Cognitive Reappraisal for Wild Success

EXTREME adventurers have to perform at their best every time, or there might not be another time. They must be able to execute a plan under pressure.

The same qualities that help them succeed will help any leader perform at a higher level and especially in a crisis situation.Wild Success by Amy Posey and Kevin Vallely illustrates seven leadership lessons we can learn from the harrowing experiences of extreme athletes. They are cognitive reappraisal, grit, learning from feedback, finding your spark, innovation, resilience, and building balance.

I want to focus on a critical, but often difficult skill that we all need to develop: cognitive reappraisal.When you are looking at danger, uncertainty, and understandable fear, you need to be able to get perspective on what you’re facing. And when things go wrong, this discipline is even more critical.Posey and Valley introduce the experience of one of the best big wave surfers in the world, Australian Mark Mathews.

Before Mark faces a dangerous wave like the slab wave he’s about to ride, “he performs a set pre-surf ritual to put his mind into focus. It’s something he does every time. ‘Fear is a big part of what I do,’ he says, ‘so dealing with it effectively is critical to my performance.’ Using simple breathing techniques to slow his mind down, Mark concentrates on feelings of excitement rather than anxiety, while reflecting on why he is doing what he is doing.”