“All the fear in the world doesn’t prevent death. It prevents life.” – Unknown
A finely tuned dosage of fear is not a bad thing. It can even be a good thing. Fear of walking down a dark alleyway in a crime-ridden part of town – healthy fear. Fear of toddlers playing unsupervised near a busy road – healthy fear.
The problem is not fear. The problem is unchecked, outsized, ill-founded fear and the behaviors that flow from it. Never letting my child play outside alone. Never letting them ride their bike without supervision. Never letting them fall or fail. Fear, allowed to run rampant in my mind as a parent, would cripple my child’s life over time.
This is the season of life I’m in. I’m learning to encourage my 16 month old son to do more, take more risks, play at the edge of his ability level. I’m learning to let him play dangerously in a safe way (i.e. where there might be hurt, but no risk of catastrophic harm) as he learns to navigate this world.
Fear of course pops into my head in moments. I could let those fears win out and start to hold him back from the edge of his abilities. Hover over him and do my best to make sure no harm ever befalls him. Sweep the path clear to make sure he never stumbles. But that’s not living a full life – for either of us. So rather than preparing the path for my son, I’m aiming to prepare my son for the path. My aim is to raise an independent, full of life, confident, capable future man. I’ve preloaded my beliefs about how to do so and that’s what I rely on to guide my behaviors.
Where do you allow fear to run rampant? Fear around a relationship, a job, a dream, your kids? Where do you need to inspect that fear and learn to push against it rather than letting it guide your behaviors? Where do you need to play a little more dangerously, at the edge of your abilities? Get busy living.
BUILT TO LEAD 
Thanks Rachel for your thoughts on fear. No wonder Jesus said the words, ‘Do not Fear’ so often. In fact, that phrase is used by Christ more than any other. ‘Do not fear’. But it was fear more than anything that drove me. Fear was a friend and a foe.
I joined Burroughs Corporation in 1978. After two years at Burroughs, I had sold nothing. The only money I made was on mileage. Yup, I had a Toyota that got great gas mileage. So I drove and put a few bucks in my pocket every time I submitted a T and E report. My biggest sale ever at Burroughs was ‘keeping a job after 2 years’. How that happened, I do not know.
Driving for cash.
After 2 years, I quit and went to Europe and backpacked for 3 months. I was building quite a sales resume. (not). After coming back from Europe it would take me 18 months to find a real sales gig.
I got a job, and Fear kicked in. It would be fear that drove me now. Fear of coming in dead last. I was either gonna make it in Sales or not. Last chance Grum, I thought. It would be fear and my competitive nature that the WINS slowly started to come, and I still had the Toyota.
Selling is a learned behavior, and losing that was my teacher. Tough sledding. But I’m stubborn and I wanted to WIN. And slowly, so slowly, I learned the selling process. The success began in 1990 when I sat in the office of Chester Scott. It was the weirdest interview, I’d ever had. We talked for 2.5 hours. Who does that ? Chet does.
And here’s the kicker — in 2001, I started a sales training company and sold my Toyota.
Grumdelagrum
Awesome story…thanks for sharing! Love hearing these old sales stories.