After putting on full body armor and getting on a bike that resembles something from a Sci-Fi movie, they put you and your bike on a chairlift that brings you to the top of one of the highest mountains in Tahoe. You get off the chairlift, strap on a full face helmet and start down the mountain on runs with names like Dog Bone, Live Wire, Gypsy, etc.

My 13 year old son takes off attacking the mountain, racing down the trail, flying through the air, and going over boulders and around turns like they don’t even exist. He is FEARLESS and does it EFFORTLESSLY. As I try to keep up with him going down the mountain I am everything but fearless and effortless. As I squeeze the hand grips like I am trying to strangle them, the only thing going through my head is my mortality. “Just don’t crash.” With the exception of a few sore muscles and minor crashes, I am happy to say I experienced no major wipe outs or broken bones. Funny thing is my son never crashed once. I don’t think he even came close.

So what is the lesson of this extreme sport? Attack whatever you do with Passion, Fearlessly and Effortlessly. If you do, you will do better, go faster, suffer fewer setbacks and reach your full potential.

When we are young our lives are all about growing and going for it. It is all about new unfamiliar experiences. Every day you wake up as a kid you are being pushed and encouraged by your parents and teachers to go for it. However, at some point in life, society puts the brakes on all of this growing and going for it. It plants the “play it safe, don’t go for it, what if you can’t” in our brains. All too often as we get older we let our fears and caution hold us back from CRUSHING IT! Unlike a kid we get too worried about what happens if things don’t work out instead of focusing on what will happen if they do. So if we hold back and worry about what will happen if things don’t work out, we will experience major wipe outs and broken bones. On the other hand if we attack with fearlessness and do it effortlessly, we will fly and CRUSH IT!

So how do we do go back to having the mindset of a kid? How do we go back to being FEARLESS? Make sure we are spending more time with kids and with people who go against the status quo. Spend time with risk takers, people that go for it and attack life. Remember we are all the average of the people we spend the majority of our time with. Be aware of who you are spending your time with.

Make it a great week as you attack the Dog Bone, Live Wire and Gypsy of your life.