A discussion about business ethics, character traits, integrity, and values

“Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk, and to act.” Maxwell Maltz

That lack of courage, that anxiety, has been around for a long time, at least at my house. It kept me from raising my hand in elementary school, even though I knew the answer. It kept me from trying out for the team in junior high. It kept me from talking to girls in high school, even though I was cool AND good looking. For years, it kept me from speaking out in meetings, and from mingling with people who could help my career.

I’ve finally overcome a lot of that, simply by confronting what I’m afraid of, but it’s not easy and the tendency persists. I sometimes take “calculated risks” but other times I calculate too much and don’t act. It helps me to remember two lines from Mike Nesmith, “fear has no substance of it’s own” and “confrontation conquers fear.” What do you do?

Both songs quoted are from the brilliant Nesmith album, The Prison.

From Waking Mystery by Michael Nesmith:

Awake, behold, the morning's near.
And confrontation conquers fear.
Hope arouses, Truth enfolds,
The child of God, as man, is whole.

From Hear Me Calling (You’re Fine) by Michael Nesmith:

So don't cry, my good friend.
Fear has no substance of its own.
These problems simply
Are coming to be answered.

See the lingering doubts cast
Now fading with the gloom.
Showing you at long last
The welcoming arms of Truth.