Oops... I Forgot to be Afraid

The spring is here! I will be kicking off my “speaking tour” for the year and will begin by delivering motivational speeches at Google, Visa and Rotary Club this month.

I first decided on giving motivational speeches about two years ago after I spoke at a travel club. I talked about my book and the experience of creating an agricultural training program in Tanzania. A young woman came up to me afterwards and wanted some advice.

“I want to do the kind of volunteer work that you did!”
She said enthusiastically at first. Then there was a pause. She looked like she was concerned.

“I am not sure how to do it. What if I failed?” She asked.

My first reaction was confusion. I didn’t understand her fear. It was not as if she would be evaluated for her work and given a performance review as you would at work. Then it hit me that I had never thought about failure before or during my project in Tanzania. For a few seconds, there was panic inside of me …”Had I made a huge mistake of not considering some very important factor?”

I took a deep breath and realized that my ignorance of failure allowed me to be undistracted in achieving my goals. I was so concentrated on making my project possible, I failed to focus on failure! I forgot to be afraid! All I could think about when I was in Tanzania was how to overcome challenges so I could bring the training to the people who really needed it. I was thinking about “How”, not “What if”.
If you are on a tight rope over a gorge, you would have a better chance in getting to the other side of the water if you look straight ahead at where you want to get to, rather than if you look down at the water miles below you.

Someone once said “The answer to ‘How’ is ‘Yes’”.

This is probably how babies learn to walk. They fall, they cry and then they forget about it and try to walk again. They were looking at that toy sitting on the coffee table or curious about the remote control lying on the sofa. The objects are darn interesting and so irresistible that the babies are determined to walk in order to get their hand on the enticing objects!

Enroll yourself in your dream. Make it scream at you so that you will get up, move towards it and forget about all the obstacles that may come between you and your goal.

Through the motivational speeches, I hope I can help people reconnect with their dreams and have the courage to pursue their goals. I can’t wait!