The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All

Chapter 14The Greatest Success Strategy of All

“Well then, let me tell you about The Way,” the carpenter said. “But first I must tell you what gets in the way. It is fear. Truth be told, the root cause of busyness and stress is fear. The stress you are experiencing at work and home are manifestations of the fear that is driving you. I bet when you were starting out you had all sorts of self-esteem issues and fears. You had fears that you weren’t good enough, smart enough, or fortunate enough to be successful. This fear pushed you to work hard and conquer your demons. And you had some success, right?”

“Yes,” Michael said while nodding.

“But with that success more fears emerged. People think the more successful you become the less fear you have. But actually you often become more fearful. You don’t want to lose what you have built. More people are looking to you and at you so you feel more pressure. You feel you have more to prove and more to lose. The success is greater, so the fall is greater if you fail, and too often the fear of failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that leads to failure. That’s why I always told my children do not fear knowing that fear was the one thing that would keep them from their destiny. Does this sound about right?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Michael. “All of it.” His self-esteem had never been lower and his fear had never been greater. “It’s like you are reading my mind.”

The carpenter picked up the wooden heart and showed it to Michael. “You collapsed ...