7 ways to practice fearlessness

To practice fearlessness is to act from a place of peace, even in the face of perceived physical and emotional threats. It means demonstrating courage and compassion, rather than violence and aggression. It requires action, not being timid or passive.

Fearlessness and safety are inseparable while riding your motorcycle. This does not mean reckless abandon, nor does it mean ignoring healthy fear, which alerts you to danger.

A wild animal that allows fear to rule him soon ceases to exist. Fear as a survival mechanism is a necessity because it alerts him to danger. Being afraid of what other animals will think of him, questioning his hunting skills or being afraid to leave the comfort of the den will render him ineffective and easy prey.

Embracing fearlessness allows you to step beyond fear and live the life you are meant to live.

7 Ways to Practice Fearlessness

1. Start with yourself. No amount of confidence or courage makes up for practice or lack of skill. In fact, it can place you in peril. As a rider, you need to know how to competently operate your motorcycle to be safe on the road and that takes practice, practice and more practice.As a traveler on life’s Road, learning to discern survival fear from perceived threats, eliminating a scarcity mentality and recognizing myths that influence your actions are the foundation from which to act fearlessly.

2. Build collaborative relationships. Look for the common ground with others instead of trying to conquer them. Look no further than your motorcycle to understand a collaborative relationship. You don’t conquer it; you learn how to move together so that even in the face of challenge, you understand how to get through it together.

3. Extend trust. While riding down the highway, you trust your throttle to engage when you twist your wrist. You count on your brakes to work when you activate them.Extending trust to others and looking for the win-win, requires bravery, and it yields positive results. This doesn’t mean trusting everyone without question, but it does mean eliminating the mentality that others are out to get you. Your actions open the door for them to do the same.

4. See the capacity for peace in others. As instructors, we advise motorcycle students that if they need to use emergency maneuvers on a regular basis, it’s time to look in the mirror and assess their own skills. It’s generally not everyone else on the road that drives unsafely.In life, others act as mirrors and project attributes you admire and others you’d rather not address. Before passing judgment on another, reflect on the lesson that’s meant for you.

5. Look for the common ground. Riders and motorcycles come in a myriad of models, shapes and sizes, all designed to fulfill a unique purpose. Underneath it all, everyone is a rider and shares that common bond.You may have to look for it but ultimately you share a common ground with others, and an opportunity to co-create mutual abundance and healing.

6. Don’t buy into other’s beliefs. A motorcycle’s performance isn’t influenced by what others think of it or what they say. It fulfills the purpose it was built for.People buy into other’s beliefs out of a fear of being hurt, rejected or taken advantage of. All this does is distract energy from accessing your creative energy and going where you were meant to go.

7. Reframe your perspective. Your subconscious doesn’t discern fact from fiction. If you tell yourself you can never master learning to ride, you won’t.Look at the terminology that’s used in our culture. Declaring “war” on cancer, terror or drugs leads us to act from a place of fear and act as victims. Instead, look for the opportunity to learn and make things better—and support it with your thoughts and vocabulary.

Choose to practice fearlessness and embody peace in your thoughts and actions. Just as practicing hostility escalates violence, practicing kindness and compassion escalates peace. Find creative ways to negotiate on common ground and you will change yourself, and the world.

In The Four Insights, Dr. Alberto Villoldo draws from indigenous cultures to identify the practices that allow us to change our perception of the events that happen to us, remove the association with cause and effect and learn to live in harmony with our world. One of these is the practice of fearlessness.

photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar via photopin cc