“What would you do with your life if you knew that you could not fail?”

It seems like a simple question, but how many of us could look at ourselves in the mirror and honestly answer - “Exactly what I’m doing right now”? Although a few people may genuinely not know what they want in life, my sense is that most people do know deep down what excites them. We all had dreams growing up of what we’d like to be one day. And we all have something that we simply love to do - that we would spend time on and get lost in even if we weren’t getting paid.

So what holds us back? It is simply fear - the fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of disapproval from our peers. In our hearts we have an inkling of what we’re truly passionate about, but it’s so easy to convince ourselves that we couldn’t possibly succeed or that things would never work out. Many of us are guided more by our fear of failure than we are by our positive vision of what could be.

And I believe that is what separates people who pursue their deepest aspirations from those who try to avoid risk. The fearless have come to terms with their dreams and hopes, and are driven solely by the opportunity to bring them to fruition - however small that chance may be. To them, the worst fear of all is that these things they hunger for may never come to pass. And so the fear of failure appears inconsequential compared to the fear of never giving it a go. Their vision and determination are so powerful that they override the fear.