Clear and Pleasant Danger

Just when you thought it was safe, they tend to stick around like they're your family. You can move out or move across the country, but they may always be there unless you change your mind and ask them to leave. In preparation of my next book on fear and doubt, I realized that both can sometimes be like overprotective parents.

Fear and doubt may have been the #1 reason I didn't become a keynote speaker immediately after college graduation. Fear and doubt's response: "As long as you're under our roof, you will do what we say." The roof being the top of my head in that case, for fear and doubt are like an extra set of parents that reside deep inside of it.

Fear and doubt may have been the #1 reason I rarely approached a young woman to start a conversation with the intention of dating her. Fear and doubt's response: "We were only trying to protect you, honey."

If someone were to ask me right now: "Jared, if you could do it over, would you have focused completely on building a career as a keynote speaker?", I wouldn't necessarily say, "Yes." In general, I'm not one to regret things. Additionally, the past eight years have allowed me to speak on behalf of over 100 companies. I was okay being fed scripts no matter how small they were. I made the material my own. And rather than look back and regret my choices, I'd prefer to say I am grateful for the past and now prepared to provide my own topics and content.

I now acknowledge that even if I had started giving presentations based on my shtick more often after graduation, I would have probably faced fear and doubt in other areas of my work.

Until I truly understand the intricacies of fear and doubt, there may always be something to fear. Maybe I didn't do then what I would have now liked to have done due to simply not being ready. I wasn't ready to face hard work. I wasn't ready to face potential rejection. And certainly, I wasn't ready to face my fears.

Whatever it was that held me back, it allowed me to have a relatively carefree, easy, and enjoyable quality of life. The dangers of not getting booked, making a positive impression on audiences, nor earning income from speaking were hidden by years of working as a public speaker and marketing specialist. Gigs that allowed me to feel like I was on vacation.

"Maybe you should get a real job," my fear and doubt would ask me. No, wait, that really was my Mom who was the only one who said that. And besides, the only real job that I knew that was right for me at the time (and now) is that of a professional speaker. There is no other rational, realistic, reasonable, or practical choice. That is, of course, other than stalling.

The clear and pleasant danger of having fear and doubt on and off during the past eight years was that I chose "Plan B" - to do what was easy and not what was right. I did what was practical short-term and not what was best. Life was pleasant thanks to the dangers I knew were possible.

"What if they don't like me? What if they don't take me seriously? How will I remain competitive?" We do what we want to do and clearly keynote speaking was not what I wanted to do at the time.

As I write this entry from a hotel room at Disney World in Orlando, Fl, I can't help but realize that the similar imagination that brings cartoons to life can often motivate us to create characters in our heads. Which will you chose today, Jared? Is your character a hero or a villain?

Whomever it is, I don't intend to see them at our Thanksgiving Dinner. Fear and doubt, like the overprotective parents in our heads, won't be welcome to join us. Besides, they'd probably only complain about the uncomfortable topic of this book, its latest cover, and the fact that it's taking me "forever" to write it.

When you feel there's no one-way out, remember, there's always a one-way ticket available, and I know that fear and doubt love to fly. Good news, the delay is over, and their flight is now boarding.