Ferate's 5: The Great American Bison & Facing Your Fears. (026)

Let’s Go!!! Pumped You’re Here!

First off, my last name is Ferate like karate with an F or kinda like, Ferrari.

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What is that obstacle or challenge that you have been putting off? You know it is important, maybe even vital. You have been meaning to take care of it as it takes up more and more real estate in your brain.

______________________ (insert discomfort here.)

What’s the solution? Here is how the bison helps me face fear head-on.

In the 1800s, American settlers moving west nearly obliterated the bison population, dwindling from over 30 million to a mere 541 by 1889. Today, about 500,000 American bison roam the plains. Their survival against all odds is awe-inspiring, but it's not just their resilience that makes them special.

It was their relationship with storms.

When a storm approaches a herd of bison they will wait for the storm to get very close. As the first raindrops fall, they accelerate, charging into the storm. Imagine the power of that collective decision to face adversity directly. Bison reduce the long-term exposure of adversity by running right through it. Compared to livestock who typically run away, prolonging stress and fatigue because they end up running with the storm.

For athletes and individuals alike, applying this mentality directly to life is actively practicing being bold. It's about reducing long-term exposure by fostering self-awareness and engaging in difficult conversations early. Instead of avoiding problems, lean into them to avoid unnecessary stress and delays. Whether it's tackling the demands of finals week, addressing challenging conversations promptly, or consistently training to bounce back better from an injury the key is to face it.

Be the bison and eliminate this cost.

Face Challenges Head On. Accelerate Into It. Early & Often. Thrive Because Of It. AMOR FATI (Love Fate).

Recently, Cat Wade and her son told me they shared my article with his class. LET’S GO, JUICED!!! This made me revisit my article from June of 2022 and how Bison was my word of the year. It is crazy to think a story that moved me can also impact one of my incredible friend’s children.

BOLD BISON FERATE in all caps was my reminder to confront challenges and use that story to be the best version of myself. Stop over-apologizing, get clear on what I want, and face conflict head-on. The path to eliminate that people-pleaser quality that pops up in my life from time to time.

In revisiting the article it just makes me laugh about life and timing. Cat’s son shared this lesson with his class and it was the exact time that I shared a video with the baseball team. Facing finals week for student-athletes the same way I used Bison as my mantra for the last 30 miles of my 100-mile ultra marathon. Instead of putting things off, face them. Straight into the storm and get it over with.

The art of storytelling is one of the most incredible parts of this whole thing. Face hard things, early and as often as possible is the lesson but it hits so much harder when packed into a story. Shaan Puri has said, “We only remember stories and music.”

David Senra has mentioned something similar “I only speak in aphorisms and maxims because that’s all people can remember… you forget the book but remember the quotes.”

Bison story + “Easy choices hard life, hard choices easy life.”

That line summarizes everything you need to know.

Wishing you all love & consistency. Keep stacking those daily deposits and making every day the best day of the year, until tomorrow…

Ferate