Fear Is a Key Driver of Success

Ayrton Senna, the great Brazilian Gran Prix driver, one times famously was quoted: "To survive Gran Prix racing, you need to be afraid. Fear is an important feeling. It helps you to race longer & live longer".

Fear is an element that each of us face in different ways, & at lots of intervals in the work of the work of our lives. They may suffer fear of physical confrontations, emotional clashes, personal & professional setbacks, declining physical or mental capacities. When undertaking an stock of our life's experiences they inevitably underline for emphasis the role fear has played on so lots of occasions in the work of our journey.

In the entrepreneurial work my Promotion Consulting firm conducts they see examples of fear manifested in a variety of ways. Lots of potential entrepreneurs are afraid of success. Others are afraid to fully commit or even to enter the race. A few, & ultimately the most successful, are fearful of failure. They succeed largely because the stigma of not being successful is something that compels them to gargantuan work, overcoming all obstacles & full-bore focus on achieving their goals.

Recently my firm reviewed a golf training product that had been submitted by a young man. They had limited resources, but a brilliant gizmo that had been tested & endorsed by numerous competitive golfers. Golfers are usually passionate. In the event that they perceive that a tool, or aid, can improve their score, they will make that product successful in the marketplace.

The young entrepreneur had designed the training aid with the help of his brother. They had spent a great deal of money & time in their work to self-market the product. Nothing had yet worked for them. The product was languishing. While they had passion for their products features & benefits (& they were lots of), they lacked focus, vision, a strategy & were fearful of fully committing themselves & their full energies to overcoming the normal obstacles that all entrepreneurs confront.

Fear can be constructive or destructive. In the case of the golf training aid product negative fear is instrumental in imploding a great opportunity. After meeting the young entrepreneur & carefully reviewing the project, I left the meeting satisfied that this would finish in disappointing fashion. The fear of dedication, & ultimately the chance for success, was paralyzing this young man's will to overcome.

Tragically, the sensational racing World Champion Ayrton Senna was killed while racing in 1994. His exceptional talent & seeming fearlessness as displayed on the racetrack was nevertheless leavened by his understanding, appreciation & respect for the emotion of fear. They lived life to the fullest & reached the final pinnacle of the international sporting world. They died young. But, they lived so well.

Conversely, they meet entrepreneurs of all stripes that possess positive fear: fear of failure. There is no challenge that they won't meet & conquer. They discover a way to succeed. They confront & tame their fear.