If at 1st you don't succeed...

If at first you don't succeed, so much for Skydiving. - Henry Youngman

I get excited this time of year because I am planning my fall skydiving trip.  I will make a group reservation, invite everyone I know, and all 3 of us will jump.  Just kidding, it is usually a group of around 25, out of the hundreds I invite.

Now, of course, the cost may stop some.  But mostly cost is just a bad excuse to mask the fear of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.  

Why is skydiving so scary?  We do other scary things all the time. We can drive down a 2 line highway passing total strangers at a combined speed that would equal hitting a stone wall at 12o mph all day.  We can fly in a jet liner at 30,000 feet over oceans and through storms at 500 mph.  We can ride a motorcycle down the freeway at 85 mph.  But, for some reason it is hard to jump out of a plane with a trained professional.  I might add, this trained professional has at least 1,000 jumps under their belt.  They have amazing equipment, and it has a lower fatality rate than any of the above mentioned activities.

This is not an advertisement for Skydiving, but simply to motivate you.

I think the fear of skydiving is rooted often in the fear of not being in control, in the fear of failure, fear of the unknown, and in the fact that it looks scary.  Sound familiar? This is exactly why every business owner should jump at least once in their life.  It forces you to face the 4 biggest fears of any new entrepreneur:

1. Afraid you will lose control

2. Afraid of failure

3. Afraid of the unknown

4. It looks scary

What if?  For one day a year, you conquered your biggest business and life fears?

It is true.  "If at first you don't succeed...so much for skydiving." But in business, only those who fail are truly moving forward.  If you are not failing, then you are probably not trying anything new. There is nothing to be afraid of in business. Rather, there are simply things to prepare for, work smart for, and work hard for.

Fear is simply a door.  That once you kick down, will unleash your potential in life and business.

I challenge you to find some ways you can grab the fear in your life by the neck, throw it to the ground, and walk on past to your dreams and goals.

-Jon Bohm