Fearless and egoless

If I were to guess, I’d argue fear is the obstacle standing between you and accomplishment. You want to be a better parent, but you’re afraid your career will suffer if you take attention from it. You want to write a book, but you’re afraid you won’t be able to finish it. And if you do complete your manuscript, you’re afraid it will go unnoticed.

At it’s very worst, fear holds you in place. At best, it slows your progress. But neither of us are immune to it. There is literally an A to Z list of fears.

A case of acrophobia (fear of heights) will keep you from climbing a mountain, riding roller coasters, or parasailing. And a case of zoophobia (fear of animals) will, well, keep you out of the zoo.

Fear can be an uncrossable chasm, an obstructive blockade, an unbreakable fetter, or a foreboding thought. Fear comes in all shapes and sizes. If not controlled, it will control you.

“What if the long hours wear me out?”

“What if I fail and I look like an idiot?”

“What if it doesn’t work and I lose my investment?”

Like a fire, if given enough air, it can become an overpowering force. But, it can be quenched.

This morning, I was listening to an interview in which they were discussing a man who was defined as both fearless and egoless. They noted he was known to be a dangerous man in his profession because fear didn’t hold him back. He risked both his personal and professional safety to get the job done.

Extinguish the power of fear and set your ego aside. Build a bridge to cross its chams. Climb over its blockade. Break its fetters and replace its foreboding thought pattern with one of overcoming.