The Fear of 'Driving'

There was a time when a person’s dream job consisted of finding that dream already established and working in the field of said established dream. As of late, it is easily noticeable that many people, tired of working traditional nine to fives, have been stepping out on faith – carving their own niches in the world - and creating businesses – and dreams – of their own.

There takes a certain level of determination and drive to take that next step. It’s a scary thing – and I speak from experience. Owning and operating my own business has left me with varying feelings – and they are not always good feelings, either. I’m scared most of the time, to be quite honest. A wise man that I’m proud to call my friend told me once, “If you don’t wake up scared shitless every day – then it ain’t right”.

Or something along those lines.

The point I make is –

Wait.

Let’s look at it from a different angle. 

Learning to drive is a challenging thing. There are little basic nuances you learn, either from taking lessons, or learning from someone else. As you garner up the courage to take that road test, you are either overly confident – or you are scared out of your mind. When you pass that test – you feel elated. Jubilant. You’re ready to hit the road. When you hit the road, though, for real, no matter how confident you are, no matter who you are, somewhere in the back of your head, you think to yourself, “Oh shit, what if I crash this car?”

I don’t know not one person who drives that didn’t think that their first time driving. You don't have to admit it to me. I understand.

It’s no different when you take that first step out as a business owner. Some of us don’t make it past the gate. We’re busy worried about our day to day living, so much so that we never open the gate and walk out on faith (and planning. Lots and lots of planning). Some of us walk out the gate and lean on it for a while – we’re afraid of stepping forward, of taking that next step, of actually doing what we said we wanted to do. Some of us are like me – they’ve run out the gate, around the corner, down the block – but they’re in need of a Red Bull. Reality has hit – and now, they’re wondering what the hell they were thinking.

Sort of like I am.

So this is my pep talk as much as it is for everyone out there, struggling between freedom and perpetual job slavery. If you’re thinking about it…do less thinking and start planning. If you’re in the process of planning – stop planning and actually implement. Start prioritizing. You may have to give up certain smaller dreams to actualize the bigger ones. If you’re like me – and you’ve already started working on your dream – don’t let the setbacks push you back.  

You started driving for a reason. 

Posted in: career, commitment, dream, driving, fear, pep talk