What Would You Do if You Weren’t Afraid?

Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose.

Have you ever asked yourself what you would do if you weren't afraid?

Imagine all the things you could have accomplished by taking a risk instead of staring at the opportunity? To many of us, the thought of doing something new and taking a risk is an almost paralyzing experience. We sit as spectators and later probably regret not taking the opportunity.

But what can we do to ease the stress caused by a new situation and help us get our decision-making in shape for that next challenge?

Here are five Principles for a Life of Breakthrough and Purpose from the book “Be Fearless” by Jean Case that will help you analyze, execute, and reach places you thought were reserved only for others but not for yourself.

One, Make a Big Bet.

Start where you are; Don’t wait for some miracle to happen. Madam Walker had been a slave and started her own company, becoming the first Afro-American woman to become a millionaire. Two college boys started Airbnb, who just wanted to rent some space and air mattresses for people in a San Francisco convention. A college graduate mom started Happy Family Organics because she wanted healthy food for babies.

Be Audacious; When John F. Kennedy said that a man would set foot on the moon within a decade, the technology wasn’t even invented. Or Elon Musk promising to be on Mars by 2030, and from building electric cars started SpaceX, launching in 2018 his first successful rocket, and in November 2020, his first human spaceflight.

Burst Through Assumptions: We assume that things are the way they’re supposed to be, and there is nothing to do, but successful people don’t. Eunice Kennedy founded the Special Olympics, starting in 1968 with 160 athletes from 40 colleges, with more than five million. So if someone tells it to you can’t be done; Say, “Just watch me.”

Peek Around Corners; get used to looking outside the box, searching for trends. When AOL started in 1995, almost no one had an email or internet at home. Jeff Bezos started his company selling books on the Internet in 1994 with a 25,000 Dollars loan from his parents to become the world’s most profitable company in the world.

Now Go out there and make your Big Bet; Give yourself a start, no matter how little you know, put your dreams, and desire to help others before the profits. Remember Wayne Gretzky quote: “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” So make the time for what is important. And as Amelia Earhart said, “The most effective way to do it is to do it.”

Two, Be Bold And Take Risks

Get Uncomfortable; Think of all the things you didn’t do because of the fear of not being good at them. Eliza Scidmore boarded a steamship, and in 1885 wrote the first travel guide of Alaska before it became part of the US. Sir Ernest Shackleton made in 1914 the first transcontinental journey across Antarctica. They were uncomfortable, yes, but they did it anyway.

Embrace Risk as R&D; Don’t be afraid to take a chance and instead imagine you’re investing in research and development instead of taking a risk. Polio and Smallpox vaccines were discovered by taking this approach; also, Jane Goodall took the risk of going to Tasmania to study wild chimpanzees and found they were not just using tools in the wild but also making them.

Pick Up Where Others Left; Successful people often use this approach and make significant innovations. Edison described himself as not an inventor but as a sponge, learning from others. Facebook, Google, and Twitter benefited from the innovations of AOL, and Steve Jobs didn’t invent the computer, the mouse, or the cellular; he just improved them.

Risk or Regret; As humans, we need to take risks, but our society prevents children from doing so, claiming to be dangerous, but you will probably end regretfully by not taking a risk. Kodak was the most important company in the camera film industry but didn’t take the risk to go digital, and in 2012 filed for bankruptcy. In September 2000, Blockbuster declined to buy Netflix for 50 Million Dollars and regretted it later when 2014 went out of business. Therefore, it is always better to take a risk than to regret not taking it.

Now Go and Find the Courage Zone; Look for that place where exciting things happen. Find the reason that moves you forward; your Why. Follow your dreams, no matter how crazy they seem. Pursue your goals fiercely. Take bold actions, over and over again.

Three, Make Failure Matter.

Crash and Learn; Everybody makes mistakes, but only the courageous fail and learn from the mistakes. When IBM lost a one million sale to the government, all the salesmen presented their resignation letters after increasing their inventory. IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, who believed that if you want to succeed, you should double your rate of failures, refused to accept the resignations saying, “Why would I accept this when I just invested one million dollars in your education.”?

Fail in the Footsteps of Giants; When we look for examples of success, we forget that many times those who we admire fail many times. Edison, whose teacher told her mother that he was too stupid to learn, perfected the lightbulb after hundreds of fail designs, Steve Jobs, was fired from Apple. Oprah failed many times starting her career, so go ahead and learn from them.

Beat the Odds; J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter saga, made public reject letters from her publishers, and later was asked what motivated her to continue, she said, “I was a single mother on welfare, and I had nothing to lose.”

