Seven feet underwater carrying 230 pounds, I stopped kicking. It is not the water that kills you, it is the panic. Every entrepreneur faces these moments.
Every entrepreneur has faced that moment.
The one where the weight feels unbearable, and quitting feels like the only option.
Seven feet underwater, carrying 230 pounds on my back, I stopped kicking.
Lungs burning. Muscles screaming, negotiating surrender. Mind racing through the decisions that led me there.
Doubt whispered: "Just quit."
This was not just a moment in the pool.
This is what drowning feels like.
And it is the daily reality for a lot of entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Years ago, as a U.S. Navy Search and Rescue Swimmer I faced the brutal "buddy-tow" test.
Imagine swimming the length just shy of 4 and a half football fields.
Now imagine doing it with a full-grown adult on your back.
Now imagine that adult weighs 230 pounds.
Somewhere between total body pain, and imagining a hundred other places I would rather be, I realized something pretty grim.
As I looked from left to right...
There was no one left from the pool other than me and the guy I was towing!
Doubtful thoughts came rapid-fire, each one hitting harder than the last: "This cannot be right!" "I am one of the stronger swimmers, how can I be the last one?" "There is no way I am gonna pass, I might as well quit."
Suddenly, I looked up. Seven feet of water above my head.
[Inline image: Colin underwater during Navy rescue swimmer training. Source: original LinkedIn post]
I was looking up at seven feet of water above my head.
In the middle of all that doubt, fear, and pain, I did not realize that I had literally stopped kicking.
Sound familiar?
For a lot of entrepreneurs, that is their Monday morning.
Every business leader's sleepless nights.
But here is the thing.
It is usually not the water that kills you. It is the panic.
It is the moment when fear tricks you into giving up.
Then you stop kicking.
In that moment underwater, I made a choice.
I could not live with myself if I quit.
One split-second decision of pure stubbornness sparked a resilience that ended up carrying me through much bigger challenges.
It led me to becoming a Rescue Swimmer, traveling the world, meeting my wife, raising our three children and building a life I never imagined possible.
But here is the truth.
That feeling of drowning never really leaves you.
But over time, it teaches you something powerful.
It teaches you how to face the panic head-on.
To keep kicking when everything screams, "Stop."
Every entrepreneur faces those "seven feet of water" moments.
The impossible deadlines, the weight of responsibility, the overwhelming uncertainty.
But success is not about strength or speed.
It is about resilience.
It is about never stopping, no matter how much it hurts.
Sometimes, grace keeps you going.
Other times, pure stubbornness.
But every time you choose to keep kicking, you are moving one stroke closer to your breakthrough.
So to every business owner, entrepreneur, and leader out there.
Keep going!
Those who make it are not the ones who never sink, they are the ones who never stop kicking.
And to all the veterans who have faced their own battles, thank you.
Your courage reminds us all to keep moving forward.
Stay surgical,
Colin Taylor
Creator of The Asset Alchemy Method
What does "keep kicking" mean for entrepreneurs?
"Keep kicking" is a resilience principle from Navy rescue swimmer training. When you are underwater carrying 230 pounds, panic makes you stop moving, which causes you to sink. The same pattern happens in business: overwhelming pressure triggers paralysis, and paralysis kills momentum. The solution is not swimming faster or being stronger. It is refusing to stop, even when every instinct says quit. This resilience is foundational to escaping the Million Dollar Prison that traps successful entrepreneurs.
How does panic affect business decision-making?
In rescue swimming, it is not the water that kills you, it is the panic. The same applies to business: when entrepreneurs face overwhelming pressure, fear triggers poor decisions or no decisions at all. This is the exact dynamic behind the systems gap that makes AI implementation expensive, leaders panic-adopt new tools instead of systematically assessing what they already have.
How do Navy rescue swimmer principles apply to business leadership?
Rescue swimmer training teaches three critical business principles: face panic head-on instead of avoiding it, make decisions under extreme pressure with incomplete information, and maintain forward momentum even when the situation feels impossible. These are the same qualities that separate entrepreneurs who see the battlefield from those who get overwhelmed by it.
What should entrepreneurs do when they feel like they are drowning?
First, recognize that the feeling of drowning is universal among high-performing entrepreneurs, 87.7% report mental health challenges even after hitting financial milestones. Second, identify whether you have stopped "kicking" in some area of your business. Third, take one concrete action rather than trying to solve everything at once. Often the breakthrough is closer than you think, and the asset you need is something you have already built but stopped using.
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