I Got Some Help

When you aren't an expert, having one can help.

While I have a high level of confidence in my ability to master new skills, I am not arrogant enough to think I will produce a bestseller simply because I want to (but I am arrogant enough to try.) I know it will take work, practice, and just doing it. But it can’t hurt to accelerate that process and ask for help.

So I am calling in a pro. I am ever so fortunate, that among my friend group is an award winning New York Times best selling author. Multiple bestsellers. A biographer, action sport journalist, and adventure book writer. His books are impressive, both the research that has gone into them, and his ability to bring a story to life in such a heartfelt and connected way. And he is just a heck of a nice guy (oh yeah, he also surfs..)

I honestly couldn't think of a better person to look over my shoulder and help light a path, hopefully steering me clear of any of the obvious literary pitfalls ahead.

When I posted this substack to my social media feed some friends subscribed. He was one of them. I immediately reached out. We hadn’t spoken in a couple years, and his latest book was due to hit the bookshelves in 2 months. Not only was I able to sweet talk him (it didn’t take much) into meeting for coffee, I convinced him it would be a great idea to mentor and coach me. I made a proposal to him, and asked him to think about it. "I don’t need to think about, I am in” he said. Lucky me.

Before we even met for coffee, and just catching up over text, he offered this pithy advice when I expressed my eagerness to share my recently completed prologue on my substack. “You only get to let something out into the world for the first time, once… a book is a marathon, not a sprint.”

And sage advice it was. After meeting for coffee I followed up on his second piece of advice: “You need to read Stephen King’s On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft”. I am only halfway through Mr. Kings hilarious and instructive memoir and my prologue is becoming progressively more embarrassing as I turn each page. Not the story, it is a good story. But the writing … kind words would probably call it “descriptive.”

I have a little familiarity with benefits of getting (and offering) professional help. It can be a real game changer. Outside of the typical “professional” help people associate with mental health, there is a whole universe of professionals you can hire to help you accelerate your learning curve in almost any arena from athletics, to business, to artistic and intellectual pursuits. In the past several years of my consulting career I have mentored, coached, and advised a varied range of business owners, engineers, and high level executives. I have also employed my own performance coaches, business advisors, mentors and the like. The benefits of engaging the right type of coach with the right expertise can be a game changer. Exponential growth and mastery, years or more of time saved.

In my forties, one of my passions was racing high performance motorcycles. Well, not exactly racing as in competing with others, but going to closed circuit tracks with groups of other riders and try to around the track as fast as I could. While racing in circles at up to 170 mph, the only one I was competing with was myself, to obtain better lap times. In the course of this endeavor I hired a professional motorcycle racer to help me get better faster. The result was getting some literally life-saving advice, after a near fatal mishap.

Author on his 200hp BMW S1000RR at Fontana Speedway, CA circa 2011

I had met Jeremy through some other racing buddies and we had become acquaintances/friends. He is a professional motorcycle racer. Both motocross and road racing. At the motocross track I would watch while he hucked himself and his bike two stories into the air and 100 feet across the track. On the weekends I would see him racing his super sport bike in the national circuit on TV. He is one of those gifted athletes that whatever the athletic endeavor they take on they excel at.

One day I asked Jeremy if I could pay him to spend a day with me at the track, follow me around, and offer pointers and tips. He agreed. Off we went.

Jeremy was just a few yards behind me as I approached the fastest turn on the track. A long sweeping turn that exited onto the steep NASCAR bank where one can reach speeds of 200 mph. There was a slower rider ahead of us, and I was gonna show Jeremy just how talented I was.

I aimed my bike for the narrow gap between slower rider and candy cane stripped racing berm just to his left. Engine screaming, throttle full open, and just inches off the riders back tire. Here I go.

It always the responsibility of the faster rider overtaking a slower rider to initiate and execute a safe pass. The slower ride has no idea you are there. Often times with REALLY slow riders you need to give them wide margin. They are unsure of themselves, and as such unpredictable.

At the exact moment my front tire came along side the rear wheel of the rider in front of me, he made an abrupt swerve to his left, right into my path. Who the fuck knows why he did this… but he did. And it was my job to avoid him. I had two choices, hit him or swerve to the left to miss him … right over the raised asphalt berm. I choose the later.

My bike hit the berm and launched into the air, jumping out in front of the slower rider. I was now airborne at 100 mph, and it occurred to me I was doing a bang-up job of impressing Jeremy. I was also about to get really hurt. By some luck of god, and certainly through no skill of my own, I was able to land the bike and turn hard to the left to avoid crashing straight into the concrete barrier ahead of me.

When we pulled into the pits, got off our bikes and pulled our helmets off Jeremy had a slight smile in the corner of his mouth when he looked at me and said “So…. do you know what you did wrong out there??” I said “Uh, yeah, I almost killed myself”.

Jeremy went on to say: “Well, yes there is that. But fundamentally the problem is you didn’t give yourself an exit. You committed your self to a path that only had one way out, and that path was dependent on another rider not doing something unpredictable. You didn’t have a B plan. In racing, and executing passes, or risky moves you ALWAYS give yourself a B and C plan. You need to anticipate your exits before you get to the point you need them. This way should the unpredictable happen you have already thought through your way out.”

This is advice I have held onto in all my racing since then. I actually apply the same advice to many other areas of my life. In taking business risks, personal risks, relationship risks. Looking ahead and planning out those B and C plans allow me to mitigate a majority of the risk with the A plan.

There are many risks I run in attempting to write this memoir. Lack of skill in writing, losing motivation, poor narrative or story, being blind or ignorant of where I need to improve, navigating the publishing process, etc. Asking for the help of a professional writer is my solid B plan. Plus, I LOVE learning and working with bright extremely talented people. Giddy up, this is gonna be fun!