It was Iraq.

I was a Combat Lifesaver, which meant we got a little extra medical training. And, I’d volunteered to work at the on-base hospital, because they were short-staffed. So, whenever we had a “mass casualty” type event, I went up there.

That day, a mortar round landed on base…

Right in the middle of one of the unit’s meeting.

There were over 30 people that got hit.

And, the hospital had 2 doctors and 2 medics.

We had to fill in the gaps on the rest of the casualties. The ones hit the worst went to the doctors and medics. The rest to us. That was the first time I was responsible for someone all by myself.

He had shrapnel wounds all across the front of him.

And, he’d broke his arm.

But, he wasn’t seriously hurt.

The only real risk was him going into shock.

So, the big thing was to get an IV in him, get his wounds dressed and arm in a splint and he’d be just fine. Now, we spent a lot of time practicing IVs. And, I had the distinction of never having missed in the dozens of times I’d practiced it.

But, as I went to give this guy an IV.

I was literally shaking.

I kept trying to calm down…

But, my hands just wouldn’t stop shaking.

I did my best, but I missed. And, as soon as I did, he freaked out. Starting yelling, “Do you know what the f!@# you’re doing?” I’ll be honest, I damn near cracked. That moment was just so intense.

All the chaos around me.

This guy screaming at me.

And, my mind racing about 100 mph.

It was almost too much.

Thankfully, I had a friend. Melissa. She was running around just helping everybody she could. And, she saw the guy freaking out and came over. I told her what happened and she said to me, “You got this. You’re the best of us at this.”

Then, she looked at him and said:

“He knows exactly what he’s doing.”

“Just relax and let him do his job.”

He calmed down.

I calmed down.

And, I nailed the IV on the next attempt. Got him bandaged up and after a few minutes, he calmed way down and we were in the clear. I remember every time I saw that guy on camp after that.

It reminded me of how I almost failed…

And, how someone else almost died because of it.

I had thought I was prepared.

I’d even gotten little cocky because “I never missed”.

But then, I missed when it mattered most.

My point of telling YOU this is… this is the reason behind why I constantly push you to put yourself out there. Apply for that job, take that client, put up that profile. I know it’s not exactly the same…

And yet, it some ways it IS.

Because this is YOUR life at stake here.

And, the truth is…

You can practice in your head all you want.

Prepare as much as you can.

But, nothing will fully prepare you for the day you go “live”.

You just have to suck it up and do it to know what it’s going to be like. For me, after that day, I trained harder than I ever had. It gave me new meaning and purpose. And, the next time a real situation came around… I didn’t miss.

So, I know it’s scary…

And, you likely will fail in some way.

But, you HAVE to do it if you want to move forward.

And, if you stay calm, stay focused and just GRIND…

You’ll get through it.

And, that’s when the world opens up to you. Once you conquer that initial fear, suddenly anything becomes possible. And, you’ll feel a whole new purpose and energy to everything you do.

So, the line is cliche, but it’s also true:

Just DO It!

That said, I had a friend. Someone who helped me through it. I’m honestly not sure what I would have done had she not been there. If you want the same kind of assist, I have a whole curriculum of training…

To teach you everything I know about making this work.

And, help you get over that initial hump of fear and doubt.

And, you can get access to it for nothing over on SkillShare.

Details on that are here: https://www.skillshare.com/r/user/johnmorris

But, whatever you do… go for it!

It’s the only way forward.

Later,

John