Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway

I get nervous a lot of times too. And almost always this brings out the energy that helps to push me beyond my comfort zone, to do what I think is right. Am I successful all the time ? Of course not. Am I terrifed? Of course. Change isn't easy, yet, I am more afraid of the long term consequence of not changing.

There are certain battles that we can push the boundaries, some we can push all the way, yet some can we push part of the way. I believe that the more earned the trust of our stakeholders, then the further we can push the boundaries, so long as we have good intention and a good heart that the things we are pushing for are for the greater good of everyone. While we may not be able to satisfy everyone (let's be realistic yeah), there should be no reason for us to push for perfection, even though perfection, according to Dan Pink, would remain an asymptote (hope people remember their math concept here)

It is possible to make things better, if everyone believes in it and willing to work with each other. There are teething issues but I am sure we could all work together to resolve it. Change is difficult, but we need everyone to want to work together to make things better. It maybe a bit painful at first , and needing to get used to. But sitting in our comfort zone while it’s less painful, will be even more painful in the future, when competitors have been far ahead, capturing even bigger market share. Then it would be an even a monstrous hurdle for us to play catchup.

We know what rewards each of us want at the end of day, but methods and behaviors that are needed to arrive to the desired outcome have to evolve because our competitors change , because marketplace, competition, world economy and geopolitics change.

While some of our stakeholders might be resistance to change, it should not stop us from initiating change , it should not stop us from working with our stakeholders who accept and want to change and it should not stop us from resisting change ourselves. We should look at putting ourselves from a "No Lose" Point of view instead of "No-Win" mindset. Hence title of this article, "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" which comes from a book of the same title written by Susan Jeffers

In facing fears of change, Susan suggested the way to move forward. We need to do our homework, set the right priorities and please lighten up as well; while being prepared that realistically the outcome may fall short of our expectations. So throw away your expectations , and accept responsibility no matter what the outcome. And don’t give excuse over it because there will always be a silver lining that you could learn from and adjust your actions and path over and over again. The road to the end destination will not be straight, but through adjustments made, we will inch closer to the end destination. Yet at the same, we will be much wiser that before.

So don’t lose hope just yet and don't be afraid. Again, we can’t make everyone happy, no one could . We certainly can make the best of any situations that presents itself. we can’t force change on anyone, unless they want the change. And you can't wait until everyone is on board the ship of change because the ship will make it’s journey according to its schedule, with or without everyone on board. Never the less, always remember that You Will Never Walk Alone! And please read this great classic.