20-second Berserker Mode success stories!

[spezzy]

Hey guys!

 

Use this thread to post your 20 second Berserker Mode Success Stories!

 

(No idea what I'm talking about? Check here.)

[DocKBar]

LOVED the post! This is actually something I've been doing since I realized that I could in college (though back then I called it "growing a pair" and the name's kinda stuck in my head since) and still do today. I think the biggest part of being able to be confident, even if for that short period of time, is the realization that while you're the center of your own world and may constantly worry about what other people think about you, the same holds true for others as well. So I've taken a lot more chances since college -- the greatest measure of my success I can think of is the fact that people (mostly newer friends) constantly tell me that they're jealous of my level of confidence and that, if they possessed the same, they'd go for job promotion/asking that cute girl out/party with new friends/etc. Much like was asked of you, I turn to them and simply say "so what's stopping you?"

[telemon]

I pushed through many of these barriers years ago. One of the hardest was overcoming my shyness. I had a great fear of meeting new people - especially if I had to initiate the conversation. I was a husband and parent of two young children at the time and I decided to fix the problem by taking a sales job... door to door. I now had all the motivation I needed because my whole family's welfare depended on my success in getting good at starting conversations. A trial by fire to be sure - but it was twenty seconds done over and over again.

[kozloff]

I think this is a great challenge - the first one I have posted on....but I'm struggling at coming up with what I should use my 20 seconds of rage for. This may sound absurd, but I think I'm pretty comfortable pushing my boundaries and so nothing is coming to mind. 



Any ideas or suggestions? 


 

[agomez1054]

20 seconds of courage... I got this... I had the biggest crush on a guy that I worked with. We had been eating lunch together for some time and one day I just turned around in the elevator and kissed him. It took every ounce of courage I had to do this. And his response was "I am married" I turned around so fast and silently waited for the elevator to open so I could run out of the elevator. He stopped me and said that they had been separated for a while but that his divorce was not final. I was so embarassed that i couldn’t even speak. I went back to work and couldn’t stop mentally kicking myself in the butt. This was three years ago and the guy I kissed in the elevator is now my husband. No matter how embarassed I was or how stupid I felt because he was not legally single, if I had not had those 20 seconds of courage... I would not be the happiest women in the world today.

[IAmTurbanMan]

I really liked this article. It really spoke volumes to me. I get really bad stage fright every time I know I have to get in front of an audience. This doesn't work for me because I play the bass in a punk rock band. So what I normally do is I ride out our set for the first couple of seconds to gauge the audience's reaction to our music, and I feed off of it. If they like it, I start raging. If they don't, I rage even harder. It's always nice to see kids dancing too because we all feed off of that energy and each other's energy. So when kids are running around in the circle pit, we are all raging pretty hard.

Also, the last big show we played, I ran into a girl I knew in middle school. I hadn't seen her since then and I always had kind of a crush on her. Normally, I'm that guy that was mentioned in the article that wishes he had said something later. I still had the adrenaline from being on stage running through me, so I walked up to her, talked to her for a bit, and got her number. That's how I apply my 20 seconds of courage. Mostly on stage, but I still have enough left in me to go another 20 seconds after our set.

[surge_supra]

I think this is a great challenge - the first one I have posted on....but I'm struggling at coming up with what I should use my 20 seconds of rage for. This may sound absurd, but I think I'm pretty comfortable pushing my boundaries and so nothing is coming to mind. 

Any ideas or suggestions? 

 

 

Think about something that scares you. It could be as simple as meeting new people or as "complex" as signing up for a fight class or even a dance class lol and take those 20 seconds to muster up the courage to start and if you decide to start later you know you got a taste?

 

20 seconds of courage... I got this... I had the biggest crush on a guy that I worked with. We had been eating lunch together for some time and one day I just turned around in the elevator and kissed him. It took every ounce of courage I had to do this. And his response was "I am married" I turned around so fast and silently waited for the elevator to open so I could run out of the elevator. He stopped me and said that they had been separated for a while but that his divorce was not final. I was so embarassed that i couldn’t even speak. I went back to work and couldn’t stop mentally kicking myself in the butt. This was three years ago and the guy I kissed in the elevator is now my husband. No matter how embarassed I was or how stupid I felt because he was not legally single, if I had not had those 20 seconds of courage... I would not be the happiest women in the world today.

 

Holy crap what an amazing story!!

[illc]

I think this is the most vitally important article yet! ... maybe I have a short memory?

