BEYOND YOUR EDGE

SPRING

When I was a young man in the springtime of my life, I routinely lived beyond my edge through exhausting athletic pursuits. In my twenties, I leaned beyond my edge again, diving into professional leadership roles.

SUMMER

In my thirties, my summertime arrived. I leaned beyond my edge with big-wave surfing. I remember a huge offshore day when 20-foot sets rolled across the coast. Tow-in surfers were the only ones out. I dropped my 11-foot gun into the nearby river mouth and paddled out for 20 minutes into the deep ocean. Eventually, I picked off a monster 400m off the headland and carved my way the entire length of the beach.

AUTUMN

In my mid-forties, autumn beckoned. I leaned beyond my edge again, this time racing sports bikes. On race days, we signed waiver forms linked to additional disclaimers displayed on six trestle tables. Three ambulances waited patiently at the center of the track to collect the day’s fallout.

Why lean beyond your edge?

Because real growth lives on the edge of fear, not in the comfort of safety. To grow, you must engage fully. You put your time, energy and presence into what matters.

“It is not that we have a short time to live but that we waste a lot of it.”

-  Seneca

Life is short. Having real skin in the game is the antidote to a wasted life.

“The fencer’s weapon is picked up and put down again. The boxer’s is part of him.”

- Marcus Aurelius

The boxer has skin in the game. His weapon is part of him, inseparable from his life.

Surfing taught me to be a fencer: when the walls closed in, I could release the board and dive deep.

Moto sport taught me to be a boxer: it reminded me that drivers crash as metal wrapped around flesh but riders crash as flesh wrapped around metal. That’s skin in the game.

Lean beyond your edge in business, life and relationships

When you keep leaning just beyond your edge, you stop talking about courage and start practising it.

You move from observing life to living fully.

You don’t need to over reach, nor do you need to hide. You simply keep leaning just beyond your edge, into the place where fear sharpens presence and presence unlocks purpose.

Most either take the easy path, playing it safe, or overcompensate, pushing far beyond their edge to prove something to themselves or others.

But real transformation happens at the edge. This is where fear is felt but not avoided, where discomfort is embraced without panic. Where presence becomes the true victory.

Fear becomes your friend. It shows you where to grow next.

In business, in love, in life and in purpose, leaning just beyond your current edge is a path you:

>  Cannot outsource

> Cannot buy

> Must live

Your edge will look different at different stages of your life and in different domains, but the principle remains:

In business, open your mind and keep leaning just beyond the edge of innovation or market development, to keep failing and learning.

In life, free your soul and keep leaning just beyond your edge.

In relationships, open your heart in the midst of closure and keep exploring the edge of unconditional love, claim and surrender.

This is how you grow, and this is how you live fully.