DAY 29
DO NOT FEAR. DO. By Jeff Shinabarger Founder of Plywood People and GiftCardGiver.com and author of More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity. @shinabarger
R
emember that time when you had an amazing idea and someone else made it?
Identifying a problem is a great beginning. Creating an idea and a plan that will help solve the problem is admirable. Understanding your strengths and identifying the people around you who will make that plan a reality means you are a great distance along in the process. Now it’s time to make the solution come to life. The hardest portion of any process is not the planning or concepting; rather it is the actual doing. Many people have ideas; few make them come to life. You will significantly influence the problem when you start doing something. Good intentions rarely turn into solutions. Every day we must make progress on our project if we want solutions to see the light of day. One of the greatest threats to social innovations happening, is to leave them undone. We have dreams, we have visions, and we let fear overtake our ambitions. We often mask our fears by filling time with mindless busy-ness. I remember being four years old in a gymnastics class. We started with cart-wheels, progressed to the balance beam and then the uneven bars. When it was time for the rings I hit my plateau. Those rings are my first memory of fear. The instructor was pushing me to do a flip while holding onto the rings, but I couldn’t overcome the mental barrier. I was scared. 112
My body was shaking and my hands were sweaty. I walked out of the gym in tears and told my mom I would never do it again. Why is it that 28 years later, my fears still cause me to peak short of the opportunity at hand? To this day I still can’t do a flip; even into the water or on a trampoline. I could never overcome that fear. A few fears hold me back: how my friends view me, the fear of not having enough money, or simply the fear of failure. Right now, I stand at that great moment. Will I pursue something of significant hope or will my fear of not being self-sufficient over-take me? Maybe you have stood on the edge of this same moment. Maybe today is that moment for you. Conspiring together can only make us stronger. Maybe you have never made the jump to overcome that fear. Maybe we should both face our fears head on. Maybe today is your day to realize something beyond the current lens through which you see the world. Every person has different approaches to getting things done. Some people use lists, others plan their schedules and give time blocks for completions of things, but I use a simple approach to make sure important things get done. They are three simple questions that I continually ask myself. 1) What is the most important thing to do today?
From Clouds To Concrete
