Be Afraid

Folks, today I’m here to tell you one thing.

I’m here to tell you to be afraid.

And ironically, what I’m here to tell you to be afraid of is something that perhaps scares people the least in the world. I’m talking about comfort. 

Now, I understand that this goes against the grain. I realize that this goes against everything we’re taught from birth.  But I have some bad news for you, folks. 

Comfort is next to apathy, and apathy is next to death. 

Maybe you’re somebody who’s a budding entrepreneur, or entering the sales industry for the first time. Maybe you like the idea that you can be rewarded based on your efforts, and that the only thing standing between you and the insane success you could find is the amount of energy you pour into your career. That’s fantastic – the world needs more of us!

But I’d ask you to ask yourself…

How many people in your life are trying to talk you out of it?

How many people have told you how risky it is, how hard it is, how stressful it is? How many people have tried to fearmonger you out of taking this massive step in your own development? I’m guessing quite a few.

The trick is to remember that this is not a personal attack. These people are reacting to your decision the way they would if they were forced into that situation. People lash out when they’re threatened, and even for the most kind and supportive people in our lives, the idea of having to rely solely on yourself for a paycheck is a threatening and scary idea.

If we step back in time about ten years to when I was first starting up Alan Dickie Inc., I had so many of these same people singing the comfort song at me everywhere I went.

I had everything laid out. I’d stepped out of the dealership where I’d been working, very successfully I might add. I had set out to create a machine that would become my livelihood, that would support myself and my family, that would allow me to never have to answer to anyone else again in my career. 

But the people around me – even my own parents – started to point out all the reasons that it wasn’t going to work. “Son, you just signed the papers to the biggest mortgage you’ve ever had.” “Your wife is pregnant with your first child.” “You don’t have a safety net. This is not the time to step out into the void.”

Fortunately for me, my vision was so clear on everything I wanted to accomplish that statements like this didn’t touch me. All I would ever do is smile and tell them “Anyone who has a Plan B isn’t committed to Plan A.”

Now, again, as frustrating as it can be, we must remember that these statements are coming from a place of fear and a place of love. Most of the time there is no malice here. But people in general are determined to keep you where they are, because they sincerely believe it’s better.

“Hey, it would be easier if you just had a salaried job.” “What about benefits?” “There’s a lot of security in joining the police force, man.” I’ve heard this time and time again for the last ten years, and I know a lot of you – especially those just starting out – are going to be hearing it too. 

So I wanted to encourage all of you: if you’re an entrepreneur or a sales representative who’s ready to go above and beyond, ready to take extraordinary actions to guarantee your results, you need to be prepared for this wave of loving negativity and stop it in its tracks.

You know who you are, you know what you’re capable of. Let it wash over you and keep moving. Stay uncomfortable.