“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.”  –Fred Shero

In the next day or so, depending on what side of the dateline you are on, you’ll celebrate the arrival of a new year.  You’ll promise yourself this year will be different.  You’ll have all kinds of goals and dreams and things that you will accomplish.  You’ll tell everyone, and you may  even write these “resolutions” down.

What you won’t tell people is how afraid you are deep down inside that you might not succeed at your resolutions again.  You won’t tell them that your biggest fear is that another year of your life will pass by and at the end it will be just as unexciting as the last five before it.

Fear is a complicated emotion.  There really isn’t a cure to it.  Your survival depends on fear, but you needn’t let fear rule your life, and you definitely shouldn’t let fear limit you.  The point is not to be fearless…that would be stupid.  You’ve got to fear LESS, if you’re going to succeed at doing the awesome things you dream of.

Fearing less is a habit that you have to work at.  What follows below was one awesome foray into fearing less, during our time in Bali.  We hope it inspires you, but most of all we hope it gives you courage to take action.  Enjoy…

There are precious few times in your life that you get to see what you are truly capable of.  We are so blessed to have been given a world of limitless possibilities, and yet so few of us jump at the opportunity to experience the incredible abilities that we have within us.

When we were in Bali this summer, I chanced upon a calendar of events for a local studio in Ubud called The Yoga Barn.  They feature daily yoga classes for all levels, and from time to time they host special events.  As luck would have it, we just happened to schedule our visit to Ubud during the week that they were hosting an annual Firewalking Ceremony.

Walking on fire…wow…I thought to myself “That sounds so crazy, I want to do it!”

I shared the amazing find with Jo, and in true intrepid form she said “Let’s do it!”

To be frank, as excited as we were…we approached this challenge with much trepidation.  I mean, it’s not every day that you just say to yourself, “I think today is a great day to walk on some 1500-degree coals”.

On the other hand, we saw this as the ultimate challenge to prove the concept of Intrepid Motion.  You really come to terms with what you’re made of with this kind of challenge.  We’d done marathons together, and I had done the Ironman triathlon…but this…it just boggled our minds.

Starting A Fire

The evening began with two world-renowned yogis and firewalkers Cat Kabira and Dan Glynn sharing the rich tradition of firewalking and what it means from a spiritual and self-awareness perspective.

We then as a group started to build the fire that we each hoped to walk on that night.

While Cat and Dan assured us that we could all complete this challenge successfully, they also reminded us of the very real possibility of getting burned in the process.  Unfazed, we moved forward.

They told us that a firewalk was not only a chance to test your courage, but also the ultimate test in being true to yourself.

To walk or not to walk comes as a moment of truth.  And either decision is an act of courage as it shows that you are true to your inner self, irrespective of what others might think.  It was kind of like saying “Know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em”.

Cutting Edges

Then they dropped a surprise on us:  Before we would have our turn at walking on hot coals…we would get the option to really challenge ourselves with a walk on top of … broken glass.

We started to think, “Hmmm…this could either be an amazing experience, or end very badly.”  Thankfully, our faith got the best of us and we opted to go for it!  So as we waited for the flaming embers of the fire to die down, we proceeded to traverse the 5 meters of shattered bottles unscathed!  That was an incredible mental boost going into the firewalk.

Raising The Bar

Yet another chance to test our mettle came immediately after the walk on glass:  working with a partner to bend a length of steel rebar with only the strength of our throats and using our hands to steady the bar.

After about a minute of psyching ourselves up and applying steady forward pressure using our legs, we both met at the center having successfully bent the metal bar between us!

Into The Fire

The moment of truth arrived.  There was no pressure, no battle cries, no nonsense.  The group was quiet.  Each of us was left to our own devices as to when we felt was the right moment to walk across the burning embers.  First, Cat and Dan took their turns.  Of course, they made it look easy.

Next, two of our group moved forward across the coals, and we applauded them upon reaching the other side.

As I stood there contemplating when to go, I couldn’t get the image of the earlier conflagration out of my mind.  These were 1500-degree coals I was about to walk on.

Was I really ready to take this leap of faith?  Should I casually walk across as the others did, or should I make a mad dash in the hopes of minimizing my contact with the fire?

And then in the midst of this mental judo going on within me, an inspiring moment:  My amazing wife showed me what courage is all about. 

Without hesitation she walked right up to the end of the path of coals and asserting her will over the fire, proceeded to walk completely across both sets of fires!

Talk about an adrenaline boost!  Man, I was so proud of Jo!  She was all smiles on the other side, and I have to admit…that made me feel so much more at ease about this test.  So after gathering my composure for a few moments…I too walked across.

See the video montage below to witness the impossible become possible!

No burns, no emergencies, no first aid kits.  Just an amped up husband and wife team, excited, amazed, and inspired by what we had just done.  We hugged, we kissed, we told each other how proud we were to have gone through this together.

People pay thousands of dollars to go to a Tony Robbins seminar to do this.  They spend days with him, psyching themselves up to be ready to do the impossible.

How did we do it?  Blind faith, and commitment to a cause.  Intrepid Motion is about courage and taking bold action in the face of fear and uncertainty.  Sure…we were scared.  This was not about being fearless.  It was about fearing LESS.

Ever experience that feeling when you’ve overcome something that you were sure would be your undoing?  It’s the joy and confidence you feel when you overcome a huge challenge and realize that there was never anything to fear but fear itself.

Walking on fire cleansed our souls.  It renewed our spirits, and our joy for living.  It helped reinforce to us how truly amazing this world we live in is.  For one evening, we did the impossible.

Most important of all, it made the list of things that we should truly be afraid of a lot shorter.

Thank you for taking time to watch our “fireworks” show.  Happy New Year everyone.  Make this one count!

Disclaimer:  The firewalk described in this article was done under the supervision of trained professionals.  It is neither recommended, nor advised that the reader attempt to perform this feat without first consulting a professional.  This article is purely for the readers’ entertainment, and the authors claim no liability for injuries or death by actions taken as a result of what is presented here.