 

When this approach is taken consistently I think it builds into what Neil Fiore called "Persistent starting" in his great book The Now Habit.  Anyone else familiar with that?

 

This past week and a half has been pretty chock-full of these "20 second" bursts for me.  I got mugged in Rio during Carnavale and have had to replace all of my work and travel documents from scratch in the face of two country's worth of bureaucracy, navigate the city without a (smart)phone for maps or translation (how did we do anything before we were cyborgs?!), get on with the work that brought me down here, etc. all the while mostly just wanting to shut down and be unexposed for a bit.  20 seconds at a time ...

[Gus]

The post is on point, and on time 20 seconds can change your life. Before I read the post I had been putting some stop-gap measures into my life. I met with my therapist today who stated that she wanted to do an expensive psyche exam on me. This, I feel was an attempt to turn up all the bells and whistles, on my weaknesses, and my strengths (which costs more???) that if I needed them turned up, my brain would have started to show me these things without her influence.

 

So I got in gear, and Did It Now, swallowed, picked up the phone and politely (much more politely than I am being now,) called her up and let her know I felt she was not coming from a place of beneficence and I have transcended the scared little man who came into her office about a decade earlier. Boom! She asked me if she had angered me, hoping to take on some transference issues. I was going to be looking at a lot of spent in her office weakening myself. She, in a desperate measure than brought up need to reflect on my day-to-day growth in a non-'grandiose' way, at a last ditch effort to cop some more money from me. I'm as narcissistic as can be, I have loads of issues, but do I need to be worked out by a therapist and straightened out on her rack, and then beg to come back for more?

 

The sad part is how open her calender is, and the way she had told me, in a half-hearted attempt to fire her before, she stated: "most people come back to me." I have a mental health diagnosis, I AM not a mental health diagnosis. This 'helper' had been asked many times by me to help me cope with cognitive skills. Now I know why I never received lessons on coping, she was betting on my laziness to cope and or find coping skills on my own, and then did up my treasure chest of insurance.

 

Folks, if any of you are therapists, I am not trying to be a jerk. Therapy is good for many, for a time, but if the client hasn't grown, or if they have grown and you are holding on to them, then print a newsletter, or find some other way to garner new clientele.

[Gus]

20 seconds of courage... I got this... I had the biggest crush on a guy that I worked with. We had been eating lunch together for some time and one day I just turned around in the elevator and kissed him. It took every ounce of courage I had to do this. And his response was "I am married" I turned around so fast and silently waited for the elevator to open so I could run out of the elevator. He stopped me and said that they had been separated for a while but that his divorce was not final. I was so embarassed that i couldn’t even speak. I went back to work and couldn’t stop mentally kicking myself in the butt. This was three years ago and the guy I kissed in the elevator is now my husband. No matter how embarassed I was or how stupid I felt because he was not legally single, if I had not had those 20 seconds of courage... I would not be the happiest women in the world today.

 

That is a a really touching story. It is worthy of short film or something great. Thanks for sharing.

[Artinum]

I've reacted badly to counsellors in the past. Therapy is not for me. Besides, I stopped fighting my demons years ago and now we cohabit rather successfully.

 

I'm currently buzzing after coming back home from my latest run. I'm following the Couch to 5K programme, and when I first started it last summer (it didn't take that time) I could not manage the first week. Eight one-minute runs? I was staggering after four! I was in a similar position when I restarted a few months later. On Friday, now on week five of the course, I ran an eight minute interval. Twice. The improvement is astonishing.

 

Even so, I've been dreading this one. I actually repeated day two of this week last time, because I didn't feel ready for it. Day three of week five sees just one running interval of twenty minutes. Until now, eight minutes was by far the longest I've run in one go. I couldn't imagine doing this. As I went out the door this evening I felt sick and my legs were shaky. But I went anyway. Because Steve told me to.

 

I activated my Beast Mode about five times tonight. Once to get started, once at the crucial point at eight minutes when day two ends... a few times after that when I started to flag. Thank goodness for Robert Ullrey's podcasts! They've made the difference between success with the course and failure. I simply couldn't track my times while running the first time. I have now run for twenty minutes straight - not very fast, I admit, but that's easily the longest run I have ever taken.

 

The beast is sleeping now, but he'll come when I call.

