"Beyond your fear lies your greatest success" - Futurist Jim Carroll

First off, let’s start here. A great Hallowe’en picture for our times! Go Jays!

A little bit of AI magic with my face - if you study the picture carefully, that's me!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Too scary? Here's another version, years ago, with my sons.

Of course, there's also this guy.

Scary!

And then there is this quote, which came in the middle of the pandemic. I look thrilled with the state of affairs!

Anyway, back to fear!

I seem to write about 'fear' or being 'afraid' a fair bit. I guess it comes with the topic of the future!

I asked Google Gemini to take a look at the thousands of Daily Inspiration posts I've written since 2016, where I've used the words 'fear' or 'afraid' in the title.

And yikes! There's a lot!

  • “Don’t fear the future. Change it!” (2016-12-23)
  • "Don't be afraid of failure. Fear inaction instead!" (2017-01-03)
  • “Don’t be afraid of moving too fast. Be afraid of not moving at all!” (2017-01-11)
  • “Don’t fear the future - fear your fear of the future!” (2017-01-31)
  • “Give me your mind for a moment, and I will share with you a future of opportunity, not a future of fear!” (2017-02-07)
  • “Don’t fear the results. Learn from them!” (2017-03-13)
  • “Your fear of change might be the real elephant in the room!” (2017-07-21)
  • “Don’t be afraid of dreaming too big. Be afraid of thinking too small!’ (2017-07-30)
  • “Don’t fear the opportunity. BE the opportunity!” (2017-09-13)
  • “Be afraid of inaction. Terrified by indecision. Frightened by complacency. Anxious about procrastination! But rather than hiding in fear, be motivated for action!” (2017-10-31)
  • “Don’t turn your back on the future because of your fear of what comes next; instead, turn your face forward with a focus on the opportunity!” (2018-03-29)
  • “Things might never be as good as you might dream, but ought not to be as bad as you might fear!” (2018-04-04)
  • The future is fast, it's disruptive, and you will fear it... (2018-05-18)
  • “Success happens when you bid farewell to the future you fear!” (2018-05-22)
  • “Your fear of the future might be fateful. For your future!” (2018-08-15)
  • “Don’t be fearful of change: be terrified of standing still!” (2019-04-15)
  • “A healthy fear of failure is just an ingredient for eventual success!” (2019-07-19)
  • “Prioritize your courage over fear, action over inaction, reality over illusions..." (2019-07-02)
  • “The very existence of your fear shows that you are ill-prepared for the reality of the future that you face!”(2019-12-30)
  • “Fear? Worry? Anxiety? It’s a really good time right now to come up with a plan to learn to do something you’ve never done before!” (2020-03-13)
  • “The future? It’s better to travel there in hope than to arrive in fear!” (2020-07-17)
  • “Never be afraid of looking back at where you were to learn more as to where you could still be going in the future!” (2020-10-16)
  • “It’s only when you face your fear that you will discover your courage!” (2021-02-24)
  • “It’s often better to inspire people with the hope of what they can achieve, rather than the fear of what they cannot!” (2021-05-19)
  • “Don't be afraid of doing something. Be afraid of not doing it at all!” (2021-06-23)
  • “At this very moment, someone within your industry is pursuing the very big, bold, disruptive ideas that you fear!” (2021-09-16)
  • "Optimism: It's that thing we do so that our hopes for our future outweigh our fears!" (2022-01-01)
  • "People fear what they don't understand. Make it your job to provide them the courage of insight!" (2022-01-20)
  • "Never fear a potential ambush from your daydreams. They're actually a part of your imagination factory!"(2022-03-03)
  • "Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions, because the answers you get might not actually be that smart!" (2022-04-25)
  • "Don't be fearful of the unknown. Be fearful of your fear!" (2022-05-31)
  • "Fear is NOT a future!" (2022-07-07)
  • "Confidence: It's that thing that never allows your fear of the future to diminish your hope!" (2022-10-05)
  • "Fight your fear, not your future!" (2022-10-31)
  • "It's better to face what you fear rather than focusing on the fear of what you might face!" (2023-03-30)
  • "Chase your opportunities, instead of running from your fears!" (2023-05-19)
  • “The best way to challenge your fears is through involvement!” (2024-01-08)
  • "Don't be frightened of new ideas. Be fearful of your fear of them!" (2024-02-01)
  • "World-class innovators aren't afraid of big ideas!" (2024-03-22)
  • "It's better to construct an understanding instead of manufacturing fear!" (2024-04-25)
  • "Construct your opportunities by demolishing your fears!" (2024-06-07)
  • "Don’t be afraid to be known as the ‘crazy one!’" (2024-07-24)
  • "Sell hope. Not fear." (2024-07-29)
  • "Fear is a liar. Choose courage instead." (2024-11-12)
  • "Real leaders aren't afraid of sharing truth bombs" (2025-02-28)
  • "Turn your fear into fuel" (2025-03-12)
  • "In times of chaos and fear, purposeful action is power" (2025-04-08)
  • "In a time of uncertainty, fear is cheap. Hope is powerful." (2025-04-29)
  • "Trust in your next step more than you fear the fall" (2025-05-14)
  • "When your confidence is shattered, trust your next step more than you fear your fall!" (2025-10-15)

That's a lot of ways to think about fear!

Here's what you need to be thinking about - the image of the fearful clown in my quote today is unsettling, isn't it? Clowns are meant to be joyful, but the AI image of me is not. Here's another fearful clown, also AI-generated. Timely!

Based on the philosophy from the rest of my posts, it's evident that the biggest obstacle you often face is not the change, the technology, or the competition that comes with the future. It's the fear of those things. And that's helpful because it becomes clear that it's often our fear of what comes next that is louder than our ambition.

Fear is a liar, designed to keep you stagnant. It whispers that you'll fail, that you're not ready, and that your fall will be worse than the climb.

But success is built on the willingness to act despite that fear.

Remember these three truths:

  • Fear paralyzes. Action liberates. When you are frozen by uncertainty, any small step of purposeful action is the antidote. Momentum beats perfection.
  • Hope must outweigh doubt. Your conviction in your own potential must be heavier than the hesitation caused by fear. Sell hope. Not fear.
  • Courage is gained by action. You don't wait for courage; you earn it by confronting the new world. It's only when you face what you fear that you discover your true potential.

Stop running from the future.

Turn that fear into fuel, and take the next step.

Futurist Jim Carroll believes the biggest thing holding people back from their future is the fear of what it might bring.

Original post

The link has been copied!