Page 183 - Think Like a Champion

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DONALD J. TRUMP
techniques. Tow in will take you deeper and faster and allow
you to ride waves that were unthinkable. A little bit like
leveraged loans and derivatives in leveraged buy out land.
One morning Laird and one of his surfing mates,
Brock Lickle, were in search of bigger waves and less surfers.
They pulled around the corner from Jaws to a spot near
the Maui airport which was virgin territory and breaking
at 60 to 100 feet wave heights. They watched, analyzed and
thought these just might be the waves of the decade. Even
though there was no one else in the water they started to
sea, racing up the huge wave faces and pounding through
white water trying to get through the treacherous break.
Just as they thought they had made it through the impact
zone they looked to the horizon and saw a rogue wave
roaring towards shore. They raced as hard as they could to-
wards its looming face, but couldn’t climb it in time and
were tossed like rag dolls to the depths of the dangerous
coral reefs. Laird related that he was no longer afraid at
these moments because he had been in so many fearful sit-
uations in his decades of preparation that this was now his
comfort zone. Both were the best in the world and knew
that survival depended upon a few basic elements:

} Remain calm—don’t panic

} Save your “dry powder” (air)

} Don’t fight the current—let it have its way with you

} Don’t question your ability to survive—know that
you have trained and prepared a lifetime for this
moment

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