[Article & Audio] Dare Now or Wonder Later

 Dare Now or Wonder Later

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Do you wish you could be more daring... but you have no idea where or how to start? Maybe you're afraid that just going for what you want will end in pain or heartbreak, or worse, with you looking foolish. If this sounds a bit like you, don't worry; you're not alone.

And the fact is that your fears are valid, but you know what? Go for what you want anyway. At best, you'll be brilliant, and at worst (as long as you don't do something completely stupid), you'll be right about where you are now, but a whole lot wiser.
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If you let it, fear will take over. So don't let it. 

And despite what you may think, there's no easy way to avoid it. You can’t go around it, above it, or below it... you can only go through it.

In other words, if you want to do something that scares the pants off you,  the only way to get over that fear is to—you guessed it—feel the fear and do it anyway. (Yes, you've heard that one before. It's still true this time.)

So, since it's still true, wouldn't you say it's better to give whatever it is that old college try and fail spectacularly than to never try and never know? 

 Try. Fail. Learn. Try Again. Succeed.

As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” (Join the club, mate.) The good news is, once you know how things won’t work, you're that much closer to finding ways they will work.

And persistence goes hand in hand with being bold and daring. Obviously, not all of your attempts at derring-do will turn out the way you'd hoped (assuming you hoped for success), but on the other hand, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. So what have you got to lose?

Even Nostradamus couldn't predict the future accurately—though if you write in vague riddles as well as he did, it's hard to be proven wrong—and neither can anyone else, so your best bet is to do it, learn from it, and try it again. (Unless you're one of those lucky sods who does everything right the first time, and if that's the case, you can skip to the end.)

 If You Don't Believe in Yourself, Who Will?

Picture yourself standing on the end of the high-dive for the first time and looking down at the tiny little pool below. Your friends are on the ladder behind you, egging you on, but it sure is a long way down, and it's really gonna hurt if you bellyflop.

So what do you do? You have two options: turn around, knock your friends back down the ladder, and spend the rest of your life listening to them tell stories about how you chickened out (and you know they will, because that's what friends do), or face forward, take a deep breath, and dive straight in. In the end, even if you bellyflop like a champ, which one of those options is going to be less painful? 

No matter what you dream of doing, no matter how impossible it seems, have faith that whatever you dare to do, you'll succeed. It may not be easy, and it'll likely take hard work, time, and a lot of tries, but if you believe in yourself, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

Believing in yourself can be the hardest part, but as you successfully start to take the first steps on the way to your big goals, you’ll gain confidence, and that confidence will build momentum. And much like a runaway train rolling down a mountain, once you have momentum, you’ll be unstoppable. 

 You Can Do It.

Don’t listen to people who tell you that you’ll never get to where you want to go. No matter who they are.

Because the truth is, they're afraid to take their own chances, and when they see you succeeding, it's one more reminder of their own lack of courage and their own fear of failure. Their attitude has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with them.

So never let anyone else tell you how you should live, what you should want, or what you should do. It’s up to you to make things happen in your life, and if you're brave enough, bold enough, and daring enough, you'll never have to wonder, "What if?"

What are you waiting for? Decide what you want to do, and go do it.

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 About the Author

Captain Gina Longo & Gina as a professional advisor
✈✈ Gina Longo is a former airline captain and flight instructor who flew as pilot in command on 3000+ flights and carried more than 75,000 people (and many pets) safely to their destinations. She then moved to Great Britain to instruct corporate pilots, later spending three years as an international solo traveller.

As a leadership development trainer and the creator of The Calmfident Leadership® System, she specializes in helping businesses reduce employee turnover by improving leadership skills, so bad bosses don't drive away good employees. 

Her great love is German Shepherds, and as a proud U.S. Air Force brat, she tends to answer the question "Where are you from?" with an enigmatic "It depends."
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