Obviously, I’m still the same old Brian, but as of late I’ve been feeling a growing unrest. Feeling like I’m not doing all I can. Well, I’ve been taking the steps to push me in the right direction, which I’ll explain in a moment, but first I’ll back up a year or two.
In the past, I always loved my life. I mean, who wouldn’t love getting paid to do play… or, for that matter, do what they love most? (I’m actually kind of disappointed that more people don’t, but that’s a whole other brain dump that I’ll get into at another time.) But at the same time, I’ve felt like there was something more I could do to be better, or rather, feel more fulfilled. The problem is, I just didn’t know what it was that I was missing or how to find it and do it. When I look back, I think I just lacked the proper motivation to really do anything about it. Don’t get me wrong, I was definitely motivated to well, I just hadn’t had the epiphany to push me to the next level. I was simply perpetuating the same cycle and taking things as they came, rather than seeking new challenges.
On the physical side of things, I pretty much hit a wall because freerunning as a whole has progressed so far in such a short period of time that I felt like I lost touch with it… and that’s partly true. I got so overwhelmed by all the talented people coming out with amazing new tricks, that I couldn’t decide which to do, so I tried to master all of them. It was discouraging and in the end I just defaulted to what I knew and didn’t necessarily give up, but stopped trying to push my limits to remain competitive in world scene. Well, that all changed when we shot Jump City. I’m not going to recount the entire series, but let’s just say the the experience was eye-opening and validating! I never want to see anybody get hurt, and I have the utmost respect for Levi, but I think him injuring himself really jarred something loose that I didn’t know was there. When he broke his wrist, my initial reaction was, “Well, there goes the season!” because everybody knew that the Skynative was our ringer. We all knew that if we ever got into trouble, Levi would bail us out. (Rather than excuse for our mindsets up to that point though, I think that’s a testament to how well he has established an amazing reputation in the community and it’s a major compliment to his skill!) With him out of the competition, I knew it was time to put on my big boy pants and make shit happen! It pushed me over my unjustified fear, and from that I gained the confidence to pull out all the stops. With our repeated success through the remainder of the season and ultimately securing the championship, I feel reinvigorated and ready to press on forward. When I watch the episodes again, I can pick out a million little things I can improve and clean up, but I’m not discouraged by that, I’m motivated to be a better freerunner… again!
On the personal side of things, whereas I feel like freerunning has allowed me to grow younger (in my mind), I’m still getting older and crave a level of stability that I didn’t necessarily need before. As a man, I feel a responsibility to provide for the people I love. I know that I can’t physically continue at this level forever and my body will eventually break down over time, so it’s important to me to build a second track. Something to that will allow my to remain a part of freerunning even when my contributions are no longer athletic. I was floating along with the desire to do more, but no direction. It’s intensely frustrating when you know you’re not doing it right, but also don’t know how to fix it. This past weekend, I spent 3 days at a Fortune Builders seminar in Vegas. I know what you’re thinking… a bunch of presenters selling me something I don’t need. I’ll stop you there, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. I was willing to suspend my skepticism because Fortune Builders is the product of a few family friends who I know and trust, and they’re extremely successful! (It was actually pretty funny initially to see Than up there in action because I always thought of him as more of a meat head with a great personality) I’m glad I did because within the first hour of sitting down, I knew it was what I needed. Yeah, they were good at pitching their other products, and some of the speakers were a little to “ra ra!” to be very helpful, but now that I’m on the other side of it with 30+ pages of valuable notes, I have a much clearer idea of how to get from point A to point B. How to put that desire into action.
Coupled with the success of the Tempest Freerunning Academy grand opening, and Epic Gym Video, I’m gonna be really freakin busy for the next few months. It’s going to take a ton of work and continued education along the way, but I don’t think I’ve ever been excited to experience the stress I know will come. I guess it’s that feeling of accomplishment waiting at the end of the tunnel that’s driving me forward, and I’ll be damned if I’m not gonna get!
…damn… I meant this just to be a first post to my reborn blog, but I guess I just get carried away when I’m deep in reflection, haha!
Congrats to Tempest with Jump City. Your situation reminded me of when Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls didn’t step up as a team and were in awe with Michael’s skill. They relied on him to win every game for them. It wasn’t until their coach, Phil Jackson, told Jordan to lay low that the rest of the team reached their individual potential (Levi being Michael Jordan in this analogy). Keep up the good work Brian, im a huge fan.