The Opportunity

It's a normal afternoon in 2022.

I'm eating lunch with Laura when my phone lights up.

I haven't exactly been expecting this call, but I was hoping for it (a part of me anyway).

My heart starts to race as I pick it up.

"Hey man!" I say to my friend (and frequent stunt coordinator boss) "What's going on?"

"Hey buddy, So I got that call for Ballerina like we were hoping, and I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to be my Fight Coordinator for it."

My heart starts beating a little faster.

.....

"Yes...yes , I do. andddd I can't believe I just said that but yeah man, I'm in."

"Great! I'll let you know when I know more."

I hang up. I'm shitting myself. Laura breaks the silence.

"Who was that?"

"Umm It was Jackson, he wants me to fight coordinate Ballerina the new John Wick spin off."

"That's amazing Aren't you excited?!"

"I'm honestly freaking out a little. I kind of wish I had said no, what if I mess it up?"

Always in my corner:

"You're gonna do amazing!"

I wish I had the same confidence.

Over the next month waiting for the prep phase to start, I oscilate between two very different emotions:

Excitement for the opportunity and the growth in my career: after all this is the first thing I will have ever fight coordinated.

And Sheer Terror: once again this is the first thing I will have ever fight coordinated.

This is the John Wick universe. Talk about some shoes to fill.

As the start date approaches I lose count of the amount of times I prop up my cell phone in random places and mime fight beats

against imaginary enemies as ideas come to me, anything that I can do to be as ready as possible.

I'm nothing if not an overthinker.

I mentally prepare and pre-solve every scenario and potential problem that I can imagine could happen on this film.

Just Say Yes

The months fly by, and by the time it's all over, nothing I lost sleep over ever happened.

Oh no, it's not what you think, there were problems. Hundreds.

It's the movie business after all, shooting a film is basically a giant set of problems to solve.

It's just that none of the problems that I had pre-imagined happened. It was everything I didn't.

But one at a time, one day after another, they got solved.

I often make the mistake, especially around things like fight coordinating a movie, that I need to have every answer and every

solution before I even start.

But thats the thing about overthinking:

No matter how good of a worrier you are ( I count myself among the best)

you can't know what problems you'll encounter on the path until you're walking the path.

And you can't walk the path if you don't say yes.

To opportunity

To your dreams

To yourself

Say yes before you think you're ready, because if you're anything like me, you'll be the last person to realize that you are.

When it comes to imposter syndrome and knowing that we are ready to take the next steps in life, we have to look

at the exterior circumstances to have a real grasp on reality.

99 times out of 100, the reason you have an opportunity in front of you in the first place is because you've earned it.

It wouldn't exist otherwise.

The opportunity is the evidence.

If there's anything I've learned about growth, no matter what kind, is that the thing that comes before it is discomfort.

A mentor of mine told me something a long time ago that I've tried my best to live by, he said:

"From now on when you get an opportunity, even if it scares you, just say yes, and then figure it out."

That's something I've tried to live by.

The only true failure is to walk away. The rest is just experience.

I hope this helps

Caleb

P.S. Thunderbolts opened this past weekend, which I also had the opportunity to Fight Coordinate.

You'd think with each milestone it would get easier.

But opportunities tend to grow just a little faster than we do,

Which means we will live in discomfort as long as we're progressing.

Nothing to do but embrace it.

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