I went to camp with my fifth grade class, but don’t recall much about the adventure. Only two scenes play in my memories. One is getting ready for bedtime wearing my long-sleeved maroon PJs with a big white 8 on the front. At the time, my brother attended Texas A&M and I was a big fan of the Aggies. The school’s colors were maroon and white. And, I loved playing sports, and these were sporty PJs.
Mountain face-off
I stood on the edge frozen for a long time. (Reality: five minutes.) Heart thumping. Legs and arms weak and numb. No, I didn’t think about fifth grade camp to remind myself not to wimp out again. Finally, I pushed one foot behind the other in small steps while gripping the rope harder with each movement. I found myself on the side of the mountain looking straight up at the sky with body parallel to the ground. It was time to push off to slide down. First jump was just enough to get over dental floss. With each push, I went further out and further down.
Touchdown! I love you, ground. Proud. Pat, pat, pat. Nice job. Hey, I did it. All that stuff.
Around 1996, I went indoor rock climbing. No problem going up. No problem going down. Repeat.
Pushing fear out of the way
Doing something for the first time is hard. Taking on a new client is hard even if it’s the same work you’ve always done. You’ve done the work before and done it well. So why be afraid? The big reason doing tasks for new clients feels like the first time I rappelled the mountain is that I fear the work won’t be good enough. Or I won’t do it the way the client likes it.
Think about all the things that you make afraid. Life would be easier without fear. But how do you get better? Learn from mistakes. How do you try new things? Forge ahead.
If I hadn’t pushed through while afraid, I would not have…
- Gone skydiving.
- Worked with new clients, some I still work with today.
- Attended conferences where I met people who became friends and colleagues.
- Enjoyed one of the most memorable weekends of my life.
- Published a website for a nonprofit organization. (I can manage websites easily, but designing one reflecting the organization scares me.)
If you avoided everything that made you afraid, what would you have missed on?
That was a great share of experience. I also face my fear when I ride a roller coaster that was a breath taking experience!, but after that, I know I can still do it again and again. In related to business, It was also one of problem facing by the people who just starting up in a business, FEAR. Fear in everything and the possibility result for their business, but nothing wrong in trying and always believe in your self.