The Pioneer

In today’s podcast episode (and article) I wanted to talk about the significance of having an adventurous spirit along with you learning to embrace the advice of your true inner voice.

So what do I mean when I refer to your inner voice?

When I speak about your true inner voice I’m referring to your ability to listen to your intuition. Your intuition is that voice inside of you that gives you confidence when you’re considering taking a leap of faith in life in order to pursue a challenge that you are passionate about, particularly when everyone else in your surrounding environment is communicating nothing more than fear and doubt.

Unlike this intuitive inner voice it is not to be confused with your other inner voices of fear and reason. These two are also possible inner voices that you may encounter in a given scenario that may involve you avoiding making a bad decision to act on something you think is good idea, but in reality isn’t at all.

A good example here might be you grappling with the decision to receive a certain medical treatment that you think is a good idea, but in reality it is not. In this case it’s easy to see how many people can confuse their intuition with their voice of fear in this scenario as we’ve seen play out in real time on a wide scale since the pandemic, but I digress.

However, your intuition is something that is more in line with your gut feeling and instincts than anything else. It’s programmed for your survival and is an accurate gauge as to what you can do when presented with a possible endeavor that you may possess a strong desire and interest in. However in this case you may find yourself at a crossroads contemplating whether or not to act on this certain passion in the form of an actual pursuit.

Perhaps the challenge, or endeavor, that arises is something you have always had a true passion for in your life, but is something that you find talking yourself out of because of your current station in life. Perhaps you’ve always had a strong passion for a certain endeavor, but always convinced yourself that it was nothing more than a hobby and wasn’t meant to be a serious pursuit by you and therefore didn’t really warrant a serious investment from you in terms of your time, energy, and effort.

Whatever the reason may be in your case if you’re being intellectually honest with yourself you know you’ve had such scenarios arise in your lifetime. Maybe you took that leap and acted on these challenges because you always had an interest in that particular endeavor, OR perhaps you allowed the prevailing outside sentiment of negativity and doubt to shift your attention away from your intuitive voice and shift over to that voice of fear. This may have caused that intuitive voice to go silent as your fear voice continued to grow louder ultimately leading you to turn your back and walk away from the challenge altogether.

Cocksurety

I was having a conversation with a close friend the other day and we were discussing the incredible feat of the recent space launch of SpaceX over the past few years. During this conversation we started acknowledging many iconic achievements in space exploration such as having Rovers on Mars and sending man to the moon. 

During this conversation the word Pioneer was brought up when discussing the men that thrusted these great achievements into reality. I suppose my brain automatically wants to default to an image of an astronaut, or record breaking pilot when I hear the word Pioneer. I suppose this is because of the visual of those men being part of the first to venture into uncharted territory with both a high level of risk and confidence. Regardless of this specific image in my head the truth is Pioneers come in many different forms when people take bold steps in life to reach for new horizons.  

I was thinking about a good way to illustrate the behavior of a Pioneer and the thing that came to mind was the Bell X-1. This was a rocket powered high speed aircraft that would eventually be piloted by the famous WWII hero captain Chuck Yeager as seen in the legendary movie The Right Stuff. 

Chuck would end up being the first pilot in history to exceed the speed of sound breaking the sound barrier only days after breaking his ribs during a horseback riding accident on his ranch in 1947. Being such a Pioneer this would set off a competitive environment with other pilots pushing harder to go faster and faster into the supersonic realm. 

During the supersonic testing era leading up to Chuck’s successful achievement of breaking the sound barrier there were a lot doubts in terms of what supersonic speeds may do to the aircraft and by extension what impact it may have on the pilot(s). In this scenario you can imagine the level of risk that the men who participated in the program were shouldering at that time.

Faced with a lifetime of training and discipline these men were willing to take a seriously raging out of control bull by the horns (metaphorically speaking) that had a track record of ending careers and lives very quickly.

I can’t remember the exact percentage, but during these supersonic testing programs the mortality rate was projected to be very high among the pilots. In fact, I believe it was close to a 90% mortality rate. Regardless, I know for a fact that it was an incredibly high risk for these supersonic pursuits.  

With a projected super high mortality rate Yeager and other pilots forged ahead anyways. Hell, as I mentioned earlier Yeager did the test run on a set of broken ribs. 

So the magic question is why did these men do what they did despite the result being unknown and the risk being so high? 

The answer to this question lies within that inner voice that I touched on earlier in the episode combined with the unwavering confidence each of the pilots had in their individual abilities.

This explanation cuts deep into the psychology involved when it comes to how we assess and take on certain risks. Well, the answer in this case is what is known as cocksurety. Yes, that is a real word. 

Taking A Leap Into The Unknown

"I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit."—Chuck Yeager

So what is cocksurety?

What this means is that these pilots had clear explanations when asked about the misfortune of those pilots that had deadly outcomes that came before them. When addressing how previous pilots had sealed their fates in a tragic crash and burn test run the surviving pilots would immediately point to the mistakes of those that failed before them. 

This was not an attempt of disrespect, but rather a display of confidence coming from those that had yet taken that leap into the unknown. To those men that had yet gotten to supersonic speed and beyond they couldn’t be involved with such a pursuit being driven by fear. In their minds they were not allowing their fear voice to sway their judgement in continuing forward in their pursuit for breaking the sound barrier.

Now you might say well Brandon their intuitive voice got them killed and I would respond by saying that you’re forgetting about their voice of reason. They may have had a reason to ignore a test run that ultimately resulted in their tragic demise, but ignored that voice of reason by not acknowledging some existing problems that might have been unique to their given situation.

The truth is you and I will never know better than those pilots who actually stepped up to take on this mission. Once again, according to the surviving pilots that still had the opportunity to make the test run to reach supersonic speed those that did not make it were possibly at fault for not doing certain things that the surviving pilots are here to tell us about.

So at the end of the day those that continued with the mission had to forge ahead with absolute assurance in what they knew coupled with their experience and individual abilities. They had to be cocksure. 

The Main Ingredient

Cocksurety is a hell of trait and is really the main ingredient for all great Pioneers that have paved new paths and explored uncharted territory. 

So how does such a trait apply to our everyday lives? 

I would say it applies directly to you if you have invested everything into a dream, a set of skills, and a life education. You have demonstrated being a Pioneer everyday if you find yourself pouring your energy, time, and money into starting a new business(s), taking difficult stands, and fighting for freedom. 

None of these are easy to do in today’s society because the herd mentality is more about trying to fit in rather than trying to stand out. The herd mentality also silences the intuitive voice while more often than not magnifying the voice of fear.

A Pioneer is not about being a sheep, but rather about being an adventurous individual spirit driven by ambition and courage. Remember how significant the act of courage can be in any life situation. I also covered this in more detail in my podcast episode titled the Prisoner’s Dilemma.

A Pioneer is an individual that isn’t afraid of being just that along with standing firm in his or her abilities even when everyone in the room is pushing doubt and criticism in their direction on a constant basis. 

Do you relate to being a Pioneer? 

Now that you know what it takes to be a Pioneer can you see just how unique and rare it is in today’s world? 

If you’re a regular reader, or listener to this podcast then you understand the goal is to help you to be a Zenith during chaotic times so being a Pioneer is a major piece to that puzzle.

I hope you enjoyed today’s article.

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Stay strong. Stay focused. Stay active.

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