I jumped out of a plane last week so you don’t have to

—here are five lessons I learned

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On April 1st, I did something I never thought I'd do.

I jumped out of a plane from 10,000 feet and hit 250kph. It was nuts. The most incredible experience of my life. I’d always told myself I’d do it “one day”—but never expected that day to come so soon.

Over the past year, I’ve made some big changes—mostly by leaning into fear.

• Quitting my job.

• Writing publicly on LinkedIn.

• Travelling alone.

• Starting a business.

But skydiving? That one topped them all.

I called my friend after, and he told me "You're the last person I would expect to jump out of a plane". He is right—but that was the old me. Now, I'm leaning into fear and embracing curiosities.

Of course, I had to write about it.

Here are five things jumping out of a plane taught me.

Lesson #1: Be around people who make courage contagious

I took the leap because I met a stranger who planted the idea—and watered it all day long.

When I first met her, she mentioned it and I said "Ye, let's do it, why not". To be honest, I said it as a joke because I didn't think she was being serious. But she kept talking about it, and we continued discussing it.

She wasn't scared—I was petrified.

I didn't want to do it.

But what she did is give me the nudge I needed to do something crazy.

In life, there are boring people and there are courageous people. Some people keep you comfortable. Others push you off the edge when you're not ready. Sometimes, that's exactly what you need.

I'm realising how valuable it is for me to surround myself with courageous people.

Their personality wears off on me—and I become just a little bit more courageous in the process. Having someone by your side doing the exact same thing as you gives you all the confidence you need to do hard things.

I was so scared driving to the sky-diving location.

I wanted to turn back.

I had second thoughts of jumping out of the plane when we arrived.

But knowing she would do the exact same thing as me was reassuring.

Surround yourself with people who are a little bit more courageous than you—and learn from them. Slowly, their energy will wear off on you. Meet enough of these people and soon enough you'll become just as courageous as them.

Eventually, you will be the one pushing others to do things they're scared to do.

Lesson #2: What you dread is rarely what actually happens

The parachute could have failed.

I might have hurtled towards the Earth at 240kph.

I could have died the same day.

At the back of my mind, this thought was teasing me. When it comes to doing "dangerous" things like adventure sports, it's normal to reflect on the worst case scenario because there's always the possibility things go wrong.

How often do planes actually crash? Very rarely.

Yet we hear about plane crashes every time they happen.

The same thing is true for the worst possible outcome with the things you do in your own life. The chances of them actually coming true are very low.

But even with low odds, I often held back—just in case something might go wrong.

This false belief held me back in so many ways.

• I never pushed myself.

• I stayed where I felt most comfortable.

• I only ever felt good if I was always in control.

• I wanted to have my feet on the ground at all times.

But nothing amazing will ever happen if you focus all your attention on the possibility of things going wrong. Amazing things happen when you have these thoughts, push them aside, and do what you know you must do.

When I jumped out of the plane I knew the parachute "might" not open.

But I still acted despite the voice in my head telling me to be careful.

Lean into the fear.

Jump even if it's the last thing you want to do.

Lesson #3: Your body listens to your mind—make sure it’s saying the right things

Skydiving was all mental. My body wasn’t the issue—my mind was.

I asked myself: What’s the worst that could happen if I jump and survive? The answer? I’d be scared for five minutes. That’s it.

And I survived those five minutes.

Now, I have a story to tell for the rest of my life.

Your mind will try and play tricks on you. It will do its best to convince you that what you think you should do is not the best choice. And the more time you spend analysing all the details, the more reasons you will find to not follow through on something with your body.

Training your mind is one of the most important skills you can learn.

If done correctly, you will overcome any barrier you come up against.

And it's not about the physical effort you need to overcome barriers. This is the easier part. The hard part is seeing the gigantic wall you have to climb and convincing yourself the next best step is to put one foot forward and start climbing.

You are paralysed when your mind feeds your body the wrong information.

Life is hell when your mental health is all over the place.

• You will run into problems constantly and struggle to make any progress.

