Fear and complacency will get you nowhere

One of the most crucial lessons that I have learnt in my personal and business life, is the need to present a united front.

Regardless of what goes on behind the scenes, it only does you more harm than good to air your dirty laundry in public.

It seems that as a country, we are less concerned about losing the respect of our peers and more concerned with making political statements that neither serve the electorate nor our individual careers.

Anyhow, I have purposed not to focus on politics today as we are evidently lacking direction, and a ship without a captain often ends up hovering at sea.

Instead, I want to direct your attention to something that could add more value to your life.

I want to begin by saying that in my line of work, I often meet people with great ideas and others with not so great ideas. However, looking at them side by side, one might not be able to tell the difference.

That is unless either of the parties implements their vision/idea.

I bring this up because there are many young people in Kenya who have great ideas but can never seem to bring them to the light of day. Peter Schutz, the former CEO of Porsche is credited for saying that ‘… a bad decision well implemented will bring more to the bottom line than a brilliant decision that is not implemented.”

Now that the year is just beginning, let us agree that no matter how good or ingenious your idea is, it will serve no one if you cannot put it into action.

In my opinion, much of what prevents us from achieving our dreams is not the lack of capital or one of those other factors often cited in the entrepreneurship courses. No, it is fear and complacency.

Where there is a will, there is often a way albeit a small path.

We live in a society, which for the most part, promotes conventional wisdom and rules of operation. Our lives are put into little boxes and categories that determine where we go to school; whom we interact with; the families we marry into; the sort of businesses we operate etc.

We on the other hand buy into these beliefs, perhaps because we are afraid to rock the boat in which we are sailing or because we are afraid of being ostracized.

Well, I am here to tell you that fear and complacency will get you nowhere.

Most of the decisions we make in life are based on our emotions, and it is a natural and healthy part of life to explore the ‘What ifs’. What if I don’t succeed? What if I can’t get clients? What if am not good enough? However, the more we bother about what others think of us, or what they might say if we approach them for assistance, the more power we give to those doubtful emotions.

Those emotions then develop into anxiety or fear which consequently imprisons us. We lose faith in our own abilities and fear prevents us from taking a singular action that could be the difference between an alive dream and a dead one.

In addition, many of us are content to live simple lives that neither aspire to something greater nor even desire to challenge the status quo. For these people, it could be because their lives are already comfortable or that it is in their best interest to maintain that status.

However, if you are like me; a young person whose very existence and success was dependent upon the ability to accomplish my dreams, then this message (proverb) is meant for you: Fear is no obstacle to death.

What I have discovered is that these same people that we are often afraid of upsetting, or often want to impress; these are the people who would most likely not add any value to our lives. They are more likely the ones who could care less for our success. So why do we hinge our dreams and goals on their acceptance?

I implore you to wisen up. Any time you are confronted by the ‘what ifs’ and fear creeps in, remember that life and death are inevitable. At the end of it all, the only thing we have in control is how we live our lives and personally, I would rather tackle it in style.
When you arrive at that crossroad, ask yourself this question.

How will I feel if I don’t accomplish my goals? How will I feel if I do? Then let your answer guide you as to the next course of action to take.

Follow the author at http://twitter.com/ckirubi

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