What if any goal you set, or anything you wanted to be, was yours – and nothing could stand in your way?
You can get wherever you want to go; achieve whatever goal you desire; or live the dream you long for. It takes a commitment to “work harder on yourself than your goals or dreams.”
To begin, why doesn’t everyone accomplish their goals? Or go after their dreams? What holds some people back? Why are they stuck and unable to take the necessary action? Nine out of ten times, whether they realize it or not, the answer is fear.
Fear comes in many sizes, and can take different forms. Or a combination of modalities.
It could be fear of the unknown: “There’s two ways I could go and I might make the wrong choice. I’ll just wait until I’m 100 percent sure.”
Fear of what you do know: “Based on past experience I do not have a strong belief in my ability to succeed. Think I’ll sit this one out.”
Fear of failure: “If I don’t try, I can’t screw up and look like a fool. I’ll let someone else take that risk.”
Fear of success: “If I become wealthy (and/or famous) my friends or family might abandon me. They seem threatened by my success. Why upset the apple cart?”
And let’s not overlook: Fear of fear itself: “If I always play it safe, I may not get what I want, I’ll continually be settling for less, but at least I’ll never have anything to be afraid of.”
Notice how every fear is accompanied by an excuse – a reason to stay right where you are. A justification to not take action. A rationalization to stay stuck. You’re in a self-imposed vicious cycle.
You already hold all the wisdom, strength, and confidence you need to create whatever vision you have for your life.
Fear will always be lurking in the background, trying to tell you what you can’t do. It’s up to you to face your fears and tell yourself what you can do. Otherwise, you doom yourself to a life of mediocrity. You’ll purposefully settle for “good enough”.
With a commitment to personal development, you’ll be able to overcome your fears, develop your courage, and stop settling for anything less than the very best life has to offer.
Failure is not fatal. But failure to change just might be.
― John Wooden, UCLA head basketball coach, 10 NCAA national championships