What Are You Committing Yourself To?

Any time you’re trying something new, there’s going to be fear.

I received a humbling (and slightly painful) reminder of the importance of commitment this week.

I’m in Utah to record my Dry Bar Comedy Special tomorrow and, while in town, I decided to meet up with a few different speaker friends of mine. One of those friends included Ty Bennett, who, in addition to being a fantastic speaker, is also the co-owner of a Ninja Warrior Gym. 

If you’re not familiar with “ninja” (as the cool kids call it), it’s basically what you see in shows like American Ninja Warrior (or one of 18+ spinoffs from the original Sasuke show out of Japan), where people race through obstacle courses to get the best time.

It’s a lot of fun to watch… and incredibly hard to do.

Not only does Ninja require physical strength (particularly in proportion to your body weight), but it also requires a mental fortitude that I’d like to think I have but don’t. At least not when it comes to hurling yourself through the air to catch a bar to swing on.

As Ty shared, there are a few key skills needed for most Ninja challenges. There’s running, balance, grip strength, momentum, and a willingness to subject yourself to physical pain.

One of the key movements included in the above is the laché (pronounced like the last name of Nick from 98 Degrees). 

Interesting side note: depending on which link you click when googling the word, laché is French for either “loose” or “coward.” Though to properly do a laché, you have to be the opposite of a coward. You have to commit.

The laché is the process from which you swing from one bar (or handle or teeny tiny ring) and leap to another. I don’t mean a calm swing like you’re Tarzan swinging from vine-to-vine. I mean a big leap of physical faith like you’re a trapeze artist swinging with no net or leotard.

The world record distance for a laché is 18 feet. I tried starting out at 4 feet. The key word is tried. I want to sit here and write you that after 10+ attempts, I found my commitment and successfully jumped from one bar to the next… but I didn’t. I gave up after 6 attempts and moved on to the warped wall.

The reason for my failure was lack of commitment. Both in the act itself and in the act of trying to learn the act. 

I didn’t successfully make the jump because every time I was in the air, I couldn’t commit to trying to grab the next bar. I touched it a few times and even gripped it once, but when it came time to actually hold on, I would let go out of fear of falling or pulling my arm out of its socket like a broken Barbie doll.

This first kind of lack of commitment is completely understandable. Any time you’re trying something new, there’s going to be fear. Part of getting reps, of trying things over and over again, is building up the mental strength to fully commit. 

It took me 50+ shows in improv before I wasn’t a nervous wreck before performing. It took me 50+ shows for the same to be true in stand-up. Even still, I need to mentally prep for performances and remind myself to commit to the bit. 

This need for practice is true regardless of what you’re learning, whether you are Ninja-ing, doing stand-up comedy, taking on more responsibilities at home, or committing to being a more empathetic person (all things I’m currently working on).

It’s the second kind of lack of commitment that stops you from succeeding. If you don’t commit to yourself to keep on trying until you’re successful, you never will be. As Jake the Dog said, "Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something."

The caveat, of course, is that you can only commit yourself to so many things. I would love to go back into the Ninja gym and keep on trying until I make it, but I also have a bigger commitment I’ve made: knocking my Dry Bar special out of the park…

So that’s what I’m focused on for the next 36 hours. After that? Who knows. Maybe I’ll go back to the Ninja gym on Sunday and give it another hurl.

What about you? What are you committing yourself to over the next few months? I’d love to hear.

Until next time,

=Drew

PS. We’re continuing on this theme of “taking a leap” in our next virtual happy hour. Join us on February 29th.

What about you?
What are you committing yourself to?