On January 7th I’m going to take the biggest risk of my life: I’m going to launch a new business that I’ve been thinking and talking about for years. This launch will use up a lot of favors with friends who've agreed to help spread the word and will cost me a considerable financial investment. If it pays off, it will expose me to a global audience and allow me to expand the vision of my company. Those of you on my email list will see the roll-out over a series of messages I’ll be sending this month.
But this week’s blog is not about my new business. It’s about the fear that stops us all from doing something new and daring. And how to overcome it.
We all have good reasons for putting off big projects. But one of the opportunities of New Year’s planning is to take a deeper look at those reasons and ask ourselves why we haven’t yet started that book we've been meaning to write, or hired that person who will make our jobs easier, or launched that blog, or scheduled that presentation, or signed up for that course that will improve our communication skills.
Of course, the first question to address is, “Is it time?” Carpe diem is a romantic but impractical notion. The key to embarking on a new endeavor is in recognizing that the timing is right. But if you know in your gut that the external factors are as good as they’re going to get, and that the only thing holding you back is your own fear, here’s one way to act on it: throw your hat over the wall.
This metaphor means that you commit even before you know how to accomplish what you've committed to. I first heard the phrase when reading about President John F. Kennedy. While campaigning for the space program, he once told the story of a boy who, when he came to a wall he was afraid to climb, threw his hat over the wall. This gave him no choice but to scale the wall and retrieve his hat. The president then said, “This nation has tossed its hat over the wall of space, and we have no choice but to follow it.”
The good news is, it’s unlikely that any of us are considering a project as complicated as putting a man on the moon. Even so, if the timing is right, I invite you to throw your hat with me. Set a deadline, make a promise to a friend, or make a financial commitment that puts your project in motion. I won’t lie to you – the climb is tricky, and I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to get down safely on the other side, but I’m more awake and alive as I write this than I ever was with my hat on my head and my thoughts full of “someday.”
By David Ackert
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