Dean Karnazes is an ultra-marathon runner who after working for a Fortune 500 company and becoming a millionaire, he decided to risk it all and follow his passion.

1. Erase “what if?” from your life.

To celebrate his 30th Birthday, Dean went out to a bar with a couple of friends like we all/ you used to do in a pre-pandemic world. He took a good look around and meditated on his life realizing that even though he had acquired a lot of material wealth, he felt miserable. So, in the middle of the night he decided that this was not for him and ran 30 miles to the nearest town. The next day he quit his job and decided to pursue a career in running.

I had the pleasure to interview him recently. In this interview, he compared fear to “handcuffs” and that most people don’t pursue their passion because of the fear of failure rather than actually failing. I would urge those of you reading to look at it from this perspective. If you don’t try, failure is GUARANTEED in your life.

If you don’t pursue your dreams, passion, or whatever keeps you up at night you are going to die with that “what if?” in your head.

Everyone is afraid of failure but the difference between the common man and leaders or people who accomplish something meaningful with their lives is that they embrace adversity. They use their setbacks to propel themselves forward.

2. Become anti-fragile

Anti-fragile is a system that gets better when you drop it repeatedly. A great example is the immune system; the more bacteria it comes into contact with the more antibodies it creates and the stronger it ultimately becomes.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has written a whole book around the concept of becoming anti-fragile. Great leaders like Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, and Henry Ford all have had immense setbacks. The people you admire have faced so much adversity, that most regular people would have quit pursuing their passion. That’s right “most” people, but through tying yourself to a higher purpose, you can overcome any setback.

If you believe that your life’s inner workings are tied to something bigger than yourself, something you are willing to DIE for, then nothing will stop you from fulfilling your purpose.

3. Burn your boats

Dean Karnases, is the epitome of someone who is anti-fragile. He once had an out-of-body experience after running for three days straight. He told me that

“at first I thought it was a little bug in the ground, but then as I tuned in further I realized that it was me. It was as if I was seeing myself from a hot air balloon.”

Even after having an out-of-body experience, he kept on running. The mindset that he has developed is what people in any walk of life need to have if they want to “succeed” whatever that may mean to him/her. The book Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill describes this mindset perfectly

“A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing the men before the first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores unless we win! We now have no choice — we win — or we perish!” They won.

Anyone who wishes to embark on a great undertaking must be willing to burn their boats.

4. Change your relationship with pain

What has impacted Dean the most from all of his running is “learning that you can keep going when things are horrible.” He says that running an ultra marathon is putting yourself in this position willingly.

At first, you might think that overcoming this obstacle is unfathomable. But after overcoming it you will realize the untapped potential that you possessed all along. The next time an obstacle will pass your way you would be stronger mentally, physically, and emotionally because you KNOW that this is something that you have already done. Misery is all in the mind. Dean explains that

“the natural inclination is trying to get rid of the pain. Trying to get rid of the pain is almost impossible. It just makes the pain worse and you think about it more. If instead, you turn all the thoughts to the pain and try to understand what is causing all these feelings. That is a better approach than trying to avoid them or trying to make them go away.”

The next time you are running and something starts to hurt take that opportunity to use this technique. You will finally realize that most of our pain is self-inflicted by the mind. We now live in a world of constant uncertainty, building this mindset and strength of character is needed now more than ever. Be that person that amidst chaos and uncertainty pushes his people towards a brighter future.