If you knew that you could not fail, what would you do? What actions would you take today if you were 100% certain that everything would work out perfectly?
That’s the ultimate question that we often neglect to ask ourselves.
Would you quit your day job and launch that new brand that you’re so passionate about? Take a big chance by telling people what you really think and feel when they ask? Communicate with courage and vulnerability to your spouse and loved ones? Start a new sport that you love but have never tried? Go travel the world?
Instead, we’re often doing the opposite, shying and shrinking from audacious risks and new challenges. Particularly as we get older, we play it safe, limiting our own progress or success.
Why do we do that? Maybe because the thought of a loss stings far more than the elation of a win? We’re conditioned to maximize comfort and minimize pain? Or because we feel others may judge us?
But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, you can train yourself to go out on that ledge, take chances, and get out of your comfort zone until it feels like second nature. Pretty soon, you’ll approach your life as if you know deep down that you won’t fail.
…because you won’t!
Still, it’s just our human instinct to encourage caution in others, too.
Being a father of two, I am always worried about what will happen to my kids.
Will they get hurt? Can they handle the situation they’re in? Will my son be OK with the other kids at baseball practice? It’s inevitable we have these thoughts as parents.
And yet, our kids are the best example of what we SHOULD do.
Amazingly, they:
- Don’t get seriously hurt (well, sometimes they do, but they get over it).
- Get along with all the kids (most of the time – or they learn how to figure it out).
- No judgment, they just play and have pure, unbridled fun.
- Deliver on their own expectations…which are solely their own.
Why can’t we do the same as adults?
After all, we did this as kids, too. So, I look closely at what limiting behaviors are holding me/us back as adults and ask, how can I change those behaviors?
Getting started all comes down to a decision, a choice to live our very best life full of risks and challenges and dreams. Of course, we acknowledge that there will be failures, defeats, and even embarrassment, but that is just part of the process.
We sign up for the whole package and embrace those setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow.
So, what will you do today since you can’t fail? Forget what people think or even your own cautious voice telling you to be realistic or cautious. Go for it.
Feel free to answer, as I’m very interested in your journey and encouraging your progress, as I hope you are with mine!
As Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,” and I truly believe that to live any other way is just robbing yourself and those around you of joy.
-J.D.