You only live once. As overused as this phrase is, it’s absolutely true. Too many people let the fear of failing or the unknown stop them from pursuing their dreams.
Today’s episode is to inspire you to stop caring about what others think and to take action now… the only fear you are allowed to have is the fear of having regrets when on your deathbed.
Go out and make your dreams reality TODAY!
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” -Mae West
One of my biggest fears is looking back at my life when I’m at the end and having a feeling of regret:
Regret of not trying everything possible
Regret of not giving my all
Regret of not having visited certain countries or having certain experiences
YOLO, you only live once. While this phrase is thrown around a lot in rap songs and pretty overused, I really do love it.
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Why? Because it’s literally true. You really do only live once. You have only ONE shot at this life.
So often, we get caught up in worrying about what others think and how we’ll look if we try something and fail. It’s so easy to be afraid of trying new things or stepping outside of our comfort zone.
But… when we step back and take a look at the fact that tomorrow is not promised, what is there really to be afraid of?
Why not take a risk? Why not try something new?
Why not tell your crush how you feel?
Why not try that new business idea out?
What’s the worst that can happen?
That is something that you should ask yourself all the time. You’ll be surprised to find that the answer typically isn’t as scary as you may initially expect.
You want to start a business. What’s the worst that can happen? You raise money from investors, the business fails, investors lose money, and you might take a loss. Sucks, but it happens quite often.
You learn from your mistakes, you try again, and you do better next time.
As you listen to more and more content and podcasts about successful CEOs of popular companies, you realize that there were tons of failures along the way.
Many CEOs have a graveyard of ideas that didn’t work out for one reason or another.
Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from taking action.
On the other side of the coin, you can also ask yourself: what’s the best that can happen?
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What’s the best that can happen?
Let’s use the same example. You start a business. You raise money from investors. You do so well that you grow quickly and hire a successful team.
You go public and get acquired, have a great exit and become financially set for the rest of your life. The investors get a huge return on their investment.
To be fair, it’s not usually going to be black and white. It’s not like you either feel miserably or succeed flawlessly.
Usually, we tend to end up somewhere between the extremes and work to improve incrementally as time goes on.
We’re not perfect, but we are capable of more than we often give ourselves credit for.
I can think of countless things I’ve tried or done that turned out to be easier than I expected.
For example, some of you may be deathly afraid of public speaking. I’ve had the opportunity to speak in front of people a lot lately, especially in real estate.
I sponsor lunch at several offices around town and tell real estate agents the types of deals I’m looking for. I’ve spoken in front of as many as 60-70 people here in the last few weeks.
I jumped in front of the crowd at a recent real estate meetup to talk about a deal I had as I was looking for buyers.
You’ll find that the more you do something, the less frightening it becomes. You know what to expect, you have your pitch rehearsed.
What’s the worst that can happen, right?
In the meetup example, the worst that could happen was that there might not be anybody who wanted the deal I was pitching.
How about the best case scenario? I would find a buyer and make my profit margin.
To be completely honest, it didn’t end up how I wanted. I did meet some buyers who wanted other deals, but nobody really wanted the one I was pitching. Oh well. Like the Wayne Gretzky quote goes, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
So that’s my message for today… what is there to be afraid of? Dominate your day. Face your fears and overcome them.
The only fear you should have is the fear of regret
Many people experience massive regret on their deathbeds. I’ve talked to older people who envy many of the things I’ve done: skydiving, scuba diving in Thailand, hiking in California, etc. They say “I’m too old to do that now.”
That is so terribly sad to hear… I can honestly say that if I die tomorrow, I would go knowing that I literally lived my life to the fullest possible extent.
I hope that’s not the case, because there’s still so much I want to accomplish, see, and do, but you get the point.
Let this inspire you to take action today. There will always be fear – do it anyway.
Don’t let fear stop you from taking action.
Facing fear is much better than looking back at your deathbed and having a list of regrets. Take action today. Dream big. Do big.
Face your fears today
Think about a few things you’ve been wanting to do for awhile but haven’t due to fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of what others think.
Create that Facebook page, or YouTube channel, or blog. Start putting out content. Stay consistent.
Others may laugh or make rude comments about your little traction at first… let them. Keep your head down, let that negative energy fuel you and make you want to succeed EVEN MORE.
Luckily, I’ve never really dealt with “haters.” At least nobody has talked bad about me to my face…. But even if they did when I started my podcast, now the laughing has likely stopped… people now ask how I grew the podcast to 19K+ monthly downloads.
The answer is surprisingly simple… I stayed consistent. I kept going despite all odds. And that’s how I did it. No paid marketing, no social media influencer connections, none of that. Just good, ‘ol fashioned discipline and consistency.
The same can be done with anything else. Pick your craft and then commit to doing the work. The only fear I will allow you to have is the fear of regret. Be very afraid of living a mediocre life. You are capable of far more!
Go get it.
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. – Mae West
