Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A Leap in the Dark

"We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success."

Henry David Thoreau


Our thinking mind—at least the conscious part—is the source of our uniqueness as a human being. It can also be our enemy when confronted with risk, especially the risks we know we must take in order to achieve extraordinary results.

I read Seth Godin’s blog regularly (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/) and he often refers to the negative effects possible when we act out of our “lizard brain.” You know, that reptilian monster overly concerned with survival and seemingly oblivious to our purpose, vision, values and goals.

My biggest risks taken have led to incredible satisfaction, joy and success: moving from Green Bay to Milwaukee, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Denver, Aspen, back to Tokyo then Hong Kong and back to the USA. Changing careers at 27. Getting married (all right, that didn’t turn out too well) and having children (that turned out very well). All of that represented a “leap in the dark” and required that I quiet my lizard brain.

My seminar and executive coaching experience is that at some level we all know “what’s next” for us in our personal, professional and community involvement lives. What often stops us is fear of the dark.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and perhaps how you bring light to the subject by commenting below.

With love and respect,

Robert

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