“You have to take risks and put yourself in high-pressure situations,” says Balarama Holness.
Gabriele Hartshorne-Mehl, a Finance student from McGill University, contributed to this story.
Balarama Holness loves to feel the heat. A Grey Cup champion, McGill law graduate student, marathon runner, and now a bestselling author, he has battled hardship and won in a multitude of arenas throughout his diverse career. Unfamiliar and unpredictable circumstances are part of this former Montreal mayoral candidate’s comfort zone. Indeed, the seemingly unrelated accolades listed on Holness’s resume share one fundamental commonality—they take place in environments that breed pressure.
“You have to take risks and put yourself in high-pressure situations,” says Holness.
Pressure and uncertainty offer the potential for substantial personal development. Most people maintain a strong aversion to risk and prefer to operate within a static zone of comfort. This strategy is perfectly acceptable for the typical life path. However, venturing outside these boundaries propels oneself forward and presents opportunities to “poke the bear” as a means to achieve personal growth, and most importantly, widespread society change.
Holness says we all are capable of dealing with these demanding situations. The most challenging part of the ordeal is agreeing to surrender short-term discomfort for long-term gain and venture into a new and uncertain arena.
“If I told you tomorrow morning, you must run 200 meters at 5 a.m., that would be hard,” he says. “But if a bear is chasing you, trust me, you will run.”
Albeit difficult, these new arenas are incubators for personal and societal innovation. Regularly operating with elevated stakes is also bound to profoundly impact one’s ability to succeed in such demanding atmospheres.
“If you put yourself in enough high-pressure situations and take enough calculated risk, you will end up well beyond where you thought you would be,” according to Holness.
This politician certainly practices what he preaches. Before announcing the founding of his Quebec provincial party, Bloc Montreal, he had strategic concerns: facing well-established political behemoths, and personal apprehensions related to the mental and emotional toll of jumping into hotly contested election.
For several months, he pondered his decision. Eventually, he set aside these apprehensions and took the leap into yet another high-pressure situation. Without a formal press release guided by is intuition, Holness picked up the phone and spoke to a journalist, revealing for the first time—both to himself and the journalist—his plan to announce a new political party at the National Assembly the next day.
Backed by a team with a firm commitment to gain more economic and political powers in his hometown of Montreal, Holness no longer had time to ponder his choice nor the capacity for self-doubt or uncertainty. It became a matter of working under new pressures to meet the objectives he set for himself and his hometown metropolis.
Clearly, this tactic has paid off for Holness, who has faced and excelled in challenges on the football field, in academia, in society, and in the political arena. But how does Holness manage to brace the discomfort and stress of high-pressure situations on a regular basis?
As a former defensive back for the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Alouettes, Holness understands the level of discipline and rigour that one must practice consistently to achieve a set objective. Consistency is key. This conviction is no different in the context of other pressures. He utilizes these learnings in all areas of his life, including as a primary strategy to regularly expand his comfort zone. Before embarking into a high-pressure situation, Holness performs the same pre-game routine as during his CFL career. This ritual comprises breathing and physical exercises to level his head and prepare himself to manage the stress of his upcoming task.
It is still critical to his success.
“One of the biggest moments of pressure was a televised debate between myself, Valérie Plante, the mayor of Montreal, and Denis Coderre, the former minister of Immigration,” he says. “I felt like I had the city on my back. By channelling the lessons, I had learned over the years, from the football field to law school, the debate was effortless. Like my father would say, effortless effort.”
“I cannot predict where I will be in five years because I'm always shooting for the stars, always aiming for the top,” says Holness who is constantly looking for his next challenge.
His capacity for pressure and, more importantly, his ability to put himself in a position to take on challenges and risks are fundamental to his success.
His advice for the rest of us? Take that risk. Poke the bear. You will be surprised at what you can achieve if you give yourself the chance to grow.
Learn more about Balarama Holness’s battles with pressure in his new bestselling book, Eyes on the Horizon, in which he details his journey of self-determination and risk-taking in the face of systemic racism and in the context of football, activism, and politics.
