Questions & Answers with Tao Berman

- Anlässlich der adidas-Sickline WM im Ötztal interviewten wir Tao Berman zu allen möglichen Themen rund um sein Leben als Paddel-Superstar und natürlich seine Einstellung zu aktuellen Themen der Wildwasserszene.

Wir boten euch danach im Soulboater-Forum die Möglichkeit, ihm auch persönlich eure geheimsten Fragen stellen zu dürfen.

Hier sind nun die Antworten auf alle Fragen, die ihr Tao Berman gestellt habt:

What’s more important—drive or confidence?

• They are equals.  If you have confidence without drive you’re doomed to mediocrity.   But having drive without confidence would be like owning a Porsche without an engine. 

Some people think you’re nuts to do what you do. Others admire your abilities to do what you do so well.  What makes Tao tick?

• I’m not afraid to try anything.  I also don’t give up.  I believe those are two very important ingredients to success at anything.  Risking my life kayaking doesn’t bother me because, through training, I have built the confidence to believe that there is no outcome possible other than success.  Imagine how much more we would all accomplish if doubt and fear were never part of the decision making process.  I would rather try and fail than fail by not trying.

You’re going over a 60 foot waterfall, the rushing water is cold, the area you’re shooting for is small, there’s a crowd looking on—what’s going through your mind on your descents?

• The reason I enjoy pushing my sport to new boundaries and risking it all is for the moment that I’m in my kayak knowing I have to be perfect or else… There is a moment where nothing else in life matters.  The ultimate test is one where a mistake could mean death.   Man has been testing himself in this way forever, but the form of the test has evolved with the times. Success or failure is so easy to define.  If I can paddle away from the bottom of the falls I’ve been successful. If I can’t paddle away then I’ve make a big mistake, and or a serious error in judgment. What I do isn’t that different than what a business man does.  We each compare the risks to the rewards.  The difference is, if the business man is wrong, he looses money; if I’m wrong I may lose my life.

Among your many pursuits, past and present, you studied marketing for a while.  How has that come in handy? 

• After two years of college, I decided to focus 100 percent of my energy on pursing a career as a professional kayaker.  At the time, everyone told me it would be impossible and if I’d listened to them they would have been right.  Instead I chose to look at myself as not just an athlete but also as a product.  I recognized that I had a shelf life of maybe 15 years with an introduction, incline, maturity, and decline.  Part of the art is being able to market myself through each phase of my career.  Instead of hiring a manager and publicist, I chose to do all this myself.  Most parents wouldn’t let a stranger raise their kids and for the same reason I didn’t want a stranger managing my career.

You grew up with very little, in the material sense, and now you make a very nice living doing what you love.  You talk in your book about giving back.  Was this instilled in you as a child or has it been a by-product of your success?

• I think this has been a by-product of my success.  For the past 10 years, my focus has been on me and my career.  Now it’s very rewarding to use my name to be a part of causes that are much bigger than me.  I’m an Athlete for a Cure, which is a program of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.  My goal has been to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer.  I also enjoy speaking to kids about making positive choices, goal setting, perseverance, and finding their passion.  If kids find something positive to pursue, you don’t have to give a “don’t do drugs speech.” 

You’ve covered a lot of ground, both personally and professionally in your 29 years.  What goals do you have for yourself in the next few years?  What about after you retire from the sport?

• There is a lot that interests me.  I currently do financial planning for some of my friends and I may choose to pursue that.  Helping to create more financial stability for people is very rewarding.  I’ve always wanted to go into business with my brother.  He has an MBA and is the number one salesman for a multi billion dollar company.  Creating a profitable business and taking good care of my employees would be very satisfying. 

I have some questions concerning your mental strength in extreme-sport situations:

You said, that you never got severely injured while kajaking, and that you enjoy the absolute need to be perfect in heavy scenery.

• I've been pretty fortunate. In the past 16 years of paddling I've never had a serious injury. I know a lot of what I do looks pretty crazy, but I don't climb into my kayak unless I'm really confident that I can pull it off.

Since obviously you must have been getting worked very badly in the water many times, just telling from your profession

• In the last 15 years I can remember getting worked in two really bad holes. Each of the times I got re-circulated about 5 times after swimming out of my boat. Another time I got pinned under a rock for about half a minute. But considering the amount of difficult rivers and first descents I've done, I think my success rate is well over 99 percent. The real danger in our sport is that it only takes making a mistake once to kill you.

Is there something special about how you feel during tough moments, which keeps you away from panic and shock?

• I've been in really dangerous situations so many times that I think my mind may process danger a little different than how most people process it. When I paddle really difficult stuff I'm doing it because I like the risks. So when danger comes I suppose I kind of welcome it.

Do you think you could loose the strong confidence, which you describe, if you ever get stressed past even YOUR limits?

• I think confidence is built on success. I'm careful not to paddle beyond the limits of what I think is possible because I know if I start making mistakes I will also start doubting my ability. When I'm pushing the limits I can't afford to doubt myself.

Do you consider yourself rather cautious or rather mad in deciding to go for some steep drop or not?

• I think it would be hard to convince anyone that I'm cautious. With the risks I take that would be an oxymoron. But I am very methodical with my planning.

Do you eventually call off a project spontaneously, if you don´t feel well enough?

• I've never called off a project.