Is there something you’ve wanted to do but you’re afraid to take the leap? It can be frustrating letting more time pass because fear keeps you stuck instead of going after what you want.
In this WBJM daily episode, I’m giving you my favorite childhood motivational quote that’s still useful to overcome the fear of failure and go after what you want to be, do or have in life.
00:45 The motivational quote you need to overcome your fear of failing
01:25 The benefit of embodying this inspirational quote
03:10 How to use the wisdom of this quote to improve your life now
Check out the previous daily episode: The Productivity Hack To Leave Work At Work
Full transcript:
Hey there! Today we’re diving into a quote that I loved as a kid. So much. For those of you who didn’t know, I played softball from T-ball all the way up until I was 18, and I loved it. Played all the time.
One of my favorite quotes as a kid was by Babe Ruth: “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
Now, for those of you who aren’t softball or baseball fans or don’t play, don’t worry. I’m going to relate this to your life now, wherever you’re at. But it was such an applicable quote when I was a kid because it literally was true for me, right? I could have been paralyzed by fear and then chose not to play the game that I love so much.
But as I got older, I started to see the wisdom in the words beyond just the game itself. Because at the heart of this. It’s all about fear and not letting fear control your life. And as you get older, fear starts to creep in more and more. I don’t know at what point in our lives we start to take in and attract the fear, but I think we can all think back to a time as a child where we don’t really have a lot of fear. We’re sort of adventurous and fearless, and we want to do these things.
And then slowly over time, as we, you know, go to school and as we get told more and more about what we should and shouldn’t be doing, we start to take in more and more fear about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and whether we’re doing it right.
So this quote has stuck with me for so many years, because it’s all about not letting the fear of how you do, of how you perform keep you from moving forward. Right? Keep you from doing the thing that you are so passionate about or that you want to try, even if you’re a brand new person, right?
Like, let’s say you want to take up a new hobby, but you’re like, what if I look ridiculous?
What if I have no idea what I’m doing?
Who cares freely at the end of the day?
Who cares if you look a little ridiculous?
Who cares if you don’t do it perfectly the first time?
In this case, there are baseball players who have a 300 batting average. That means three times out of ten, they hit the ball when they get into the batter’s box. They get paid millions of dollars, and still they’re only good 30% of the time.
Failure or not achieving your desired goal is part of life.
It’s part of doing things, trying new things, having experiences. And there’s nothing wrong with it. So let’s maybe embrace that a little bit more. Let’s let’s maybe embrace that idea of instead of worrying so much about how we perform, whether or not we fail. Let’s focus on what it is we’re gaining, what it is we’re creating, right? So in the baseball scenario, you’re gaining playing a game you absolutely love, right? You’re gaining the fun.
Maybe in building a business, you’re gaining the business, right? You’re gaining the income stream. You’re gaining the helping other people with whatever it is your business does. With the new hobby, you’re gaining a skill. Maybe you’re gaining friends because you’re going to meet new people doing this new thing.
There are so many things that we stand to gain if we just allow ourselves to get started, to do it anyways, to do it despite the fear or regardless of how well we do it the first time or the 10th time.
So that’s the one thing I want us to think about today is what if we just did it anyways? What if you didn’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game?
It’s helped me through so many tough times and just gaining so many wonderful things that I’m hoping it does the same for you.
So until next time, keep building your wealth beyond just money.