M2M Day 108: Tomorrow, I’m going for it, no harness
This post is part of Month to Master, a 12-month accelerated learning project. For February, my goal is to land a backflip.
Tomorrow, I’m attending my fifth backflip lesson, which is kind of crazy. It seems like I’ve spent so much time at AcroSports, and yet, it’s only been three hours total.
Nevertheless, I’ve progressed nicely in those three hours, and feel that I need to continue in my progression tomorrow. In particular, I need to start throwing backflips from the ground without the mental support of the harness. In other words, I need to fully go for it.
Right now, the only thing that’s holding me back is my fear. I hoped that I could overcome the fear while using the harness, and then, once I wasn’t scared, I could transition to floor. But, I learned during last session that it doesn’t work like this:
Last session, I practiced pullovers on the trampoline, which were also terrifying at first (I didn’t like my head so close to the trampoline). In fact, the first ten pullovers that I attempted, I didn’t fully commit (out of fear) and bailed to the side. The whole time, my brain was telling me “Max, please stop doing this. This is a horrible idea. I really don’t support this”.
But, Elijah knew I could do it, and encouraged my to keep going.
After another ten pullovers, I completely smashed the fear. The result was a calm and controlled pullover (except for post-landing)…
This is what needs to happen with my standing backflip.
Right now, I’m clearly capable of doing it, and yet, out of fear, I’m bailing in the air. From my experience with the pullovers, I’m certain that if I can push myself to throw ten backflips on the ground (onto the big blue mat), even if the first ten I land upside down, I will reach the same level of calm as I did with my pullovers.
This is what I need to do tomorrow. I just need to go for it and face my fear head on. If I do, I will very quickly put the fear behind me.
Wish me luck…
Read the next post. Read the previous post.
