Take The Chance

What I’ve learned about showing up, even if you’re scared.

A red journal with the words “You Are Your Only Limit” sits on a table.
Photo by Rashtravardhan Kataria on Unsplash

When I was younger, I wanted to be a professional surfer and/or snowboarder. I was good, but I was insecure. I doubted my ability. As a result, I never broke through.

In the surf, skate, and snowboard world in the late 90's you had to compete in contests to make a name for yourself and attract brand sponsorships. Getting “sponsored” was the holy grail back then. If you were sponsored it told the world that you were good, really good. Sponsorship not only included getting free gear from the companies that would sponsor you, which was a real perk when you’re young and broke, but it also meant that you received recognition from the surf/snow/skate community communicating that you were exceptional.

There were no cell phones back then, at least not in the way that there are today, so going viral posting videos wasn’t even a thing yet. This was before the advent of social media and if you wanted to pick up sponsorships you had to compete, or land a video part, which was harder yet living on the East Coast back then. Competing was the best avenue to getting noticed because other people in the community, like brand reps (salesman tied to these companies) and other talented surfers would be at these events. It was a way to get in front of the decision makers that could knight you as an individual with rare talent and bring you aboard. It was the pinnacle of external validation.

So then why was I so afraid of competing? I think it boils down to me feeling like if I entered the contest and didn’t win (or do well) that it would confirm that I sucked. At the time though, I just felt the fear and couldn’t really vocalize why. I played it off as me not wanting to compete, that it was somehow an exploitation of the sport itself and that “real” surfers didn’t have to compete. That surfing itself was the reward, which is a valid point and also true, but in my case was more of an excuse than an ideal.

I didn’t want to risk being seen as a kook. I was afraid that I would expose myself as someone who couldn’t surf/skate/snowboard as well as others. I was so desperate for the external validation that I would rather not compete at all than be exposed as “not good enough”. I would rather give up the chance to be sponsored than take the chance to be sponsored.

Now that I’m older, I no longer live by this belief. While the world has changed drastically since then, so have I. I realize that it is in putting yourself out there that you grow. Growth is the goal and if you don’t put yourself out there, you limit the amount of growth you can experience. By limiting your growth you also limit your opportunity.

Your dreams are on the other side of your fear.

You have to take chances. Shit, while I’m writing this post I’m taking a chance. I’m putting myself out there, for both criticism and praise. It is in this act of taking chances, that you get better. In fact, it could be argued that the simple act of putting yourself out there will increase the speed at which you improve, because love it or hate it, you will get feedback.

This feedback can be used to improve your skills. The acceleration of your opportunities comes when you put yourself out there because other people can see what you don’t. They can offer advice, even if it is disguised as criticism. Be a beginner, over and over and over again. Accept that there is always room to improve. By doing so you put yourself in a position to get better faster.

Remember, you are only really competing with yourself. Be better than you were yesterday. If doing a thing gives you joy, then do the thing. Share your love of that thing with others. You never know what lies on the other side of your fears.

It is in taking chances that you put yourself in a position to accept opportunities that would otherwise not have come your way. It is in the act of taking chances that you prove to the world that you are trying. It is a way for you to associate yourself with the thing and therefore be considered as a provider of it, whatever your thing is.

Now that I’m older, I see things differently. Is there risk involved with taking chances, certainly. But the risk of not taking the chance could be far greater. You could lose more by not taking the chance compared to going for it and coming up short of your goal. I think that this was the case for me. My peers who did enter the contests ended up going further with their surfing than I did. They deserved it, they took the chances and risked the risk. They put themselves out there and they grew more.

Your life is short. You are not going to live forever. The time is going to pass and one day you will look back on the decisions that you made. Don’t leave the stone unturned.

Take the chance.