Over the long weekend, I finished reading Jeremy Renner’s memoir, “My Next Breath,” and wanted to share some key takeaways from the book.

If you were like me and unaware of the details of his accident, to sum it up, while plowing the road to his property in the mountains outside Reno, Nevada after record snow fall, he got out of his 14,000-pound snowcat plow, but forgot to set the parking brake. As it started rolling down the road after he stepped off, he tried to jump over the 3-foot wide tracks back into the cabin, but landed short and was thrown to the ground in front of the plow and then subsequently run over by the machine–and it wasn’t like it was just rubber tires–they were steel blades designed to produce maximum grip on icy roads. As a result, he sustained 38 broken bones with multiple compound fractures, not to mention he landed on the pavement head first and had a major gash to the back of his head, and his left eye literally popped out of its socket. Crushed leg, crushed arm, crushed ribs, crushed jaw! Amazing that he is alive, let alone that he’s back to functional life.

I’m convinced that had it been any ordinary person, they would have died on that icy road, but Jeremy didn’t, and I think there are some great takeaways.

1️⃣ He didn’t panic in the face of fear. It would have been so easy to give in to the fear and panic, but he said that he had spent over a decade intentionally confronting and dealing with his fears to the point that he didn’t let the fear response control his body. Instead, he learned to control it.

2️⃣ When going through tough times, we need to focus on what’s within our immediate control and take things one moment at a time. While he laid on the ice not knowing how long it would take for EMS to arrive, he focused on taking one breath at a time (ended up waiting 45 minutes!)

3️⃣ We all need someone to help and encourage us during tough times. His nephew and neighbor were there to help and encouraged him to stay awake before paramedics arrived. He credits them with saving his life.

4️⃣ Use the mind to control the body rather than letting the body control the mind. At the risk of sounding mad, he shared how he would talk to his body (or rather yell at it) during intense bouts of physical pain trying to gain command of the pain. Pain is real, but it doesn’t have to control us.

5️⃣ He maintained an attitude of gratitude through it all. He continually mentions how much he has to be grateful for and that even in the face of chronic pain, he realizes his life could be so much worse. For instance, his jaw, though healed, will forever be out of alignment and he’ll always have issues chewing–but he says he just doesn’t care. He can live with it.

Let me know in the comments which one of these resonated with you the most. And if you don’t mind, hit that 👍 button and share if you liked the post.

#overcoming #leadership #personaldevelopment #perseverence #adversity #mindset #gratitude #overcomefear #grit