10 Seconds of Insane Courage - By Garrett Gravesen
Garrett Gravesen
So there I was, sitting at a leadership event when this young, highly energetic man bounces up on stage and begins to share his life story and experiences with us. I must confess, at first I was turned off by what appeared to be an arrogance, however, as he continued to speak I found myself captivated by his stories and relating with some of his challenges shared. By the end of his talk he presented to our small group of 30 this book, “10 Seconds of Insane Courage” and even stuck around for autograph signings and photo ops.
Although I was intrigued at the book’s reviews (one being from my daughter’s crush, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson himself!) it wouldn’t be until months later that I’d finally open it up in attempts to give it a read. Please note: up until this book I was NOT an avid reader. We are talking maybe one book a year. I know, my high school English teacher would be completely ashamed. Anyhow, upon reading the first page I found I could NOT put it down and I do believe this was my first book ever to have been read in ONE day (did I mention I keep my books on my bookshelf as trophies?).
First off, for those who struggle at keeping with a book, I valued the set up of the book into Fears. From there, each fear is about four chapters so it made following the author very simple. Second, for those of us visual learners, the author provides a road map of sorts at the end of each section, thus providing a summary of sorts of what you just read (or at least what should have been captured from such section). Third, each chapter has a quote pretty much highlighting the overall focus for that chapter (and as one who enjoys sharing quotes with my leadership team each week I found this very valuable!). Lastly, but certainly not least, the dude just has a gift with story telling – both in visually drawing you into the adventure (as he’s totally a risk taker!) as well as emotionally as you begin to empathize with what he is sharing. And that “arrogance”, by the way, I quickly came to learn was actually a rare and beautiful thing called confidence.
Overall, I totally buy into the author’s overall challenge to simply take 10 seconds of Insane courage in order to “unleash your potential.” I have promoted this book to everyone I know and have even used this book to facilitate a book club with leaders in some training. It truly is an energizing read that is sure to spark your passion and get your brain cells going. After reading his book I actually put it into practice many times as I sought to take that “10 seconds of Insane courage” and:
ask my boss for a raise (not for the money, but to gauge my value to the organization as I was being approached by another company with a job offer)
accept an invitation from a University who was trying to persuade me to pursue my Doctorate Degree from their institution by flying me out for the day and meeting with their dean, professors, and other University representatives
submit some material for possible publication by a national magazine
take time off work throughout the eight months following my mom’s brain cancer diagnosis to help my dad care for her
figure out my 5-year plan which resulted in the creation of this very blog
and many more!
Is the answer always yes? Absolutely not, but the courage in stepping out of our comfort zone results in us being more secure, authentic, and have more personal success. So go ahead…get “10 Seconds of Insane Courage” today, you won’t regret it.
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““Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful.””