[SuperToga]

My goal this month was to get advice from as many financially savvy people as possible. All walks of life and professions and situations. Somehow, they are more successful than I am. I admire them, so I am conducting interviews. P.S. I hate talking to strange people in person, especially when I am asking for help. I'm definitely calling on my inner star power to call people and communicate rationally at them. I have talked to half a dozen people and I have two appointments left. The scary one for me is the couple in the pyramid scheme. They go on vacations every month, own a house, car, adopted a kid, and only one of them works. But Pyramid scheme. 

 

I'm trying hard to keep an open mind and just see what they're doing. I'm pretty proud that I made the appointment to see pyramid schemer at all. I will apply berserker rage to GO to it! Team Tomb Raider visits the pyramids!

[Gus]

I've reacted badly to counsellors in the past. Therapy is not for me. Besides, I stopped fighting my demons years ago and now we cohabit rather successfully.

Thanks for the knowledge. I also am working on a 5K plan. Thanks for the validation... wink, wink...

[aiR Ninja]

When this approach is taken consistently I think it builds into what Neil Fiore called "Persistent starting" in his great book The Now Habit. Anyone else familiar with that?

illc, I just finished reading that book and immediately thought of it too when I was reading the article!

This reminds me of when I first started my journey with Muay Thai. I was always overweight, out of shape, athletically uncoordinated my whole life but always dreamed of playing sports and doing active things, especially martial arts. One day a co-worker of mine who also happened to be a Muay Thai coach invited me to try out one of his classes. I was so scared not only because of my many inabilities but also because I knew the class and gym was overflowing with HOT guys that I also knew. However, I managed to get a friend to agree to try it out with me...except she called to cancel the minute that I was about to walk out the door. And here I thought I was scared before that, except I got this feeling to just suck it up and something in my head saying "if I don't do this now then I never will". I don't remember much for the next hour and a half after that except going to the class, feeling pure exhilaration and joy, and that I have to do that again! Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I must've looked utterly ridiculous trying to kick and punch but it was one of the best berserk, beast mode moves I've ever made in my life. That was almost 6 years ago and that 20 seconds it took for me to walk out my door and show up to that Muay Thai class has brought me lifelong friends, life lessons, a healthy and fit body, and countless opportunities like traveling to Thailand and training with champion Thai boxers!

So yeah, feel the fear and do it beast mode anyway!

[SkiBlue]

Small victory, but used my first beast mode on starting my warm-up and first beginner bodyweight circuit routine for my current challenge. Hurray for overcoming lazy!

[dvinedscontent]

SO - on my way home from work I had to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few items. I figured I'd be in and out in 5 minutes flat so I could quickly drive home and collapse on my bed. I get to the lines at the registers and they're out to high-heaven with consumers amassed. I wanted to die... Ok. I'm being dramatic... But it was ridiculous for 4:00pm on a Monday...

 

So I go to the self check-out and see that one lane's light is on but mysteriously there are lines surrounding it and no one on that line. I decide I'm going to look and see about joining this non-existent line - and suddenly I see the reason why everyone is avoiding this open non-existent line like the plague... There is a little old lady, drowning in groceries at the end of the lane trying to bag them all herself. My gut told me - just go to another line. Leave her be. She'll just get more embarassed if I try to help. And although usually somewhat outgoing - I'm feeling shy today. But then I realize if I walk away I will make her feel worse probably - so I resolved to stand on the line and stare at my phone, looking like I'm not noticing what's going on. Then she comes back to finish ringing up her order (I KNOW!! THERE WAS STILL MORE TO RING UP!!!). Then my 20-second moment hit - I had the choice to offer to help her, or continue to stare at my phone. Amazingly enough, before I knew what I was saying, I offered to help her with her bagging. She abruptly told me, "NO! That guy down there is supposed to be doing it!" LOL. Cranky, attitude-ridden, old lady.

 

However, then she was at a loss on how to ring up produce and I helped her out. Long story short - I helped her ring up her entire order, helped her with her Chase Freedom card, and was supremely complimented when she said, "You have so much patience! Why do you have so much patience?!" I told her to have a good day and she told me to have a good YEAR.

 

She's amazing. I feel like a better person because it makes up for flipping a guy off on the highway on the trip to the grocery store - and next time I'm conquering free weights and the man I've dubbed THOR who works out by them...

