Dancing With the Fear

Normally I only print my own material, averse to even reprinting anyone else's photos, but this post from Seth Godin just had to be shared.

I've always thought Seth and I were kindred spirits in matters of marketing and business, but the great thing about Mr. Godin is the universality of his principles, which apply in all matters of life and love.

This is a short one, reprinted word-for-word and in its entirety from Seth's Blog:

"How do I get rid of the fear?" 

Alas, this is the wrong question. 

The only way to get rid of the fear is to stop doing things that might not work, to stop putting yourself out there, to stop doing work that matters. 

No, the right question is, "How do I dance with the fear?" 

Fear is not the enemy. Paralysis is the enemy.

I read once that successful Chief Marketing Officers of large corporations often change jobs often, because they're not afraid to make big moves that might not work, resulting in them sometimes getting fired, sometimes failing.

They are not risk-averse, while many of their peers and direct reports cower in fear, posing questions like "What if it doesn't work?" or "What if they don't like it?" or "What if they don't let us?"

Many businesspeople fly under the radar for years, never causing a fuss, never really doing anything remarkable, never really doing much of anything at all.

Those people may have job security, but they have no future. They clock-in, clock-out. Crop and drop.

They are obedient.

But, instead of saying "Yes, sir, may I have another?" to the uninspired, the erratic, the abusive, the unreasonable, the unsupportive, I say yes to myself.

I figure out how to do something, of my own invention.

It may work.

It may not.

I might discover something, find what I'm looking for, create something new.

Or I might not.

But I tried.