Category: fear

Care less to impress

You’ll soon realize it’s easy to impress people when you don’t care whether they’re impressed or not.

Of course the only way to reduce how much you care to impress is to have plenty of other options so that one doesnt mean as much. And the only way to have more options is to keep trying more. Experimenting more. Leaving yourself vulnerable more.

Throw more against the wall and see what sticks. Rinse, repeat.

Tightrope

Life is a tightrope. Everyone’s walking on it but no one’s sure whether their next step will see them still on the rope or not.

Common sense says you SHOULD be unsure, there is very little holding you from falling off. But there is something you CAN be sure of, and that’s yourself. You can be confident in how you’re balancing yourself and of taking control of that small area you have a say in. Forget the rest. Ground yourself in that bit of security and let that be the source of your confidence.

Those that can radiate this confidence become the winners, they understand that it doesn’t pay to worry about all the other variables they can’t control.

The limit

Finding out our own limits and vulnerabilities is a powerful tool. Tiptoeing the edge of that cliff and still surviving.

It scares the shit out of you. And even though others might not see it, it bursts your confidence bubble a bit because now you have no doubts about where your powers end.

But it more than makes up for it with the alleviating realization that EVERYONE goes through it. Finding that it is only by creeping to that edge that we can truly progress.

Makes success seem so much more blue collar, and that’s a GREAT realization.

The narrow band

“The battle is won or lost before it is even fought.”

Sometimes I laugh at myself for fearing a disastrous outcome that will most likely not happen. It’s equally ludicrous when I expect a perfect outcome knowing damn well the necessary preparations haven’t been laid.

We lose track of what I call the “Narrow Quality Band,” the range of results you can get from a specific effort. At any given point you can only be so sucky, or you can only be so great. And truth be told, they’re never too far from each other.

You can move this quality band up or down, but it takes time and gradual work, or lack thereof.

Have you tested your band lately? Do you know where you stand? Having a clear estimate helps you get work done and shipped without worry since you kinda already know the outcome. The daunting fear of the unknown reception is what usually holds us back. If you know what to expect the worries almost disappear. Poof.

Your Reality or Mine?

Communication is a faceoff of realities. Every conversation or every argument is a tango of two worldviews.

Since perception is reality then whoever believes most in their reality is who will dominate a conversation and impose their reality on the other person.

Believe in your reality (trust me it is YOURS and yours only) and you’ll find that you will get everything you want in life. This obviously doesn’t make you too likeable of a person. Exciting maybe. But not always likeable.

Of course, those who have mastered the artform can impose their reality and do it in a way in which the other person welcomes this new point of view, they are both right and likeable. You can find these people in corner offices across the country.

Trouble

Trouble is good. Trouble means trying.

You know what trouble I’m talking about. The good type that makes you try something no one’s done before in hopes of creating the next big thing. This is not only ok, it’s the only way to make your mark.

Get yourself into trouble, it goes hand in hand with failure. And not too far behind failure comes success. It forces you into fighting for mere survival, and that’s the best fighting we can ever do. Just remember, once you start trouble you have to follow through confidently with more risky behavior until you break through. Reverting back to the rules too soon will crush your boldness momentum.

Go for it. Use those trouble free passes before you expire.

Three young ladies

Plan to let accidents happen.

Have a plan, plans are powerful beyond measure.

And let that plan allow you some errors. Let it put you in situations where you will meet the three ugly-yet-helpful ladies called Miss Stakes, Miss Steps, and Miss Fortune.

They might seem like bitches in the beginning but they’re here to teach us a lesson. They’ll expose us to people and situations that will challenge and make us grow.

Without a plan we have no general direction to follow and might be tempted to turn back around when we see the ladies approaching. With a plan that’s too strict we might overlook a better path being shown to us by the three gals.

Skill and Will

Success is not a matter of skill but a matter of will. Skill is everywhere, and knowledge abounds in every person that has ever attempted anything a handful of times.

But a powerful concentration of will exists in very few individuals. Willpower tells knowledge what to do. Willpower eats skill’s lunch.

Will is still standing tall long after skill has hit a wall.

Be a disciple of will, you’ll notice that skill and knowledge come free inside the package.