"what I cannot handle is knowing that I had an opportunity but I chickened out" 🐔🐔

I read recently about this woman who pivoted in her 40s. She was studying to be a judge in Iran before she emigrated to the US. She got a masters degree but then kept doing odd jobs (waitressing, babysitting, working in a copy shop) until she became a stay at home mom.

For her second act, she decided to open a restaurant.

One line in particular jumped out at me:

When I told my husband that I wanted to open a restaurant, he was very resistant. He told me about the statistics, that most restaurants fail in the first six months. I told him, “You can either help me, or I’ll go and do it myself.” By that point, I was in my mid-40s, and I needed to be able to tell myself that I tried it. I can handle failure. I have been disappointed in life. I lost babies. I lost multiple dreams. But what I cannot handle is knowing that I had an opportunity but I chickened out.

It's hard to boil everything done to a single secret. After all, this woman worked super hard at her restaurant. She had an under-represented cuisine. She probably got a bit lucky too.

But if I had to guess, if I had to boil it down to a single thing, I would say her secret is that she didn't let fear stop her.

Without that, nothing else matters.

I gotta think it's the same with everyone else who is succeeding at their dream -- they didn't let fear stop them.

They had fear. 😨 That's normal.

And then they had the courage to move past it.

Personally, my courage was also borne out of fear. It got to a point where the fear of knowing I never tried was greater than the fear of trying.

That's okay. The first step is that you're moving. Once you're in motion, so many other things become easier or disappear altogether.

You got this. 😊😊

Paul

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