As closet wannabe Dakar competitor, part of my monthly reading is a couple dirt bike magazines. One article this month is about how to do tricky things like unknown water crossings and moss covered rocks with Mike Lafferty (pictured).

In the water crossing one he says that his approach to tackling the difficult things is the Relax, Attack and Control the Throttle. It obviously has a direct connection to riding, but it also has application to testing.

Any time you are learning a new tool, technology, technique, the first thing you need to do is stop, take a deep breath and relax. If you are panicked or frantic, your brain is not going to be in the best state to success.

Once you ready, attack the problem. Jump in with both feet and immerse yourself in the challenge without fear.

Control is all about tempering your enthusiasm. So perhaps ‘without fear’ in the Attack section. How about a healthy level of fear and respect. You don’t really want to go through a blind obstacle in the woods at wide-open-throttle. Yes, you could, but you could also need to be helicoptered to the nearest trauma center. In testing, you need to be able to stop what you are doing without causing harm to either yourself or your surrounding environment.