The real victim of fear

Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.
“Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.” Suzy Kassem

Don’t let the fear of failing stop you. Or the fear of looking dumb. Or the fear of being outside of your comfort zone…That’s one way to make sure you never reach your goals. By never trying to do something difficult, you are guaranteeing failure. That type of failure may be less noticeable, but deep down you’ll always wonder “what if”…what if you pursued your goals? Would you be more fulfilled, happier, live a richer life with more meaning? You’ll never know if you don’t try.

New information is an invitation to question old opinions

New information is an invitation to question old opinions.
“New information is an invitation to question old opinions.” – Adam Grant

It’s ok to have an opinion on something even if you’re not an expert in that field. But to keep that opinion (whether it be informed or uninformed) may not be logical once new information comes to light.

You should focus on having the right answer, even if that means you were wrong before. Strive to be right as often as possible, but don’t stick with your original opinion that you know is wrong just so you don’t have to say you were wrong before. Everyone is wrong about many things over the course of their lifetimes. But the ones who are generally viewed as the smartest and most successful are the ones who are able to admit when they’re wrong and to move forward when they are presented with more recent information.

Courage and bravery

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

Everyone experiences fear. Many times, we fear what we don’t understand. We make something out to be far worse in our minds than what it will actually be like in reality. But, usually, things aren’t as bad as we make them out to be. Most of the time, the thing we feared turns out to be just a small bump in the road, but once we’ve driven over it and experienced it a few times, we hardly even notice it.

Brave men and women still experience fear. But the difference between them and cowardly men and women is that they are willing to face their fears. They will try to conquer their fears. And they realize that most actions we take in life, even if we fail miserably, will not cause us irreparable harm. If we try something and fail, or if we look dumb, that’s part of the process of getting better. But if you never try anything at all, you’ll always be afraid.

Strive to be the captain, not the MVP.

Strive to be the captain of your team, not the MVP.
“If everyone would strive to be captain of their team as opposed to the MVP, there would be a lot better teams.” – Derek Jones

“If everyone would strive to be captain of their team as opposed to the MVP, there would be a lot better teams.”

How true is this? Instead of trying to be the superstar, trying to be the center of attention, trying to go viral, trying to produce highlight reels, trying to get recognition from others…just work on being the best teammate you can be.

Respect others, care for them, and do things the right way. Everything you do, do intentionally. Take pride in your work. Share credit with your teammates and take accountability for your faults. Be positive. Communicate clearly to those you work with. Always try to improve – not just yourself, but your team as well. The more you can be a team player, even if that means that you lose out on some of the glory, the better your team success will be.

Looking back

Always strive for growth. Never stop trying. Never give up.
Someday you’ll look back on all the progress you made and be so glad that you didn’t give up.

We all get stuck from time to time, but if we keep chipping away at our goals, one day we’ll look back at what was once difficult and realize how far we’ve come since then.

When we’re making slow and steady progress, we may not realize how much we’ve improved. But take a moment to look back. Reflect on how far you’ve come already and keep that in mind when you feel like giving up on today’s tough task.

Don’t give up. Never stop trying to improve yourself. Always keep learning, growing, developing new skills, and enhancing old ones.