What are you afraid of? Spiders the size of your face? Heights any greater than two floors? Beards? (The fear of which is known as pogonophobia – see the brief Bill Bailey clip below!)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=3xpZrK1P5dY
Some people have other sorts of fears; living their life afraid of death, illness or worrying that something will happen to a member of their family or other loved ones.
However there is a more subtle fear that sometimes grips us and affects our relationships, our work, most of our life really! This is the fear of failure. Any guy who has asked a girl out that he has a crush on will have known this fear, and hopefully overcome it.
I find in my job sometimes there are moments when a large metaphorical red button is in front of me to hit – to press “enter” on my keyboard will permanently alter an essential database, is a common situation I find myself in. And however much testing you do, you can never be certain of quite what will happen – you just need to take a chance. I’ve had many moments in my career when everything has gone fine, and none of you lot have noticed a thing. But I also have had a few occasions when it’s all gone horribly wrong. They are pretty scary times for me as I suddenly have to wrack my brains trying to work out how to fix it.
But I don’t regret those times. If I never took any chances I would not be able to do my job properly. Making a difference in business, or in life, is about being able to take chances on things that aren’t certain, putting your neck on the line. (I think it’s one of the core elements of falling in love with someone.)
So when a challenge looks you in the eye, weigh it up – is the risk worth taking for the potential gain that might come from it? Don’t live a life of hesitancy, never taking any chances, because it won’t be a significant life otherwise.
