Feel the Fear Fire and Do It Anyway
“Cool moss, cool moss, cool moss.” This was the mantra I kept repeating, as I stared at the 15-foot bed of hot coals that lay in front of me. In a moment, I would walk across those hot coals, which reached temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees.
Why in the world was I walking across hot coals? Great question, and one that lingered in the back of my mind, too.
The “fire walk experience” was part of a four-day Tony Robbins event, called “Unleash the Power Within.” The event was held in St. Charles, Illinois, a suburb 40 miles west of Chicago.
UPW is a weekend of personal growth, designed to help you set personal development goals you can (and will) conquer. The event is about unlocking and unleashing the forces that help you to break through your limiting beliefs, and create the quality of life you desire and deserve.
What stops us every day from taking risks and achieving our goals is the same thing I was facing as I stood in front of the 15-foot bed of hot coals: FEAR. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of pain, and fear of the unknown.
The fire walk is an experiential metaphor for creating breakthroughs and facing and overcoming these fears. It doesn’t eliminate the fear, but rather shows us how to take action in spite of that fear.
Why is this such a powerful metaphor? Because we are trained, almost innately, to be afraid of fire, and to keep away from it. Walking over a bed of hot coals is a powerful expression of moving beyond one’s fears. Accomplishing such an incredible feat becomes a powerful reminder of what we are truly capable of.
After a long, intense, super high energy first day – with amazing music, hours of preparation, and a crescendo of emotion leading up to this culminating experience – I found myself staring at hot coals. I could feel the excitement of several hundred people around me, and yet was focused intensely on the incredible, life-changing experience that was about to occur.
I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. The entire crowd was cheering loudly, as people in front of me completed their walk. My eyes were fixated on the coals. I was mesmerized by the hot embers, much like I had been while watching campfires as a child. I could feel the combination of tension and excitement in the air. The crowd was yelling, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” in rhythm to a drum beat that seemed to gain in intensity with each passing moment.
“Lay out fresh coals,” I heard someone say as I approached the start of my lane. Men shoveled fiery hot, burning red coals from a wheelbarrow, covering the path on which I would soon be walking.
I could feel my palms sweating, and my heart beating faster and faster. I was oblivious to those in front of me, as I continued to gaze at the hot coals. I focused as hard as I could on thinking of the hot embers as “cool moss.”
When the person in front of me started walking across, I knew “the moment” was just seconds away. The intensity increased, but I was more determined than ever to overcome every fear I’ve ever had about anything, and leave it all behind me as I traversed across the hot bed of coals.
“There’s nothing to fear,” I heard a voice say. “You are going to do this. I want you to be as strong as you’ve ever been in your life. Step up to the grass, say ‘Yes’ three times, keep your eyes up and then walk across!”
With the crowd chanting, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” and the drum beat growing louder in my head, I screamed “Yes” three times, and started walking briskly across. It felt like an out-of-body experience. Everything in life was blocked out – except the chanting of the crowd, and my resolve to get across the bed of coals.
While I felt the coals under my feet, the reminder of “cool moss” tempered the heat. Only at the very end, when I lapsed for a split-second, did I feel any heat whatsoever. I felt a little piece of coal burn between my toes, but it was quickly extinguished when my feet were hosed down at the end of the walkway.
When I finished, and realized what I had just done, I was overcome by a swirl of emotions. I was elated, because I had triumphed over fear with the fire walk experience. At the same time, I was reminded of how many times in my life I had allowed fear to stand in my way. UPW was a great reminder of the quote “do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” I felt, in a word, unstoppable.
UPW was a life-altering event that I will never forget. As I think back to the fire walk – both the first time in Chicago, and when I repeated the experience a year later – I’m reminded of how my life was forever changed. It’s an experience unlike any other in my life, although skydiving and bungee-jumping would later have a similar impact.
It was at UPW that spring weekend in Chicago where I decided I would no longer settle for an ordinary life, knowing that I can create an extraordinary one. I also realized that this is available to everyone. Even me!
The hardest part of anything is the first step. Whether we are talking about getting in shape, starting a business, or walking on fire, the hardest part is the first step. After you take the first step, you can take the second, and then the third.
Anyone can do this, and yet so many people fail to take the first step. They are stuck – paralyzed in fear.
The next time you’re stuck, feel the fear (or the fire), and take that first step. Say “Yes”, and start walking. And, if you need someone to encourage and inspire you, just let me know. I would love to support you in achieving your goals and dreams.
