Don’t leave just yet ladies… This one is for you too.
This post was inspired by two of my favorite books that I’ve referenced quite a bit over the years, “Ballsy – 99 ways to grow a bigger pair and score extreme business success” by Karen Salmonson and “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris.
Karen’s first tidbit of advice in the book is that “more important than having talent, you need balls.””
Let’s dive into this a bit deeper, shall we?
We all know that talent matters, nobody is suggesting otherwise. The newborn that enters the world and is playing Mozart at two years old has talent, god-given talent, some would argue.
But what about the rest of us? We all have talent and without balls, the talent means nothing.
For me, I do believe that I’m talented, but I think I could benefit from bigger balls.
So how do we do it?
How do we go about growing a bigger pair?
For this, I’m going to refer to Tim and The 4-hour Work Week.
Tim recognized that many of us have talent but lack the self-confidence to do what it takes to become mega successful.
Tim wants to help us break away from our comfort zones which is something I’ve talked about before.
So how does Tim suggest we grow a bigger set of balls?
He believes we need to train ourselves to become more comfortable with risk and step out of our comfort zones. Tim has provided a collection of “comfort challenges” to help with the process.
Tim is straightforward and honest in letting us know that comfort challenges look simple, but they’re extremely uncomfortable for most people.
However, by practicing the art of being uncomfortable and attempting things outside your comfort zone, you’re actually growing yourself the “bigger pair” which is an absolute essential ingredient to your success.
So here’s my proposal, and I hope you’ll play along with me.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to go through Tim’s comfort challenges. Each Friday, I’ll post a new comfort challenge for you to work on over the weekend.
I’d love for you to join me. If you don’t want to take part, no problem.
My advice is to just do it. Have some fun with me, and let me know how the challenges affect you.
Ready to go? Yup, we start today.
These are Tim’s “comfort challenges” and if you already have a copy of Tim’s book, you can follow along. If not, I’ll be sharing a new challenge every week or so.
Buy Tim’s book if you don’t have it. It can change your life.
Comfort Challenge #1
From The 4-Hour Work Week*
Learn to Eye Gaze (2 days)
My friend Michael Ellsberg invented a singles event called Eye Gazing. It is similar to speed dating but different in one fundamental respect—no speaking is permitted. It involves gazing into the eyes of each partner for three minutes at a time. If you go to such an event, it becomes clear how uncomfortable most people are doing this.
For the next two days, practice gazing into the eyes of others—whether people you pass on the street or conversational partners—until they break contact.
Hints:
1. Focus on one eye and be sure to blink occasionally so you don’t look like a psychopath or get your ass kicked.
2. In conversation, maintain eye contact when you are speaking. It’s easy to do while listening.
3. Practice with people bigger or more confident than yourself. If a passerby asks you what the hell you’re staring at, just smile and respond, “Sorry about that. I thought you were an old friend of mine.”
Simple right? It may be a heck of a lot harder than it sounds?
Feel free to share your results and comments, if you’d like.
Good luck and have a great weekend!
Noah
