JDP

I read a story the other day about a young boy afraid of his neighborhood bulldog. Chased every day by this dog the young boy grew tired quick. Finally, one day instead of running he picked up a rock and sure enough the dog stopped. Standing face to face with his current FEAR the funniest thing happened. The young boy noticed that the dog had no teeth. He’s been afraid and running from this dog while never in any real danger. I reminisce of running from a lot of dogs that posed real danger to me. However, I had to question how many things have I run from that posed no real immediately danger to me.

The story I just shared is more than 10 years old but still relevant. Many of us are still running from a lot of “dogs with no teeth.” However, dogs are no longer the objects that put us in a mad sprint for safety. The new “dog with no teeth” is SUCCESS. So my question to you is, is SUCCESS your dog with no teeth? Because a lot of us rather run from it rather than square off with it face-to-face.

Psychologists argue that loud sounds and falling are our only natural fears. Everything else is learned. Knowing this, why do so many of us fear success? What has been taught to us to make us embody a thought such as this? I begin to notice in Sept 2009, during a lecture I was conducting in my Communications class that a lot of my students weren’t reaching their full potential because they were afraid of failure. Three years later I have the same vision but a different class.

One of the KEY things we’ve been taught was the ideology that practice makes perfect. Practice does a lot of things; it makes you better, practice makes things permanent, practice prepares you. However, none of these things are perfect. Perfection is God’s business not yours. And if that’s what you’re after, I suggest you let Him handle that.

Although success and failure is not the same thing, most people don’t reach that successful moment because of the fear of failure. What’s never shared is that successful people have had meaningful failures. Failure is not the end of the world. I look at failure as a sign from God instructing me to try what I just attempted a different way. Success in life is about making adjustments and realizing that what worked for the next person may not work for you.

Successful people ask for HELP. You can be a failure at something alone but have success with a team of people at the same thing. Understanding your weaknesses are as important as knowing your strengths. Surrounding yourself with people that are strong where you are weak doesn’t make you a failure; it makes you smart, a common characteristic among successful people.

It’s because of failure that we grow to know what success is. I’ve learned more about myself through the battles I’ve lost than the ones I’ve won. And I’m pretty sure I only won the few I have because of the adjustments I’ve made from the battles I’ve lost. While most people are faced with the fear of failure they need to look at what lessons can be learned about themselves because of it.

Character-Who you are and the morale limits you will or won’t cross.
Commitment-How committed are you to you’re goal or vision of success?
Courage-How many times will you get up after getting knocked down to reach success?

Fear of failure will always keep you on the bench in this game of life. You want to get in the game? You have to be willing to try. Success will always be your dog with no teeth if you are afraid to fail.

JDP