Do The Scary Thing

Do the scary thing.

When I was six, my camp counselor asked if any of us wanted to be on a parade float. I didn’t know what a parade float was, so I said no. When the town Fourth of July parade came around, my parents took me to see it, and all my friends were on the float. I tried to join them, and my mom told me there was no more room, and I couldn’t join them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that moment set me on the path to who I am today. I promised myself then and there that I’d never again say no to the scary thing.

Do the scary thing.

Whether it’s business or personal, do the scary thing. If it works, you’ll have an amazing story to tell, and you’ll be richer for the experience. If it doesn’t work, you’ll have a story with a lesson to tell, and you’ll be richer for the experience. Either way, you’ll have a story to tell, and you’ll be richer for the experience, and in the end, that’s all life really is. Stories and experiences. Do your homework, prepare, train, then do the scary thing. Failure isn’t failure if you do the scary thing and don’t succeed. It simply means you haven’t yet figured out the right way to do the scary thing. The only possible way you can truly fail is if you don’t do the scary thing. History is littered with ghosts of people who failed because they didn’t do the scary thing. Problem is, we don’t remember any of them, exactly because they didn’t do the scary thing. They didn’t change anything, they didn’t move themselves, or the human race forward.

Do the scary thing.

As the video below shows, ten years ago today, at this very moment, in fact, I did the scary thing yet again. I’ll keep doing every scary thing I can, whether it’s in my personal life, professional life, or somewhere in between. In the end, the only true risk is not taking one.

Thanks to all of those, too numerous to name, who helped me at some point or another, do the scary thing, and allowed me to learn from them.