Go big or stay home! That phrase invokes a powerful emotional response in me. It’s so simple, yet very difficult to explain out of context without coming across as cheesy and cliche. If you know me personally or follow me on twitter, you would know that I like to throw this phrase around frequently and apply it to everything I do, whether it is training, studying, competing, lifting weights in the gym, spearfishing or setting out on any endeavour. Those five words are demanding excellence from me as I sit here to begin writing this column. To fully commit to something or not to do it at all.
Fundamentally this is about dialectics and truth. To go big or stay home implies only two choices regarding a matter with no middle ground. On a very basic level, it forces us to ask “is this possible? and “do I want to accept this challenge, or wait for another one to come along?” If I believe this to be possible, would taking this action or achieving this end result bring me satisfaction and happiness, and very importantly, am I willing to go to the lengths required?
If the answer to that very subjective question is yes, then it is logical that taking more action and achieving greater results brings us proportionately more happiness and satisfaction. So the greater the passion, the greater the thrill.
The phrase “to go big or stay home” also serves to guide our actions and keep them in alignment with our passions. If taking this action or achieving this end result will not bring us happiness or satisfaction then this phrase helps guide us by encouraging us not to waste our limited time and energy on mediocrity but rather seek out other challenges that we are passionate about to bring us happiness and satisfaction. So to go big or stay home entails doing things deliberately with passion or not at all.
Going big or staying home is about challenging ourselves and accepting the fear of failure. Going big is very subjective to each person and is about breaking out of comfort zones. To go big does not concern going through the motions, it is not about mediocrity, but rather commitment to excellence. It is very different from the also popular saying “go hard or going home”. Any idiot can go hard. If big was common it would not be “big”.
The hard-to-swallow truth that often keeps us from accepting challenges that might bring us great satisfaction and happiness is that deep down inside, we know that it would be terribly disappointing if we honestly and fully committed to something, went to great lengths, only to fail and find and that we don’t have what it takes.
Our ego gets hurt. We have all failed, and hated it and are secretly afraid of future failure. To go big or stay home implies that despite this fear of the truth that we may find out about ourselves we are willing to do it anyway. Fundamentally if we can overcome this fear, it is this desire for honest truth about ourselves that spurs us on to full commitment. Going big or staying home is about putting ourselves to the test. Are we capable of going big? Only one way to find out.
Going big takes confidence, sometimes borderline delusional confidence. However this very confidence is one of the greatest assets of any challenging endeavour. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first had to believe that it was possible for them to climb Mt Everest back in 1953, despite the fact this had never been done before, the small odds of success, the tremendous evident risks, and the fact that if they failed trying it could likely mean death not just a hurt ego. That was commitment, for them as climbers, it was the ultimate test. Hillary and Norgay were passionate about climbing and so chose the greatest challenge, sought the greatest truth for the greatest thrill. They could have climbed an easier mountain, but they chose to “go big or stay home”, achieved greatness and have become legends.
I might be burdened with too many passions. Perhaps this is why I am constantly throwing around challenges to myself. At this stage of my life, with my passion for the sport of swimming and due to the fact that I make a living as a professional swimmer, it is only natural that I apply the adage “go big or stay home” to swimming on a very frequent basis. It challenges me to elevate my game so to speak.
I do not attend practice unless I intend to go big. I do not go to competitions unless I expect to go big. I derive a special feeling of empowerment and satisfaction when I meet challenges that I set for myself with heavy Olympic lifts and fast time standards in swim practice. These activities require my full, honest commitment.
Setting challenges and goals and attaining them provides me with a feeling of making progress in my life, a feeling that I am almost addicted to and at times when I don’t have a clear goal, causes me to feel a little lost until I can refocus on a new one.
To go big or stay home was my motto during my preparation for the London Olympics.
I intended to go big and contend for a medal, and expected a fighting chance; if I didn’t I would not have attended. I failed in this endeavour and I found out the hard truth; on that day I didn’t have what it took. However, I challenged myself again to try and achieve greatness during the FINA World Cup (a series of eight competitions in cities around the world in just six weeks) and the World Champs in the latter part of 2012.
I undertook this challenge, fully committed to it despite my fear and recent memories of failure, then passed the test with flying colours—16 medals, a second place finish overall at the world Cup, and a World Championship Medal.
I recently competed in Montreal at the Canada Cup where I won three gold medals which in my opinion was going big, but suffered a minor strain that I believed would prevent me from fully committing and going big in my next competition, the French Open, so I stayed home. Now as I approach the World Championships early next month and the upcoming FINA World Cup, I once again intend to go big or stay home.
We all deserve greatness. What are we here for if not to pursue a challenge and experience a thrill. Don’t let yourself stand in your own way. Go Big or Stay Home!
—Also follow George Bovell on twitter @GeorgeBovell