Take the Long View; Perhaps you’ve experienced your share of failures, and many times they didn’t happen because the idea was wrong, but because the execution was. The Gates Foundation announced they wanted to eradicate polio by 2010 but failed to do it after committing $13 billion. Milton S. Hershey failed before opening the chocolate factory. Warren Buffet made most of his wealth 50 years old. These examples show you that most of the time, you need to view further to succeed.

Learn from Failure: Consider the failures you had in your past and the ones you recovered from, everybody sometimes fails, but you might have lost a battle; now get ready to win the war. Go forward, try, and if you fail, learn from your mistakes.

Four, Reach Beyond Your Bubble.

Eliminate Blind Spots; It’s essential to follow the trends, and maybe they take you to success but don’t forget, always be aware of those other treasures hidden. They present an opportunity for those who dare to look for them, and maybe your next big move is on places you thought to be dead because of failing industries, like how cities like Pittsburgh or Detroit are experiencing an epic rebirth.

Build Unlikely Partnerships; An African proverb says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Willing to share your ideas and control of your projects with others might be difficult. But if you want to create a profitable company, you might need an alliance. NASA and Lego are collaborating to build a website for kids about space exploration. Airbnb has a partnership with KLM. Coca-Cola and the Gates Foundation join forces delivering vaccines to remote places in Africa.

Better Together; Times have changed, and now there is more diversity in the workplace, but some places could still be better. Many people think only about the diversity of gender, but we have to be more inclusive. To be better is about learning from each other, accepting the different skills and points of view from others. Not only by gender but by ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion, Etc.

Leverage Partnerships for Growth; All great movements have started with this concept. AOL partnered with many companies to make their software available to everybody, including giving CDs with free programs. They even partnered to make Google’s search engine the official software at AOL. When Harvey Milk started the LGBT movement, he began with the gay community but later reached for San Francisco’s straight liberals. Louisa May Alcott quotes, “It takes two flints to make a fire.”

Now Go, Get Outside your Bubble Every Day; Start surrounding yourself with people that can help you to see a different perspective. Please make a list of your collaborator’s attributes, and look from them and for all the skills you need to learn, also search in other places. If you’re starting, look for mentors, your friends, your family, and reach for them to give ideas and different points of view.

Five, Let Urgency Conquer Fear.

Seize the Moment; Opportunities come in a moment, and we have to be ready to act, decide, and go for it. When someone tampered with Tylenol bottles with poison, the company’s CEO knew that recalling all products from the market would mean losing millions of dollars. Apple canceled a deal with a new start-up company and almost taking it out of business. During World War II, Corrie Ten Boom, a young watchmaker, saw how the Nazis were arresting her neighbors. These examples presented the people involved with a challenge.

They had the option to do nothing, accept their losses, or look the other way. But all of them acted. Tylenol recalled all bottles and developed a new tamper-resistant bottle. The start-up company found a new opportunity and became AOL. And the young watchmaker helped many Jews escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II by hiding them in her home. So, do what’s right, act, and make a change.

Be a First Responder; We’ve all seen brave men and women acting like heroes when disaster strikes, and think to ourselves they must be prepared for that. But there are thousands of ordinary people who take bold action and help others when presented with the opportunity. Like Chef Jose Andrés, who founded the World Central Kitchen Organization and has helped thousands of people during the Haiti, Katrina, and Puerto Rico disasters, as well as in the COVID-19 pandemic. Or Jonathan Smith, who helped others at the Las Vegas shooting. Anyone can be a first responder. Is there a crisis near you that you can respond with action?

Don’t Overthink or Overanalyze, Just Do; Nike’s slogan “Just do it” has become famous for encouraging people to get into action. But beneath is a secondary message urging us. As Mel Robbins explains in her book the 5 Seconds Rule, all you have to do is count backward 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and do. Don’t be afraid about failing; Ryan Babineaux and John Krumboltz's, Fail Fast, Fail Often book tell us to act now and learn from our mistakes. That’s what President Obama did when he authorized the auto industry $85 billion bailouts. Bertha and Harry Holt, who, after learning about the terrible conditions that children in Korea were suffering, decided to adopt eight children, having to lobby Congress to change the laws. Don’t wonder if you have the courage, take a step forward, and keep moving.

Now Go And be the One.

Can you think of the five qualities of a hero? Go ahead, try to do this exercise, and describe what you think a hero should be. Analyze each one the best you can, and take notes. If you compare your answers with someone else, maybe you’ll agree on some. There is no correct answer; what makes this interesting is that you probably already have those qualities. The challenge is now to think of what you need to do to improve. Don’t wonder if you can, find a solution, take a risk, help others, and do the right thing. Don’t try to find someone who can, instead take a leap of faith and Now Go, Be the One.