[Read]Lean Into Stress and Embrace Fear
One of the first statements KPF published was our mission statement:
“Focus on a balanced lifestyle through performance by providing a sustainable and enjoyable community that supports the individual with education, opportunity and family.
Our point, and one of the enduring goals of KPF, was that our gym will give you a life worth living; we want our members to go and DO stuff with their fitness. We love having you do competitions, adult league sports (pickleball/tennis). Or swing a golf club as much as you want and complete those “bucket list” items, like skydiving and surfing the biggest waves! We can get you ready for any of it. That doesn’t mean those things won’t be scary. If you’re doing your first marathon this weekend, the nerves will probably start kicking in right about…..wait……waaaaaaiiiittttt….NOW!
Here’s how we have learned to help people lean into the scary stuff, embrace stress and live a better life:
First, understand that your body doesn’t know the difference between fear and excitement, they feel the same. When you start getting anxious before an event, ask yourself, “Am I actually scared, or am I just excited?”
As adults, we’re not excited often. Our body’s default response to increased blood pressure, elevated heart rate and surging adrenalin is fear. Before you know it, you are in a downward spiral and get scared when you should really be excited.
Second, know that anticipation is worse than the event itself. Our fear of what might happen is always way out of the scope of what actually happens. Our anxiety brain takes over and our minds go to the worst-case scenario, and we run at max heart rate for three days before the event. When the event actually starts, we’re exhausted from replaying the possibilities over and over! We’ve already done the whole event—with every catastrophe included!—78 times!
Waiting, deliberating, anticipating—they’re always worse than the doing. You’re ready, you have done the work!
Third, put the event in perspective: Will you actually remember this in a year?
If not, it’s not worth stressing about.
If you WILL remember the event a year from now, it’s REALLY worth doing.
Life is a series of moments. We sometimes joke that “anxiety is my cardio.” These standout moments—not the daily rhythm of eating breakfast and shaving—become your story. Any story without these moments is boring. Take it from us, every time you miss a lift, every time you fall off the wagon, every time you stay up all night in fear, every time you’re not perfect, they will all make a great story that will help someone else. In the end, these are the things that matter most. Lean into them.
