Nelson Mandela once said:

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

Thinking about this today because I had a coaching call this week. The client is in sales (Note – we’re ALL in sales!) and he was talking about feeling timid and fearful of boldly prospecting to his ideal clients.

I asked him what he thought he should do about that…

“I need to find a way to care less. I just need to not give a sh*t about the results.”

I’ve heard this rationale a lot and it works. Sort of.

But is it really the BEST way?

The coaching client, in this case, is goal-driven, great at what he does and has a big heart. If you are reading this, I’m guessing you’re cut from the same cloth.

So, isn’t trying to convince yourself to not care, to not give a sh*t about results, psychologically incongruent with your character and values?

The better way, in my opinion, is to triumph over the fear by leveraging something stronger than the fear itself.

Let’s unpack this:

He’s young and is hoping to start a family soon. He wants to be able to financially provide for them well into the future.

That’s leverage.

He sells a product that his ideal clients genuinely need. Their lives will be immeasurably better because of him.

That’s leverage.

He’s a leader in the organization. Others look to him as a role model of conviction and courage.

That’s leverage.

I’ve thought about this often in my own business. There are still stages I’m fearful of being on (like TEDx coming up in April!) and ideal clients that I’m timid to prospect.

But can I let you in on a dirty little secret?

Those feelings are never going to go away. Ever. And when they do, it’ll likely mean that you’re no longer stretching yourself.

Knowing that, the answer is not to care LESS. The answer is to care MORE. To give an even GREATER sh*t…

Not about the fear, but about something STRONGER than the fear.

Keep Outperforming,