February 2, 2019
But what if...?
Wouldn’t it be great if you knew that everything you attempted to do would be a success?
- You write a book, and it becomes a best seller
- You start a podcast, and get millions of subscribers
- You launch a product, and it sells out on the first day
Unfortunately, things don’t work like this. Anything worth doing brings with it a certain risk. A non-zero chance of failure.
But in cases like these, what are you really risking?
It’s not like we’re taking about jumping over a canyon on a rocket powered motorcycle.
When creating something new and releasing it into the world, you’re certainly risking some time and maybe some money. But when you get stuck, these concerns probably aren’t what are stopping you...
I think that often the biggest perceived risk of any creative act - the one that is most likely to paralyze you - is the possibility of embarrassment. Of being labeled a failure. Of looking like a fool. Being the target of ridicule.
I can always detect when a student is suffering from embarrassment paralysis when I start hearing:
“But what if...?”
They basically start fantasizing about all the possible ways something could fail and want some sort or reassurance that it won’t, or at least to have a contingency plan for every possibility, no matter how remote.
Here’s the thing...
Making your business more profitable requires that you try new things. Not all of these things are going to work. Once you have the following in place, it’s time to start taking action:
- A clear objective
- A reasonable strategy for reaching your objective
- A list of actionable tactics that align with your strategy
If you have these three things in place but still find yourself asking “but what if...?” instead of plowing through your action items, you’re probably just scared.
Don’t fear the embarrassment of failure. Embarrassment is a great teacher. And it sure ain’t gonna to kill ya ;-)
Yours,
—J