Hero (24 page)
ANASTASIA SOARE
I don’t want to do things that I know will hurt people for one reason – because of me. Because I will get so upset and it will eat me inside so bad that it’s not worth it for me. I am more harmed than they are harmed. And if I can do something good, I will do it and I don’t need anything in exchange.
“When you do a loving thing, when you put out positive energy, you feel happy. This is how human beings are wired. So the goal of karma – if there is a goal – is not to put out positive energy in order to get some positive energy back. The goal is to put out positive energy and feel positive about your life. That’s where the work is. That’s why the true revolution is a personal revolution.”
Tom Shadyac
Film Director
Humility
LAYNE BEACHLEY
If you’re on a Hero’s Journey, it’s really important to maintain a sense of groundedness and humility.
PETER BURWASH
Become genuinely humble. Because if you’re humble you’re going to listen, if you listen you’re going to learn, and if you learn you can teach.
MASTIN KIPP
My teacher told me that the higher you go the more humble you must be. He said humility is to always remain approachable. Just because you’re successful today, you have a bestseller today, doesn’t mean that that success is guaranteed.
PAUL ORFALEA
My dad would always tell me that the biggest reason you will fail is because your past success went to your head.
Whether we go the way of the hero is decided by our behavior and the way we treat others. The hero is kind and humble, and so the way of the hero is one of kindness and humility. Our behavior will either be stepping-stones that propel us forward on our journey to our dream, or stepping-stones that take us backward. The choice is ours.
ANASTASIA SOARE
It was my intention, my commitment, that even if a door was closed I would bang on it, I would break the door, or I would get in through the window. There was no way that I would not make that happen.
You automatically commit to something if you really want it enough. You don’t even have to think about it, you just jump right into it. If there’s a movie you’re desperate to see, it takes no effort for you to commit to go to a theatre and see it. When you fall head over heels in love, you can’t stop yourself from committing to see the other person.
LAIRD HAMILTON
The one thing about the activities we pursue on the ocean is they’re very committed. You don’t kind of ride a wave; you either ride it or you don’t. Every wave and every ride is a belief and a commitment. You’re taking that leap.
Laird Hamilton knows about commitment. If you need inspiration to strengthen your commitment, then watch a video of Laird Hamilton committing to ride one of the world’s deadliest waves at Teahupo’o on the southwest coast of Tahiti.
Renowned as the heaviest wave in the world, Teahupo’o produces consistent barreling waves as high as 21 feet (6.4 meters) and as thick as a building, breaking over an extremely shallow and razor-sharp reef. The only way to surf Teahupo’o when it is that big is to be towed out on the back of a Jet Ski and released at speed.
It was not until Laird had let go of the towrope that he saw the magnitude of the double-walled monstrous wave rising up behind him. He had to make a split-second decision whether to commit to ride the wave, or not. Had Laird not made the commitment to ride the wave, it’s unlikely he would have survived the mountain of water and the treacherous reef below. Instead, Laird Hamilton broke the boundaries of what is possible, and made surfing history.
LIZ MURRAY
There’s something about deciding that whatever you have at the moment is enough to do whatever it is you need to do. If you always think you’re missing one more thing, if you think, “I have to have this in order to, in order to,” you’re waiting for the right time. There is no right time.
The right time is never in the future. It is now. And your full commitment is the cue that opens the doors to your dream. It will never happen the other way around. Until you make a commitment, you will only see walls.
