"GOING INTO THE UNKNOWN"
I was in the city recently seeing a few friends, and I noticed an interesting theme running through these people’s lives.
It’s a theme that really resonates with me right now, and with my experiences in the past…
And that’s Going Into the Unknown.

Each of my friends was breaking away from something that no longer served them, or shucking a comfortable situation for the chance at something better.
And I know, as you probably do, that instability can be terrifying.

Yet interestingly, I noticed that each of these people looked great: vibrant and excited, with color in their cheeks.
Because as terrifying as it is going into the unknown, it is also revitalizing. And exhilarating.

And I think that perhaps — just perhaps — this uncertainty is not just a consequence of, but also necessary to getting where you want to go.
Still, change is something a lot of people shy away from. Because it’s not easy.

Change takes a willingness to risk, to strive for growth and to sometimes leap blindly toward it.
Change opens the door for rejection, embarrassment and failure.
But my point of view is that in life, you get out what you put in.

If you aren’t willing to ante up greatness (in this case, opening yourself up to risk and fear, rejection and failure)…
You’re unlikely to receive greatness in return.

Because the things that bring out these intense feelings are often the same things that will bring you pride, success and self-realization.
Ruminating further... Often what stops people from going into the unknown is not failure itself,

but what that failure means to their identity.
For example, I’d been considering a new business venture, but for some reason it felt difficult to get started.
Then I realized what was stopping me:

I get a lot of validation and ego-boosting from being a “successful entrepreneur,” and the idea of having a failed business is scary because it questions a quality that is very important to me. If I fail, what does that say about me as a “successful entrepreneur?”

After confronting this I could think clearly, and I saw that, 1. “Successful” people fail all the time, often more than others, 2. Failing says nothing about me as a person,

and 3. I don’t want the fear of failure to ever stop me from doing something that excites me, especially when it’s only my ego on the line.
I hear from a lot of business owners that their major successes have also come from some “leap of faith” —

a calculated risk in the direction of their goals that they were scared to take.
Is that the case for you? How do you handle going into the unknown? I’d love to know!