Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others – Marianne Williamson

My mom and I talk often about passion. How discovering our passion feels, why we struggle to find it, and why we refuse to chase it. Often the reason comes back fully on ourselves. We come up with myriad excuses as to why we can’t do something. Fear keeps us from reaching our full potential in times where we need it the most. This is one of my mom’s favorite quotations, so I thought I’d share our thoughts on it and answer the question: Why is it so much easier to be complacent when we could be phenomenal instead?

We’re afraid to pull the trigger

Let’s face it. If we want anything bad enough, we can get it. It may not come instantaneously, but at some point we would reach our goal. Why don’t we take that first step? If we take one step, we’re obligated to take another, which moves us out of our places of comfort. Pulling the trigger will launch us into an area that we cannot always gather data on or even start to understand what the journey will look like. This is the hurdle that I am always trying to overcome. I like my friends and co-workers. I don’t want to have to live across town from where I go to school. I don’t want to move to a different state. I don’t want to have to start all over where I’m not comfortable. I don’t want to give up the last of the comforts that I have. I’ve got to realize that the longer that I’m attached to the life that I have, the harder it is for me to live the life that I want. Pull the trigger, and let the adventure begin.

We wait on permission from others to make ourselves great

This one irritates me. All too often there will be someone with a great idea who refuses to implement or take action because they haven’t received the “go-ahead” from someone else. It could be a friend, co-worker, professor, or advisor. We might even allow them to tell us that we can’t do something or that it would be disadvantageous to our life. There are, on the other hand, people that only want to see you grow and do great things. Surround yourself with them and enjoy the energy that they bring. In fact, help them reach their full potential as well as you’re on your way to achieving your goals. I’ve found that some of my largest inspirations are friends that are close to me who are relentlessly chasing their passion, and allowing me to be a part of their journey. They don’t wait for my approval, but they appreciate support. “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”.

Thinking realistically

When someone tells me to think “realistically” I want to tell them to “realistically” go home. With the number of miracles, lucky incidents, one-hit wonders, underground successes, and underdog stories we hear, it’s STILL mind-blowing that people will use the term “realistic” when dealing with passion. How can we be realistic with things that cannot be measured? Effort, Passion, Support, Drive, Will, etc. We’re in the wonderful world of Disney and realistic is the worst rollercoaster that we can get on. It has one speed. It will get us to the end of our journey, but we were just along for the ride. Take an “unrealistic” risk. There will be stops, starts, speedbumps and more. If we think realistically we will get the results that we allow others to give us (see above section). Had Steve Jobs thought realistically, he would have finished college, worked with another software company, and then MAYBE started developing his own business from there. Instead he found his formula, which may have not been “realistic” at the time but gave him the ride of his life. Realism can be useful at times, but as soon as we put limits on what we can do, we have already succumbed to allowing others to measure and define our potential.

Whether we are realistic, optimistic, pessimistic, or opportunistic we need to be determined to create our own rollercoasters and overcome our greatest fears.