You Can Do This

One of the scariest feelings that can overtake us is fear of the unknown. Our minds tend to imagine the worst when we do not know what lies ahead in our future. Fear is a pessimist; it has no hope. When fear of the unknown comes upon us, it turns our minds into a wonderland of uncertainty and insecurity. When uncertainty and insecurity grow within, they start to control our decision-making.

It would be extraordinary to know about everything in life before it happened, but life doesn’t allow us that luxury. While my seventeen-year-old nephew was thinking about who he was going to ask to the prom, a pretty girl approached him at school and said, “Hey, if you were to ask me to prom, I wouldn’t say no.”

The rest is history.

Wouldn’t life be great if we knew the outcome before we had to step out and take a risk? Even though 20/20 foresight would be infinitely better than 20/20 hindsight, we do not have to live under the control of fear. Envision a life without fear of the unknown. Imagine being free to trust that whatever you do, you know you’ll have the ability to achieve it. This is the faith it takes to live without limits. We do not have to fear the unknown. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.”

Never let your fear of the unknown keep you from having faith in the unseen. If we spend all of our time thinking about what could go wrong, we will miss the possibilities of seeing what could go right. The truth is that fear and worry exaggerate themselves to the point we feel overcome by them. We can either feel overwhelmed by what lies ahead of us, or we can choose to live a life of overcoming what lies ahead of us.

The bald eagle powerfully illustrates what it means to soar above and beyond the limits of the unknown. While other birds fly away from violent, windy conditions, the eagle meets the raging tempest head-on. Eagles fly into a storm, harness the power of the strong winds, and use this power to propel them above the turbulence and danger. We have to develop ourselves to be like an eagle when it comes to overcoming our fear of the unknown conditions around us. We must challenge ourselves to look beyond our limits and see higher ground, just as the eagle does.

So, what areas of your leadership are you neglecting because your fear is holding you back? Maybe it’s having that conversation with your team member, maybe it’s speaking up at a team meeting, maybe it’s making that decision to hire another employee. Whatever it is you are fearing about the future, begin to step out and push yourself further to overcome it.