I think far too often in too many things we focus on just one side of the coin. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be counter productive if you’re looking at the side that prevents you from succeeding, and succeeding big.
While I don’t have any specific role models that I look up to, one of the things I have come to admire are people who are masters of their trade – those considered “great” in their respective fields.
One of the things I have come to realize is that a key characteristic such individuals have in common is that they are fearless. To be more specific, what I mean is that they are not scared to lose.
I think it’s important to make this distinction between being fearless of losing and simply being fearless because fearlessness is all too often misconstrued as foolishness when it need not be.
Yes it is true that there is foolish fearlessness. For example, a fearless person who takes a test without studying is foolish. Fortunately, that’s not the type of person I am talking about and clearly not the type of fearlessness I am advocating for.
A master who is fearless is one who recognizes the failures or losses he may experience, but chooses to not focus on them. Instead, he focuses on succeeding.
There are many reasons why being fearless is critical to being successful, but there are two that stand out to me.