First things first. The winner of The FEARLESS Giveaway is:

April! Congratulations!!!!

I know you’re going to find Adam Brown’s story as impactful as I did. May it encourage you when the road ahead seems bleak and daunting. May it bolster you to be fearless as you step into your future. Just drop me a line with your email address and which format (audio/digital) you would like and I’ll get it to you ASAP.

For those of you who did not win, have no fear. Today’s post has everything you’ll need to live the most FEARLESS year of your life (see 2019: I Will Be Fearless post here).

Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted often and rightly he deserves it. On the subject of courageousness, bravery, and fearlessness, he had these words:

Life will always pitch the naysayers your way, the ones who throw around the word impossible like it has anything to do with you. Remember that when someone is telling your that what your working toward and dreaming for is impossible, the statement has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. Since they can’t see a way that something can happen, they’ve put a limit on themselves. Not you. Keep on trucking, dear readers. Ninety-nine percent of being fearless is perseverance. I like how Robin Sharma says it:

Fears don’t exist solely in the world around you. It’s not only the external that we’re afraid of. There’s also all those internal thoughts that assail you when you’re in a low moment. Self-Doubt is a terrible enemy and it feeds on fear. But Roy T. Bennett said it best in his book The Light in the Heart:

The dreams in your heart are born out of the passions you have cultivated. What you love will dictate what you want to pursue in your future. That’s why this next line is so true:

Our motivation is important. There’s finding out what motivates us, and then there’s also kindling our motivation. Though they are linked, as what motivates you- your passion- will drive your motivation- determination, sometimes a disconnect will form between the two. When that happens, we need to recalibrate so that we can continue working on the bigger picture. So keep these two lines in mind:

Laser beam focus. Honed. Sharpened. Ready to pierce and take you deeper into the fruition of your dreams. But going deeper is kinda scary. It’s going to places you haven’t been before. The unknown can be frightening. That’s where the fearlessness comes in again. You need to be brave to do something you’ve never done before. When the unknown looms before you, remind yourself of this truth:

What’s that famous saying? The journey of a thousand steps begins with one step? You have A- that’s where you’re standing. You have your goal in mind- that’s Z. But, all the steps in between are a little hazy and uncertain. Things could go bump out there in the unknown. But start anyway. Trust yourself enough to take those steps.

I’ll never forget the words my motorcycle instructor said to me when I was astride my bike. I kept looking down at the wheel while I was in motion. This invariably caused me to go slower with a shaky direction. My instructor took me aside and told me this:

In other words, don’t look where you’re at right now. Sharpen your focus on where you want to be- and then throttle that sucker and go.

And in the going, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You’re not going to do it perfectly. I guarantee you that even the great masters- the Michelangelos and Da Vincis, the Shakespeares, the Beethovens, the Schuberts, the Wildes, the Rowlings all looked at their lauded works and found them wanting somewhere. I like Ira Glass’ encouragement, though:

You’ll always want it to be more. It’s the quest of every creative as well as his/her curse. We always see the perfection and spend ourselves trying to translate it in whatever medium we favor. But, even if our final product is not the perfectest masterpiece we had envisioned, also remember that those masters listed above were all proud of the works they shared. Moreover, those works have had lasting impact on the world- making those who created them masters of their craft. It doesn’t have to be perfect, dear readers. We can’t let the lack of perfection stop us. For some of the most imperfect works have become masterpieces in our eyes because of the poignancy and power they have provoked in the us, the viewer, the reader, the hearer.

These masters became masters because they were fearless. So remember John Green’s words penned in his book The Fault in Our Stars:

Put fearlessness in your quiver. Load your magazine with rounds of courage. Gird bravery around your loins. Unsheath your daring. And sound this battle cry as you charge into the unknown: