Just do it.

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I just finished writing an article about optimism. Let's look at doubt. Doubt is a rationalized fear. I had a very strong doubt of the water when I was 5 or 6. The local swimming instructor at the neighborhood pool gave me that doubt. I had a rather traumatic experience. First, the instructor either didn't know I was hard of hearing or didn't know what to do with me because I was hard of hearing. Either way, the information that was supposed to get to me didn't. This was that everyone was going to jump into the deep end. This was my first day. I didn't know what the heck to do. I had enough trouble with the shallow end let alone the deep end! So, I was put in a situation that I wasn't comfortable with. I panicked. Suddenly my concern grew from a doubt to a deep fear. It stayed that way for several years.

Finally, one day a few years later, my parents announce to me that I am going to go to the local YMCA and take swimming classes. I was not impressed. My initial doubt had grown to a full-blown confirmed fear. Water equals drowning. Drowning equals death. Not interested! I had been in the water. It is a scary place!

Now I was being taken to that same place by my parents who, I thought, loved me. Fortunately, they had arranged with the YMCA an instructor that was prepared to work with a hard of hearing kid who was scared on two levels. First was the aforementioned fear, second was the discomfort at not being able to hear. (I had to take my aids out before going on the pool deck.) The second discomfort wasn't a big deal but it wasn't helping me in the fear department. Over a period of time at the pace that I was prepared and comfortable handling, I slowly got comfortable with the water, then I got comfortable doing things in the water, and finally I started to swim.

What I learned from this experience is best articulated with a "what if." What if I had experienced this calm, easy process the first time? I probably would not have developed and rationalized my fear. Much of the time and energy in those early classes was spent just getting me to overcome my fear. Once I had managed to beat the fear, I was on my way. I went on to take more and more classes and eventually achieved my Bronze Cross. I became an Assistant Instructor and considered going into Lifeguard training.

How often do we allow our doubts to convince us not to do something? The fear of failure. The fear of ridicule. The fear of someone else being able to say, "I knew that would happen." If there is a 50% chance of failure and we have little doubt, it is quite possible we will more than likely take the chance. If the risk is low (or perceived to be low) we will more than likely take a chance. There is very little different between those risks that we doubt or fear and those that we don't. The possibility of failure still exists. "If you want to succeed, double your failure rate." This statement was made by Thomas J. Watson. He was the Bill Gates of the early part of the 20th century. He created IBM.

As I look down the road at the opportunities that lie ahead in my career, I realize that there are some things that are scary. I have my doubts. It is these times that I realize I need to follow the wisdom of my Swimming Instructor. The biggest thing in my way is my doubt. The water didn't change, I did.

OB