Lessons On Fear After 3,000 BASE Jumps (Brett Kistler, Art Of Accomplishment)
Relating to fear in a new way
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"The people who had the longest track records, the best safety records... would be the first to say 'Holy shit, I'm scared.' It's not about not giving a f*ck - it's about recognizing all the things you give a f*ck about and letting them be there with you."(46:36 in this cast)
Brett Kistler is an entrepreneur, facilitator, coach, and co-host of the Art of Accomplishment podcast. He spent 15 years traveling the world as a full-time extreme sports athlete, performing at the highest levels of wing-suiting and base-jumping.
His journey from chasing extreme experiences to exploring his consciousness offers profound insights into our relationship with fear, presence, and human connection.
I was eager to explore this conversation with Brett because his path illustrates how our greatest challenges - even life-threatening ones - can become doorways to transformation when approached with awareness and courage.
This episode is great for:
Anyone working to transform their relationship with fear
Leaders building high-stakes teams or communities
People exploring meditation and presence practices
Anyone struggling with competition vs. connection
Those grieving losses or fearing intimacy
Ideas that really stuck out to me:
Fear Points to What We Love: Rather than seeing fear as something to overcome, we can view it as a breadcrumb leading to what we deeply care about. Every fear contains within it a hidden love waiting to be discovered.
Context Creates Permission: We often need specific contexts that make it "okay" to feel our fears. Base jumping allowed Brett to feel fears he couldn't access in daily life. The key is eventually learning to welcome those feelings in any context.
Patterns Reveal Themselves Under Pressure: High-stakes situations like standing at a jump point reveal how we habitually manage fear - through anger, dissociation, or other coping mechanisms. Recognizing these patterns is the first step to transforming them.
Shadows Can Be Disguised In Community: Even in communities centered around deep experiences, the ego can hijack the situation and prevent us from seeing clearly. Often this comes back to wanting to be accepted within a tribe. Growth calls us to acknowledge these shadows rather than bypassing.
The Heart Must Breathe: Like breathing, the heart naturally opens and closes. Fighting this rhythm creates tension. The goal isn't to force constant openness but to expand our capacity to move through the full range.
Brett's insights about fear pointing to love deeply resonated with my experience. So often, what we think we need to "conquer" is actually trying to show us something important about ourselves.
His journey from chasing extreme experiences to finding presence in ordinary moments also mirrors what many of us discover - that the extraordinary is available everywhere once we learn to welcome what already is.
I hope you enjoy this conversation!
- Scott
If you liked reading or listening to this, feel free to click the ❤️ or 🔄 button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
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Episode Transcript
Show notes:
00:00 - The Journey of Self-Discovery
05:08 - Conquering Fear Through Adventure
10:09 - The Evolution of Fear: From Conquest to Acceptance
20:00 - The Role of Community in Extreme Sports
30:06 - Reflections on Loss and the Meaning of Risk
37:43 - Exploring the Nature of Fear
41:23 - Confronting Fears in Extreme Situations
46:02 - Awareness and Acceptance of Fear
49:13 - The Interplay of Fear and Love
53:15 - Navigating Competitiveness and Connection
01:07:37 - Embracing the Full Spectrum of Experience
I know Brett from AOA. So good ❤️