Step 4 Exit the safe lane
THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO CREATING A LIFE WORTH LIVING EXCEPT BY EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY AND CHOOSING GROWTH OVER COMFORT. AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. BE UNAFRAID OF BEING AFRAID. LIVING BRAVELY IS INDISPENSABLE FOR LIVING WELL.
Let's face it, if it were easy to do the right thing, the brave thing, the best thing … the very thing that you knew would move you towards more of what you wanted and away from what you didn't, you'd already have done it. And you wouldn't be here now. Neither would I, for that matter.
As I've learned many times over the course of my life, fear is a potent emotion. Left unchecked, it can derail our decisions and keep us living in the safe lane of life: the lane that often doubles as a parking lot for unfulfilled dreams and unused potential.
Couple our innate risk aversion with the fact that we live in a world that's constantly bombarding us with reasons to feel afraid — of killer viruses, rogue terrorists, identity theft and predators of every variety — and it's little wonder that so many people spend so much time in the safe lane of life.
OUR CULTURE INSTILS FEAR INTO OUR VEINS FROM BIRTH.
Yet at what cost?
If your definition of success from earlier in this book has anything to do with living a life that lights you up, brings out your best and makes life better for others, then achieving success — in your career, relationships, health, wealth and life — will be determined by how willing you are to discern the fears that are ...
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