fog

Most people I’ve spoken to who want to leave behind work they hate and do the work of their dreams tell me that there’s one thing stopping them from giving it a go. That thing is fear.

Fear that you’ll lose your day job before you’ve established a sustainable income.

Fear that you’ll never find clients.

Fear that your work won’t be good enough.

Fear that you’ll lose it all.

Fear of what you can’t control.

You’re concerned about right now and what’s just around the corner. That’s fair enough. People have to eat, and they have families to support. But maybe you don’t see what’s even scarier.

The prospect of working in a job you hate, until you die or retire to a pension that allows you to scrape by.

The prospect of missing out on the opportunity to own what you create.

The prospect of missing out on a chance to change the world.

I understand why people are scared. It was fear that forced me to put together a profitable business much more quickly than I thought was possible.

Fear that I’d end up another deadbeat teenage dad living off the government and a supermarket checkout job because I couldn’t finish my degree.

Fear that I’d never get to accomplish the things I’d spent my childhood dreaming about.

Fear that I would fail the family I found myself having to provide for at the age of 17.

I used fear to fuel myself, and it worked. Maybe you’re scared of making big changes. But maybe you should look at what’s even scarier when it comes to the legacy you leave behind at the end of your life–and use that fear to help you succeed.