• You will stay in the same spot and refuse to move forward.

• You won't push yourself to do things which take courage.

• You won't take action even when you don't feel ready.

The body does what the mind tells it to do.

Train yourself to think positively.

Be delusional at times.

My body didn't want me to jump out of the plane—but my mind forced me to shift my legs to the outside of the plane and told me to jump. The body followed—and during the fall, my body didn't feel a thing.

My mind was rewarded for making the decision to jump out of the plane.

Now, I have a memory etched into my brain.

We neglect our mind because it's invisible to the external world.

But when the mind is healthy, the body follows because it trusts where it's taken.

Your mind leads the body so make sure your head is leading.

Not the other way around.

Lesson #4: What terrifies you is trying to teach you something

Leaning into my fears has been the biggest lesson for me over the last months.

More than I ever expected, I'm doing things I'm petrified to do.

It's not because I'm trying to prove a point to anyone. It's an internal battle with myself. I'm doing it because I want to break through mental barriers, limiting beliefs, and self-imposed roadblocks. Pushing my boundaries through my fears has helped me realise there is nothing to be scared of.

What's scarier?

Not doing what you know you should do, or doing it, maybe getting hurt, learning a lesson, and knowing how it feels to do what you were thinking about doing?

The jump was terrifying.

But fear only lasts a moment.

Once it’s over—you’ve won.

We stop ourselves because of how fear feels, not because of how long it lasts.

And once I jumped, I loved it.

I couldn’t believe I did it.

Maybe you're not terrified of many things.

I know I am—and I've managed to break through what terrifies me over the last year and learn more than I ever expected in the process.

• Starting a business was terrifying: But it taught me to start with what I have and solve problems on the way. Nothing is insurmountable when you are willing to learn and put in the effort to solving problems.

• Quitting my job was terrifying: But it taught me there are thousands of other ways to earn a living, and the more time you spend building someone else's dream, the less time you have available to pursue your own.

• Breaking up with my ex-girlfriend was terrifying: But it taught me nobody else is responsible for my happiness but me, and sometimes things need to end for better things to begin.

• Writing on LinkedIn was terrifying: But it taught me nobody really cares what I'm doing, people are too busy with their own lives, and the only opinion of me I care about is my own—so I need to live exactly as I want.

• Having sales calls and asking for money was terrifying: But it taught me asking for what you want is not bad, not everyone will want to work with you—and asking is the only way you're going to get what you want.

The things which terrify you the most should be embraced.

There is always a lesson on the other side of them.

Most people don't get to the other side because they're too scared to cross over.

Lesson #5: Death isn’t scary—thinking about it is

I don't say I'm not scared of death like it's something to be admired.

I don't wear it like a badge of honour. I

I'm just honest about it.

If I die, I die—and I'll be fast asleep and won't be able to think about it.

Death is to be feared if you're not living the life you want to live every day.

Too many people are passengers in their own life— and I used to be.

• I made excuses for everything that was going wrong.

• I hated where I lived.

• I didn't like my job.

• I had no hobbies I was passionate about.

• I felt restless all the time.

• I woke up on the weekend with no motivation to do things.

• I was constantly ill.

• I leaned on other people too much for support.

It is overwhelming to think about all the things which are going wrong in your life.

Eventually you will reach a point, whether it's in three weeks from today or thirty years from today—and you will know you made the wrong decisions. Regret seets in because you didn't make the changes you know you should have made. Why didn’t you jump out the plane when you had the chance? Although these seem like small things—they're massive because they completely change the wiring of your brain and the trajectory of your life.

At the end of your life, your highlights will be the times you suffered, were scared, and still managed to push through.

Skydiving will be one of the things I think about when I'm dying.

Fear death if you haven't started living.

So, that's it.

I wanted to share this because I’m proud of myself.

And I know it sounds cliché—but if I can do it, you can too.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely.

Will I be scared?

Sure—but a little less than before.

The first leap is always the hardest.

After that, it gets easier.

I hope this was good to know.

Talk soon,

Stefano

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