Daily Inspiration: “At some moment in time, you will transition from regret for what you have not achieved, to pride for what you have actually accomplished! “

“A reminder about fear: At some moment in time, you will transition from regret for what you have not achieved, to pride for what you have actually accomplished!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

One of the biggest barriers to change, and something that can hold us back from a better future, is fear.

Fear is a cancer in the way of our future.

• it makes us focus more on where we were yesterday and what went wrong, rather than where we could be tomorrow if we do things right
• it causes us to keep doing the things that we shouldn’t do and avoid doing the things we should try to do
• it causes us to focus more on the downside of failure than the upside of success
• it forces us to think of negativity rather than being positive, a spiral that feeds into itself
• it allows us to become deeply pessimistic because of what we did yesterday, rather than bathing in the optimism of what we could do tomorrow
• it leads us to a lack of commitment to our cause because we focus too much on our mistakes rather than the lessons we could learn

I was thinking about this while watching Eminem perform at the Super Bowl halftime – his song Not Afraid is often on heavy rotation around here. (It’s interesting that the reaction that people had to the show really showed their true colors, so to speak!) Taking a knee right at the end? He’s not afraid to wear his opinions on his sleeve – he states is right in the first two moments of this song about conquering his fear:

I’m not afraid (I’m not afraid)
To take a stand

It’s a remarkable song and reflects the reality that from a personal perspective, fear is the driver that holds so many people back from a better future.

And I just can’t keep livin’ this way
So startin’ today
I’m breakin’ out of this cage
I’m standin’ up, I’ma face my demons
I’m mannin’ up, I’ma hold my ground
I’ve had enough, now I’m so fed up
Time to put my life back together right now

Here’s a simple fact about personal fear: at some point in time you will transition from shame for what you did to pride for what you are doing.’

Be not afraid.