moment...that feeling of power? Practice until you can. Figure out a physical cue that you can use to trigger this memory...to trigger this feeling of power.

Once you have mastered this skill, you will be able to use your trigger to bring yourself back into this powerful state whenever you need. Go listen to the episode. It will make much more sense and I tell you about my moment of fire during a division 1 college lacrosse game...Fuck, that was a great moment!

Anyway, here's the link to Nick Unsworth doing a much better job describing this process: Moment on fire

Breaking Boards, Destroying Fears and Reviving Our Dreams

My most transformational moment of the conference came the evening of day 1. There was supposed to be a fire walk, Tony Robbins style, but apparently the local fire marshall took a shit on that idea so the event transformed to a glass walk. A glass walk is just what it sounds like. You walk across a bed of broken glass in your bare feet.

But there was a twist. After you walked across the glass, you were challenged to break a board with your bare hands.

The idea was that you would write your biggest obstacle, your biggest fear on the board...and then smash it. the idea was to literally break through your fears.

 

The funny thing was that I wasn't at all nervous about the glass walk but I was super stressed about smashing the board. We were divided into groups and there were maybe 10 people in line before me to do the walk and board break. Sure enough the first 7 or 8 people struggled to break their boards! I was getting more and more stressed that I would fail to break the board on my first attempt.

Finally, it was my turn! To hear my description of what happened, listen to the episode (approx. 17:19 into the episode).

Here's my broken board:

 

 

 

 

 

So my big takeaway from this board breaking exercise was that I've been letting my fears and negative self talk become a barrier between me and a better life...a better life for my son, a better life for my wife.

This exercise helped me realize that when I truly and intensely focus and bring the full force of my frustration and passion, I will smash through every fucking barrier that stands between my family and a better life!

That is a powerful and life changing lesson! When I combine this lesson with my new found skill for getting "in state", I've got a recipe for success and serious transformation.

So I hope these lessons resonate with you and you can incorporate them in your own life. Let's get focused, "in state" and smash through our fears together!

Please drop me a comment and let me know what fears have been stopping you and more importantly how you plan to smash those fears! I'd also love to hear about your "Moment on Fire"!