Are You Fearless? Reckless? or Feckless?
Taken from a paragraph in Seth Godin's book Linchpin.
Godin thinks "fearless" should be cultivated, and is held in high esteem by corporations. It's a prerequisite for a Linchpin. What's the best way to handle fear? Recognize it, feel it, but don't let it stop you. Go forward. Do it anyway. I used to be terrified every time I had to make a presentation to a group of people. I'm very shy. Checked out the hair, the teeth, makeup, the stance, what I was wearing, and rehearsed the entire presentation in the mirror before the fateful day. Kept thinking about how much was resting on the acceptance of that presentation. When I arrived at the company, I forgot everything I was going to say, sometimes even my name. You know the feeling? All these eyes are looking at you, daring you, and you want to seem cool but would prefer to fade into the woodwork? Feeling totally out of my comfort zone, I opened the presentation with an ice breaker. Told a joke. People started to laugh and I knew I had them. Just ad libbed from that point, and it went well. Did they always buy what I was selling? No. Would have been tragic though if I got so scared I didn't bother to show up.
Godin was saying feel the angst, but do it anyway. Also, if you have an unconventional idea and you see the validity of it, present it. What's the worst thing that can happen? Someone might think you're a fool? That's OK. No prob.
Now the real fool is the reckless person. "Reckless" has no plan. Reckless charges out there willy nilly and ends up costing people money, even themselves. Reckless is not cool.
You don't want feckless either. "Feckless" is like a day old French fry from McDonald's that has been left out in the rain, a lazy, soggy mess.
If you have an offbeat idea, go with it. It has as much a chance to succeed as anything, especially if you're feeling it.
The moral to this story is just SHOW UP!
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there".
~Will Rogers