Fishing Without Bait 532: Beyond the Comfort Zone with Austin Cairns
Sometimes growth starts with doing something you aren't completely comfortable doing.
In Part 3 of our Fishing Without Bait conversation with sports broadcaster Austin Cairns, that idea becomes a common thread connecting everything from professional wrestling and broadcasting to mindfulness and simply paying attention to what is happening in front of us.
Austin has spent enough time around independent wrestling to learn that what happens behind the curtain can be just as complicated as what happens inside the ring.
He talks with Jim about wrestling tribalism—the tendency for different promotions and groups to become protective of their own territory and talent. Austin understands some of the business reasons behind it, but he also believes collaboration gives performers more opportunities to showcase themselves and can make the larger wrestling community better.
It is a lesson that extends well beyond wrestling.
When we become overly concerned with protecting our group, defending our position, or comparing ourselves with somebody else, we can lose sight of what we're actually trying to accomplish.
Austin's career has increasingly taken him outside the wrestling world as well.
He discusses getting an opportunity to provide Pittsburgh Steelers reports for radio and reflects on conversations with established Pittsburgh sports broadcasters who have helped influence his development. His goals continue to grow: travel, meet more people, see more places, and pursue opportunities in broadcasting on a larger stage.
But one of the most mindful observations in the conversation comes while Jim and Austin discuss modern sports fandom.
Austin points out how strange it can be to attend a live event and see people concentrating on their phones, checking fantasy teams and updates while an actual game is unfolding directly in front of them.
His response could easily describe the philosophy behind Fishing Without Bait:
“I'm the type of person to live in the moment.”
How often are we physically present somewhere while our attention is somewhere else?
The same question can be asked about our goals.
When Jim asks Austin what he would tell someone trying to make their own dream happen, Austin says you have to put yourself out there.
He knows from experience. Austin describes himself as the shy kid in high school, yet his path has taken him through marching band, high school sports, professional wrestling, collegiate sports, radio, television, and journalism.
He wasn't immediately comfortable in all those environments.
He entered them anyway.
That doesn't mean blindly chasing everything that appears in front of you. It means being willing to stretch beyond the boundaries you have created for yourself.
Sometimes the next opportunity isn't going to arrive while you're waiting comfortably for it.
You may have to introduce yourself.
You may have to ask the question.
You may have to try something unfamiliar.
You may have to walk into the room before you feel completely ready.
And while you're pursuing whatever comes next, don't become so focused on the scoreboard—or the screen in your hand—that you miss the life happening directly in front of you.
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