How Not To Give A Sh*t: Fearless Lessons From... The Honey Badger

Fearless Lessons From... The Honey Badger

Somewhere around the 30th (300th?) time we watched that hilarious viral video known as "The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger," it hit us: There is actually some great real-world advice for living fearlessly hidden in the midst of this thing. Yes, it's true: If we all lived like the honey badger, we would indeed be more fearless.

Here, four great lessons on fearlessness, taken straight from the video -- plus a few words from various HuffPost experts as to how these lessons apply in the real (i.e., human) world....

LESSON ONE: Stop Caring What Other People Think!

Video: “The honey badger has been referred to by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless animal in all of the animal kingdom. It really doesn’t give a shit. It just takes what it wants."
HuffPost expert says: "The addiction to what other people think has... significant impact; it represses us, which in turn keeps us in a sort of purgatory, afraid of the consequences of pursuing the life we really want. 'If I do this, they will say ______ ....' You won't be happy because you believe that people are judging you. It becomes easier to stay miserable so everyone else in the status quo will be fine.... When I was able to let go of caring about what other people thought and make my decisions free and clear of other people's opinions, I could easily and powerfully move forward on my own terms." -- Tom Ferry, bestselling author of "Life By Design"

LESSON TWO: Embrace the Pain!

Video: "The honey badger’s really pretty badass. Here’s a house full of bees. You think the honey badger cares? It’s getting stung like a thousand times. It doesn’t give a shit. It doesn’t care about being stung by bees. Nothing can stop the honey badger when it’s hungry."
HuffPost expert says: "Pain, put to good use, is an incentive to change, a stimulus to draw us closer to God, and a means of purifying our motives. I have personally found that directly trying to reduce the pain is counterproductive. Rather, I embrace the pain, and work with it. I recall reading a Persian aphorism in a book many years ago: 'If a moment burns -- let it burn.' I have found this to be great advice." -- Brent Poirier, immigration lawyer and member of the Baha'i Faith

LESSON THREE: Attack Your Fears Head-On!

Video: "Look, here comes a fierce battle between a king cobra and a honey badger. 'Get away from me!' says the snake. Honey badger don’t care. Honey badger smacks the shit out of it."
HuffPost expert says: "Despite the very human instinct toward flight, far better to stop, turn around, and face fear head-on.... Turn toward your fear. Embrace it. Running from it only makes it, not you, stronger. Okay, Fear, what are you trying to give me?" -- Dr. Susan Corso, spiritual teacher and author of "God's Dictionary"

LESSON FOUR: Be Resilient and Bounce Back Fast!

Video: "The snake comes back and it lashes right at the honey badger. Little does the honey badger know, fyi, it’s been bitten by the snake. So while it’s eating the snake, meanwhile, the poisonous venom is seeping through the honey badger’s body and it passes out. Now, the honey badger’s just going to pass out for a few minutes, and then it’s going to get right back up and start eating all over again. Like nothing happened! The honey badger gets right back up and continues eating the cobra.”
HuffPost expert says: "Resilience is about attending to the positive possibilities, about the ability to move on from what hasn't worked, staying aware of our individual gifts, talents and strengths, and encouraging ourselves to keep moving forward. Good outcomes result... from telling ourselves to move on from momentary mistakes, that we can be, and be seen, as competent without being perfect, and that moving forward with our strengths is the path towards success and satisfaction." -- Beth Weinstock, psychologist and leadership coach

What personal lessons have you learned about fear and fearlessness? Comment below, or tweet us all about it @HealthyLiving using the hashtag #becomingfearless. If you tweet, you will automatically be entered into Toyota Corolla's Most Fearless Tweet Contest! (Click here for the Official Rules.)

And just in case you somehow, SOMEHOW missed the original video (or just feel like watching it again on this delightful Memorial Day weekend), here it is in all its glory:

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