The Gripper

So on to chapter two, the gripper. And the gripper is a story that takes you back to my childhood. And it's about this device, this $1 exercise device that my father always had in his car.

So I take the reader back to a time in 1976 when I'm coming out of wrestling practice and climbing in to my dad's car and he would make sure my seatbelt was buckled. And then along the way, I would hear him clicking this all the time, no matter where we went, he would be clicking this. It was his talisman for idleness.

He couldn't stand being idle. And it was a great lesson to me because it really taught me that you can exercise anywhere, any place, never waste a second of your life. It's a great message.

So this was something that he taught me and I've been using this gripper ever since I was a little kid. But I take you back to the time when I'm using the gripper in his car and when he's using it. And then I flash forward to a time when my father is sick and I realized he's gonna get a bad diagnosis.

And in this chapter, I really take you into my personal life and talk about how I'm worried about my father and I get a phone call just before an operation I'm about to go into and I'm stressed about the operation and I hear that my father has a terminal diagnosis. And really, really throws me for a loop. So again, another fear freakout problem that hits me.

And we talk about fear freakout problems. Major fear freakout problems are things like your loved one getting a major diagnosis, your spouse leaving you, your child getting sick, your job being let go from your job. These are major, major fear freakouts.

But in addition, I talk about in the book, minor fear freakouts. Events that throw you off in a way that you need to catch your balance quicker on. And so we'll talk further about that.

But essentially, you have to be able to balance these big ones and you also have to be able to manage the small ones as well.