[magi192]

I just decided to take matters into my own hands and plan an NYC NF meet up. Now I'm hyperventilating...haha just kidding. It's amazing how the anxiety over a goal can disappear as soon as the first step towards action is taken. I'm sure I'll get nervous again when the meet up date is around the corner, but looking up all the stuff for the topic made me realize I might actually end up enjoying planning this meet up! =)

[Rhyme]

I'll be honest, this was a LOT more effective than I thought it would be! I've taken the habit of dragging my feet while circuit training, taking way longer breaks than I needed or taking a full two minutes to fuss over the perfect foot placement. Last night I went through it with a sense of ridiculously over-the-top bravado... and completed it a full 9 minutes faster than usual, despite upping my reps. Not only that, but mentally I had a lot more of a positive attitude towards the workout because I didn't drag it out.

 

I find myself pondering what else I can improve with Berzerker Mode. Hmm...

[Rhyme]

She abruptly told me, "NO! That guy down there is supposed to be doing it!" LOL. Cranky, attitude-ridden, old lady.

 

However, then she was at a loss on how to ring up produce and I helped her out. Long story short - I helped her ring up her entire order, helped her with her Chase Freedom card, and was supremely complimented when she said, "You have so much patience! Why do you have so much patience?!" I told her to have a good day and she told me to have a good YEAR.

 

Wow, nicely done! I would have been completely scared off, but you stuck with her and it all worked out great.

[dank5192]

I recently (in the past 2 months) started training in Krav Maga because I figured, "why the hell not". I was tired feeling lethargic and working on almost no sleep so I was about to skip it tonight. Thinking of this article I decided that my 20 second beast mode would be conquering that laziness and going. Oh, how I was wrong. During our practice I was partnered with our professional instructor for a 360 defense practice. For those of you who don't know what that is; it is when one person is attacking randomly anywhere from the above sides or below continuously and the other has to block them. The instructor was not holding back and I was doing decently enough but then he called the class to watch me while we demonstrated. He prefaced this by saying he was going to attack full force and not pull his attacks so if I didn't black he'd be hitting me HARD. That's when best mode kicked in. I blocked every attack flawlessly for about 20-30 seconds. The experienced members had dropped jaws and everyone patted me on the back afterwards. My arms are now bruised to hell and sore but I could never be more proud of myself.

 

TL;DR I went into berserk mode and flawlessly blocked full force attacks from a trained Krav Maga Expert.

[PanicJacob]

          Ha! Berserker mode? For me it's called "Bringing it", enabled by the phrase "Bring it on.". I might now have a success story about it yet, but I sure will soon. I actually implemented it into my workout today, with today being a 30 minute cardio day.

          33:20 minutes total
          15 minutes at 5 MPH
          3 minutes at 3 MPH
          15 minutes at 5 MPH
         

And with "Bringing it" enabled, I bumped up the speed to 6 MPH for 20 seconds. The best workout I have ever experienced. Well, including the surprise my Dad had for me, which was going to shovel the driveway for about an hour. This is how I used my 20 seconds today. Whenever I do this, it turns the obstacle I'm facing from impossible to way too easy. Woot!

[dvinedscontent]

Wow, nicely done! I would have been completely scared off, but you stuck with her and it all worked out great.

 

THANKS!

[SLB]

awesome dank! bet you're so proud of those bruises...

[surge_supra]

I recently (in the past 2 months) started training in Krav Maga because I figured, "why the hell not". I was tired feeling lethargic and working on almost no sleep so I was about to skip it tonight. Thinking of this article I decided that my 20 second beast mode would be conquering that laziness and going. Oh, how I was wrong. During our practice I was partnered with our professional instructor for a 360 defense practice. For those of you who don't know what that is; it is when one person is attacking randomly anywhere from the above sides or below continuously and the other has to block them. The instructor was not holding back and I was doing decently enough but then he called the class to watch me while we demonstrated. He prefaced this by saying he was going to attack full force and not pull his attacks so if I didn't black he'd be hitting me HARD. That's when best mode kicked in. I blocked every attack flawlessly for about 20-30 seconds. The experienced members had dropped jaws and everyone patted me on the back afterwards. My arms are now bruised to hell and sore but I could never be more proud of myself.

 

TL;DR I went into berserk mode and flawlessly blocked full force attacks from a trained Krav Maga Expert.

 

Wow.

[LegoLady45]

I am a real estate agent, relatively new to the business.  I was putting off calling a prospective new client with a variety of excuses.  All of which were lame and getting me nowhere.  After reading the 20-second Beserker article, I called him and we are meeting on Thursday to view properties!

 

I can muster up 20 seconds of courage pretty much anytime, so I am going to use this technique to get me through other life challenges, to get fit, and to sell a ton of houses!  WOO HOO!