‘Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL’s Guide’ by Brandon Webb and John David Mann — Fear of the Water

An excerpt from the upcoming book, “Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL’s Guide” by Brandon Webb and John David Mann:

My friend Kamal is a world traveler — he has meditated with Tibetan monks in the Dalai Lama’s monastery, trekked the Himalayas, and hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain. He served in the U.S. Army and studied to be an ER doctor. He has launched tech companies, runs his own venture capital firm, and is a bestselling author. In person, he makes quite the striking impression with a flowing mane of silver hair, a quiet voice behind a steely gaze, and the super calm demeanor of a Buddhist master. Here is a guy with all of the ingredients for success on a mega scale.

But I learned that Kamal had a secret: he couldn’t swim. At first, I had a hard time believing this. I thought he had to be exaggerating. To me, swimming comes as naturally as breathing.

I grew up on and in the water. My family lived for years on a sailboat. I spent more than a decade in the Navy, and I trained and deployed as a U.S. Navy SEAL. The idea of not knowing how to swim was beyond my comprehension. But here was my friend, this amazing, talented guy who had accomplished so much in his life… and he couldn’t swim. I kind of gave him a hard time about it. I pointed out that the human body is more than 60 percent water — did he realize he was already floating around inside his own skin? I wondered aloud if, when his parents conceived him, the egg cell had to swim down to meet the sperm cells, instead of the other way around.

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“Dude,” I said. “How can you possibly not know how to swim?” The answer was simple. Fear.

Pre-order your copy HERE and you’ll also receive a Mastering Fear patch, Mastering Fear vinyl sticker, and a workout shirt. Order soon, send it to Brandon, and he’ll send you back a signed copy — this offer is limited, don’t miss out! The book goes live on August 9th.