Episode # 72 – Risk looking like a fool

We cannot be everything we can be without first understanding that we will, and we must be willing to fail, stumble, and fall along the way.

It was about 7 years ago when I discovered that being a financial consultant was something I no longer wanted to be, and I decided to follow my calling and become a storyteller. Being a financial consultant and having my own business was easy compared to the adventurous journey that was waiting ahead of me.

Not only did it require me to let go of my old, safe, and comfortable life, but it also opened the door to a new way of thinking and the willingness to be a fool in a land of strangers. How am I not being who I could be and then move in that direction and accept the consequences. Not only am I going to fall, stumble, and fail, but I’m also going to get slapped a lot, and hopefully with each slap I get straightened out and it will reveal where I am weak and insufficient so I don’t have to be that way in the future. Often, it brings a feeling of humility over me.

It requires me to do something new, and because it’s new, I’m not good at it, so I’m going to do things badly and look like a fool. Where I am now is not good enough because otherwise I would be perfect, and believe me, I’m far from it; just ask my wife.

Being a fool is also about discovering new truths, aiming at an ideal, being courageous, accepting vulnerability and ignorance, and moving forward. I can’t advance if I’m not willing to make a fool of myself. The fool is also open to new experiences and takes a blind leap of faith with the naive confidence of youth.

On my journey in becoming a storyteller, I have faced many dragons, failed and stumbled countless times, thought about giving up, and had my share of sleepless nights where I wondered if it was all worth it, and I’m sure it’s not the end of it.

But when times get really dark and I’m beginning to lose faith, something happens that sparks a light in the darkness that creates not only hope but also reveals a glimpse of the endless possibilities that lie ahead of me. It’s those magic moments that not only remind me why I am on this journey, but they also allow me to tap into a new source of energy that keeps me stumbling forward with enthusiasm.

What is something you would love to do, create, say, or bring into the world but are hesitant to do because you are afraid of how it will make you look and what other people will think of you as a result?

The ultimate destination of that fear is regret, because eventually you’ll come to the end of your life and you’ll regret that you didn’t have the courage to live a life true to yourself instead of living up to the expectations of other people.