Most people I know are scared to fail. I'm not. Am I scared of the dark woods behind my house? Maybe. But I'm not scared of failure.
Many leaders are scared of failure. It clouds the decision making process and sways opinions. The emotion of fear can easily replace the reason of logic. Fear can make you do and say things. Even worse, fear can make you NOT do things and NOT say things.
Being scared to fail can cripple a leader. A fear of failure puts your focus on the rear-view mirror instead of looking out of the windshield. Failure sees obstacles, not opportunities. Failure is so consumed with the risks that the rewards are hardly ever mentioned. Failure can make you satisfied with good, which becomes your greatest hurdle to ever being great.
I'm not scared to fail, but I will tell you what I am scared of. In fact, scared is a mild term for it. Petrified, intimidated, and downright aghast would be more fitting!
My greatest fear is the threat of mediocrity. In my life, church, ministry, family, leadership, everything!
What if my ministry was successful, but not significant?
What if my church had the presence of people, but not the presence of God?
What if I lived an average life and died an average person?
The threat of being mediocre is an incredible motivator. Figure out what your greatest fear is. If it's something lame, then change it. I would hate to look back on my life and realize that something so insignificant and trite as "failure" determined who I was and what I was able to accomplish.
1 comment:
Post a Comment