What is it that stops you from pursuing your dreams? That little voice inside of you that is constantly telling you that you aren’t smart enough, experienced enough, or worthy enough to chase the highest goals that you have set for your life. It’s called fear and we all-too-often let it dictate our behavior. We listen to that voice because it happens to be very convincing in the lies that it tells us. It preys on our insecurities and lack of self-confidence in order to persuade us that we aren’t good enough.
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that there are times when you should listen to fear. However, if we are constantly listening to our fears because we are afraid of failing, we are never going to achieve the life that we want to live. Failure is a part of life and it can lead to amazing growth that success could never give.
When should we push through our fear in order to attain personal growth and get a step closer to our ultimate goal?
WHEN THE GOAL IS SCARY
If you haven’t read the book, Chase The Lion, by Mark Batterson, I highly recommend giving it a quick read. It is such an inspirational book and I want to give you a little overview of it.
Imagine that you are alone, wandering through the African Serengeti when you notice some movement out of the corner of your eye. You look over and see a 500-pound lion staring back at you. When your eye catches the sight of a man-eating lion, it immediately sends your body a message: RUN! Batterson, in this book, challenges us to approach this situation differently. Hence, Chase The Lion.
Okay, maybe he isn’t literally telling us to chase down a lion. The lion is symbolism for our dreams and fears. He challenges us to face our fears and run after the things that scare us. He challenges us to stare failure in the face with confidence. One quote from the book really stuck with me, “Stop living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.”
Sometimes our goals can be scary but if we want a chance to accomplish it, we have to stare fear in the face and chase our lion.
WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY TRUMPS THE RISK
There is going to be risk involved in every decision that you make. Whether that be trying a new coffee shop or starting your own business, there is risk involved in both decisions. In many cases, the opportunity is going to outweigh the risk of that decision.
I think about someone who has the dream of opening their own business. Whatever that business is, there are going to be multiple risks involved in an entrepreneurial ambition. Do these risks outweigh the goal? I would argue that they don’t. Imagine if the business is a hit. The financial payout is exceedingly greater than the risk that was involved. However, even if the business is a failure, I would contend that the lessons learned are worth the risks taken. If you were to talk to any successful entrepreneur, they would tell you that their success was a cause of their failure because their failures taught them things that their successes never could.
WHEN WE WANT TO OVERCOME
At some point in our lives, many of us have been crippled by fear. Something has scared us to the point that it took away our freedom to do the things that we wanted to do. It is disempowering to feel crippled by your fear, so sometimes you have to face that fear, even if it scares you to death, in order to free yourself of those chains that were binding you. But rest assured, as a human, your inherent desire to be free will be enough to help you stand up in the face of your fear and overcome it.
Dreams. The thing that everyone has but not everyone pursues. The one thing that stops them from pursuing those dreams: Fear. Your drive to pursue those dreams has to be greater than your fear of failure. Stop living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death and take on the challenges of your dreams. If you fail, learn from it, get back up, and chase the lion again.
Thanks for reading this week. Feel free to connect with us with any comments or questions you might have. Just email us at contactus@espyservices.com. Everyone enjoy your day and we will talk to you next week.
Written by Trey Turner – TTurner@EspyServices.com
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