You may be a doer (you know I love doers, happen to be one myself) and if you are, you may find yourself at risk of finding yourself in awkward situations resulting from your tendency to do a thing (rather than just sit around and talk about it, like other folks).
We all have to deal with fear of the unknown whenever encountering a new opportunity in uncharted territory. While some people allow this fear to overtake them, some of us rise to the challenge, muster up as much courage as possible and forge a new path through an unfamiliar terrain.
While many onlookers watch us in amazement doing things like nobody’s business, they are thinking or caught saying things, like
Wow, I wish I could do that
Or alternatively
Whoa, I’m glad that’s not me
Depending on the circumstance.
It’s not unlike a batting average. You have to swing at a lot of balls to hit a few out’a the park. The more you swing, the more you are going to totally miss. Some will be good base hits, and a few will be home runs.
Regardless of your confidence level, if you keep swinging, your chances are you will do one of two things
You will achieve a level of success or competence
Or
You will learn something and do things differently next time
Of course, there will be those who will internalize the circumstance, fueled with self-doubt will bail out of the game altogether; never to play again because they believe they were better off not having tried at all.
Nonetheless, there are those moments when things do tend to get awkward, or embarrassing. Not just in business, as we tend to apply these very same stormtrooper methods to other areas of life also.
All the while, our friends continue to look on in amazement, uttering those very same lines, “Wow, I wish I could do that,” or, “Whoa, I’m glad that’s not me.”
Being the doer that I am, I have a laundry list of faux pas that could fuel a career as a stand-up comic, though I remain focused on my personal mission and message. So, I’m more likely to find myself staying on track, rather than try my muster at the local comedy club. But, it is great fun and entertainment to swap stories with other doers who have similar tales to tell.
Although, I’m tempted to relate a few of those stories here for your amusement, I don’t really see any value in memorializing the most awkward or embarrassing moments of my personal and/or professional life. Suffice it to say, that no one who is gathering enough courage to go where no man has gone before (or, at least where the individual has never been before) is likely to do so without dealing with challenges, obstacles or unforeseen occurrences, only to find themselves thinking, “Well,
“That’s not the way I planned it.”
How could anyone have known?
Okay, maybe a little more due diligence may have avoided this or that. Maybe a better background check might have been warranted. Maybe projections were off, finances could have been handled better, packaging or branding should have received more attention, and what is it they say about location, location, location?
The list goes on and on… because hindsight is always 20/20. And this is how we learn.
Sometimes all the education, practicing and planning in the world cannot adequately prepare you for that moment, when you’re staring down the pitcher, noting the position of all the other players on the field. Bases are loaded as you wind-up… It all comes down to this.
Crack!
That ball travelling at 80 MPH lands smack dab in the pitcher’s mitt.
It happens.
Just as Tennyson wrote, “Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all,”
It is better to have tried and failed, than never to have tried at all.
This is the most common regret of those approaching this life’s exit point: “If only I’d…”
Don’t let this be you.
Dare to do that thing, and…
Don’t quit.