“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
We have been trained to be afraid of fear and to stay away from the things that we fear. But what would happen if you found out what fear actually means and how it benefits you? There has been a pushing of fear as our enemy when in reality, fear is our best friend.
We have been trained to be afraid of fear and to stay away from the things that we fear. But what would happen if you found out what fear actually means and how it benefits you? There has been a pushing of fear as our enemy when in reality, fear is our best friend.
Imagine you are walking near a cliff and you hear behind you 50 feet away ten angry lions. Being stuck on this cliff, how would you feel? You’d probably be fearing for your life! Do you know why that is? Yes, because the lions can kill you. And yes, because you have no place to go. But do you know the CORE reason why you would be fearful? The answer is that you do not have any defense.
Now, imagine that you were in a castle, surrounded by a 30-foot moat and soldiers lined up around your grounds. If those same ten lions came by, would you even break a sweat? I don’t think so. Okay, so think about this now. What is fear then? To keep is as simple as possible, fear is a god-given mechanism of letting you know that you don’t have everything you need. That you don’t have all the answers right now. That you are missing something crucial. But also, that you are being put up for a challenge that you MUST overcome.
Put it in real life terms. You have an upcoming exam that you aren’t too confident about. You studied the night before but you still get that cramping feeling deep down in your gut that something may go wrong. That does not mean that you give up and just go to sleep and hope for the best. That is your body telling you to DEFEND YOURSELF. Defending yourself, in this case, means putting in the extra work until you can honestly tell yourself that you are in great shape for that upcoming exam.
For us, business folk, think about you enquiring about a new business. You’ve stayed up every night for the past few months building this plan of yours, invested hundreds and thousands of dollars into the data and materials you may need, and now it is time to find investors to sell your product or service to. You know it could either go well or completely fail. Because you have that fear, that does not mean that you should sit on your ideas, it means to defend your ideas by ensuring that you have all the answers to the questions potential investors may have. It means that you make sure all loose ends are tied. It means that you minimalize the opportunity of randomness.
What happens if your business plan fails? What happens if you fail that exam? Does that mean that fear won? No! It means that you did not defend yourself to your maximum capability. We have been trained to believe that failure is a bad thing. It is entirely not. Failure teaches you what NOT to do again. The greatest businesses did not start and immediately take off. MANY of them failed and the owner had to return to the drawing board.
The many actors and actresses that you adore did not just suddenly become famous and star in blockbuster films. A majority of them had other occupations before that didn’t go well, and many of them auditioned for hundreds of films and plays that they failed to get. They did not stop either. They took those experiences and used them to their advantage to craft the perfect package, to defend their talents and their capabilities.
In anything you do, acknowledge that gut feeling of fear, ensure you have a solid defense, and send your soldiers out to war! Don’t let your greatest ally become your worst enemy. You must trust in your beliefs and skills and go out there. Only a fool plans but never executes. You can never learn until you go out there and make mistakes. This is why some students will be A students but will come out of school and not get far. They are good in theory but in real world experience, they have no skill.
Some of the wealthiest individuals either dropped out of school and learned on their own, or they went through school but didn’t let their degree be all they had to offer. They built themselves in the school compounds and outside as well. Take heed and take charge. This is YOUR time.
Until next time, Live Long and Prosperous.
J.M.
Wealthy Fools 