Monday, [1:42] PM
Dear Friend,
Happy new year!
I always feel a little sad when the holidays are over but I’m also glad to get back on schedule and working towards some new goals.
So this morning after I woke up and took my Athletic Greens (thanks to Chris the Kiwi) I strapped on my trusty six-string and practiced the guitar for 30 minutes.
I got off schedule while traveling and it felt good to get back into that habit.
After that, I ate a nice Colombian-style breakfast and here I sit, listening to “Big Neighborhood” by one of my favorite guitarists, Mike Stern… wondering what the heck I’m going to talk about to hopefully inspire you for the new year.
I know!
Let’s talk about something I know really well…
Fear!
Yup. I’m well acquainted with that S.O.B.
Most people do whatever it takes to avoid it, but I’ve faced that sucker head on and beat him time and time again.
I’ve stared down the receiving end of a gun barrel on several nerve-wracking occasions…
…been attacked with all manner of edged instruments, including a common household steak knife…
…been whacked upside the head by all kinds of blunt objects, including a large metal flashlight (had my partner to thank for that one)…
…fought with some low-life trying to shoot me with my own gun, having to literally bite him on the throat to survive…
…been threatened with garden implements like shovels and hoes…
…and even had a few people attempt to leave tire marks on my semi-handsome face.
And that’s just the stuff I remember. The REALLY scary stuff has been suppressed from memory.
Yes, I’ve experienced honest-to-God “I’m going to die” fear… a LOT.
As an entrepreneur you’re going to be faced with fear… but it’s never life or death fear. Ironically, your body reacts the exact same way it would if you were truly facing a life or death situation.
And you gotta learn how to deal with those feelings.
I think having truly stared death in the face on more than one occasion has helped prepare me for the kind of fear you have to deal with as an entrepreneur.
But I’ve always been able to defeat it.
And today I’m going to share
my number one secret for defeating fear!
It’s actually pretty easy.
So easy, in fact, that you might not believe it.
But I’ll get to that in just a minute.
Right now, let me share another little technique that has also worked for me when faced with fear in my entrepreneurial life…
In many cases I’ve been able to rationalize the fear away.
If I was experiencing fear about a new venture or new risk I’d think to myself, “Hey this is nothing compared to the time the guy tried to kill me with a shotgun. What’s the absolute WORST that could happen if this new venture fails?”
Then I would think about the possible worst case scenario… and in most cases it wasn’t bad at all.
Maybe I’d lose a few bucks and gain some experience… but it certainly wouldn’t KILL me.
That’s why I’ve never understood why most people don’t try to make positive changes in their lives instead of allowing themselves to be paralyzed by fear.
It makes no sense at all.
I’ve had a few friends who were highly dissatisfied with their jobs, so I tried to help them start direct response businesses, equipping them with EVERYTHING they could possibly need… wayyyy more information and help than I had before I started my first mail order business.
With the infamous Doberman Dan at their side, giving them 5-figures of direct response consulting FREE, cheering them on, sharing 15+ years of successful direct response experience… guess what they did?
They stuck their thumbs in their mouths and never even took the simplest of first steps, paralyzed by fear.
One friend, when asked why he chose to waste his time drunk in front of the TV instead of doing something for his family’s future and winning the respect of his wife and kids said…
“I’m afraid I might fail!”
OK… what if it does fail? You’re not going to die and leave your family homeless.
In fact, life will pretty much go on exactly as it did before.
You’ll just be out a few bucks and will have gained some highly valuable experience about what doesn’t work. Then you can go about finding what does work.
But what if your project does work?
It could be a “base hit” making you a few hundred or a few thousand extra dollars a month… or a HUGE home run making you a millionaire faster than you ever dreamed possible.
I’ve seen it happen… a bunch of times.
What will happen if you let your fear paralyze you and do nothing? Will things go on exactly as before?
Unfortunately not.
By all outward appearances things will go on as before… but you’re not the same person on the inside.
See, deep inside you know you allowed fear to beat you… and you lost a little bit of your soul.
You faced the fear, cowered and ran without a fight.
And you had nothing at all to lose.
All you had to do to defeat fear was to take action… ANY action.
Yup, that’s the big secret today, dear subscriber…
You defeat fear by taking ACTION!
I didn’t say the fear would go away. I said you would DEFEAT the fear.
It’s still there. You just take away its power over you by taking consistent action toward your goals and dreams.
By plopping your lazy butt in front of the TV instead of taking action, you’ve chosen to give up without a fight.
And like I said, you won’t be the same person after you choose the easy way out. You die a little on the inside.
And even more bad news, MEN…
Your wife and kids just lost all respect for you. Oh sure, they won’t say it, but you know it’s true. You can see it in their eyes.
See, they need a REAL man to lead the family, not some wimpering coward.
They’d rather see you try something and fail than succumb to fear without a fight.
Having tried and failed you can hold you head high, knowing you’ve just stepped into the elite club of “doers.”
A very small percentage of the population will ever belong to the club.
Probably 3% or less.
And once you’ve stepped out in faith and defeated fear, it’s a little easier to keep taking action and keep moving forward.
And strange things begin to happen.
Things you never imagined seem to come together at just the right time to help you.
Relationships, mentors, information, joint ventures, new opportunities… all kinds of exciting stuff seems to magically find you.
And what’s the magic ingredient that makes this all happen?
Taking ACTION!
Look, I’ve said this before… I will never teach you something I haven’t done myself.
I’m not regurgitating this stuff from some positive thinking book I read or some seminar I’ve attended.
I’ve LIVED this.
I know from 20+ years of entrepreneurial experience this is the truth.
So have a little faith in DD and do this:
- Write down a goal you want to accomplish this year and attach a date to it.
- Start taking action toward that goal each and every day.
- Look at yourself every morning in the mirror and smile… because you’re doing something most people only ever TALK about. You’re taking ACTION toward a goal.
And it feels good, doesn’t it?
Thanks a lot for letting me share this with you today.
Really… from the bottom of my heart… thank you.
You’re a part of my life and I appreciate you.
I sincerely want to see you happy and successful.
And I hope I can help in some small way.
All the best.
