Stop letting fear hold you back…

I used to be afraid of everything. I was scared to speak up, scared to go outside, scared to try something new, and scared to fail. I thought failure meant something about me — about my worth — so I did everything in my power to avoid it. Unfortunately? I still failed.

I failed often, and I failed big. I launched companies and watched them crumble. I chased countless dreams only to fall short again and again and again. And, eventually, I was too terrified to try anything. My self-esteem disappeared. I became a shell of myself who spent weeks stuck inside her house, afraid to step outside, watching as the world passed me by.

Instead of living, I was simply existing. And I was miserable.

“Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.”

Laurie Buchanan

I remember the first time I saw that quote. Until that point, I thought life was happening to me. I thought my situation was entirely outside of my control, but — while I couldn’t control everything that happened in the world — I realized that I could control myself.

It was a profound moment, and I discovered that I control the outcome of my life simply because I control the input.

Over time, I realized that I didn’t need to be fearless. It’s not about learning to live without fear — it’s about learning to do it anyway.

So instead of fearing failure, I decided to chase it. In everything I do, I push myself to step outside my comfort zone, to take risks, and to chase my dreams — even if there’s a chance that I’ll fail — because failure is a sign that we’re trying. It’s proof that we’re doing what’s necessary to reach success, that we’re willing to fail, that we’re willing to take risks in pursuit of that goal. Instead of terrifying me, every failure served to motivate me.

In our society, we tend to over-glorify success, and it leads us to the false belief that success is easy, simple, or achievable overnight. What we don’t see, however, is the sheer number of failures behind each one of those success stories.

Success isn’t the absence of failure, success is PROOF that you’ve come face-to-face with the potential for failure and decided, “I’m going to try anyway.”

Because it’s worth it.
Because you are worth it.

If you’re okay with living your life in default, that’s you’re choice. But if you’re ready to make a change — if you’re ready to embrace risk and fear and failure in your relentless pursuit of success — then now is the time.

It’s time to say goodbye to living in fear.
It’s time to create the life you deserve.
It’s time to stop dreaming and start doing.