DEALING WITH FEAR AND NEGATIVITY

MAKE SURE YOUR WORST ENEMY
DOESN’T LIVE BETWEEN YOUR OWN TWO EARS.

FEAR: NOT TO BE FEARED Every so often, in an article or an interview, someone describes me as “fearless.” In my opinion, that’s like calling me an idiot. Fear is a natural response. Without it, we wouldn’t survive. If you’re never scared, then you’ve either never been hurt or you’re completely ignorant. The idea that fear is something to deny is completely misguided.

Forget your emotions around fear for a second and look at the simple reality: It’s an energy source designed to increase performance. Adrenaline and the natural hormones your body creates when you’re scared are more powerful than any drug. The ability to harness it constructively, that’s the tricky part. Once you start to understand fear, it becomes something you can tap into. In my experience, fear usually prompts me to make really good decisions. I’d even go so far as to say that it gives me power.

How do you use fear to empower yourself? You don’t fight it, and you don’t overanalyze it. Thinking too much about a frightening situation causes your mind to start chattering, and it gets in the way of your body.

At Teahupoo, Tahiti, in 2000, I faced what has been, to date, the most dangerous situation of my career. I’d surfed this wave before, but never at the size it was that day—and neither had anybody else. The thing about Teahupoo is that it’s a massively thick, deep, fast-moving barrel, and when it breaks it heaves so much water over the falls that it practically drains the reef. And the noise—you’d think it was a neutron bomb exploding. If you fall in the wrong conditions at Teahupoo, you’re looking at a serious problem—possibly the last one you’ll ever have.

When I let go of the rope after being towed in, I knew that the wave I’d just caught was a monster. But a split second later, I realized that it was actually a two-headed monster, unlike anything I’d ever ridden. My mind tried every trick in the book to get me to doubt my ability to survive what everyone could see (and I instinctively knew, even though it was behind me) was a potentially fatal ride. But if I had listened to those panicked thoughts and jumped off that wave, I probably wouldn’t be here to tell you not to let panic dictate your actions.

If you think about it, the f lip side of fear is commitment. You can spend your life fence-sitting because you’re frightened of something bad that might happen—or you can launch yourself into it with all of your conviction and all of your intelligence. Here’s my advice: Meet up with your fears. If you’re afraid of sharks, go learn all about sharks. Get into the water with one. If you respect fear, face it straight on and act anyway. What you’ll find isn’t terror—it’s exhilaration and the moments that you never forget.

NEGATIVITY: WE ALL GET IT, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT Negativity is going to crop up in your mind. I think that’s an unfortunate part of being human. It’s as sure as daytime, nighttime. The question is: How much life do you give it? How dominant do you let it get? You have to make sure that the positive has more power and gets more time in your head than the negative. If you let that negative side take charge, you’re going to find yourself in a hole.

I can be as negative as anyone, but when it comes to what I’m doing in sports, that stuff is out. For instance, if I’m surfing and I start thinking about wiping out, that is getting pushed out of my brain. I’m consciously removing that thought; that’s not something I’m giving any kind of life to. Mental discipline is key—and when it comes down to it, negativity is the easy way out. Quitting: easy. Daring to triumph: hard.

Your mind has 100 percent power over your reality. Whatever you believe, that’s what you are cultivating. So if you’re hurt and you’re funneling all your energy into thinking I’m getting better, I’m getting stronger—then that’s what will happen. At the same time, if you’re thinking Poor me. I’m wounded. I’m never going to be the same, then you will end up with the fruits of those seeds.

If you’re plagued by negative thoughts, here’s a simple cure: Do something. If you think about it, negative thoughts are a luxury. They’re a way to avoid getting down to work. We are each our own greatest inhibitors. We stop ourselves. The irony is that if you just get out of your own way, you’ll do really well. And the sooner you face the work, the easier it’ll be. The work will actually be the fun part.

DROPPING IN

GABBY REECE

I think I’m a pretty good athlete. I mean a good athlete. But it’s a humbling thing being with someone like Laird. There are the 1 percent athletes—the people who are at the top of the college sports scene; the ones who become pros. About 1 percent of talented athletes will make it that far. But then, every so often, you get a Tiger Woods. He’s like the 1 percent of the 1 percent—a different breed. And Laird is in that group. I’ve been around a lot of pro athletes, and I’ll watch him training and think, That’s just a whole other existence going on over there. Being around someone with that talent, whether it’s in sports or art or science or whatever—you don’t get in the way of it. You’ve got to support it because it’s unique.

When we met, I knew exactly what Laird did for a living. As far as being nervous about it, I think I just accepted a long time ago that it’s part of his destiny. You couldn’t live with him if he wasn’t doing it. It’s all part of the deal. Over the years I’ve come to understand surfing and to appreciate how Laird approaches his sport. He has a lot of control and a lot of speed. His board is pushed into the wave rather than chattering across the face. Often he’ll ride in a deeper position than other surfers, farther away from the shoulder, the wave’s outside edge.

Even though the situations he’s in can be radical and powerful, there’s something straightforward about his arena. Nature isn’t as capricious as humans are. The ocean lets you know up front: “I’m dangerous. And I’m coming from the north.” It’s consistent that way. I’m not going to say there aren’t days when I say, “Hey, could you just call me when you get in? Please just check in with me.” Because you do have those days.