It’s tough to find the truly biggest fear since I don’t spend much of my time trying to figure out everything I’m afraid of. I know this is WAY up there on the fear scale. It’s not snakes, public speaking, or cancer though all three can be very scary.
This fear came to mind as we (Tall Trainer Fitness) were selected for an award.
We won best service business in Canandaigua for 2014! It is quite an honor considering all the great businesses that are in Canandaigua and the previous winners of this award! I am humbled and thankful. My initial reaction was one of gratitude and thankful that the work we do is noticed in the community. I often feel like there is so much more we could do. I have to hold back a little so I don’t give myself a nervous breakdown trying to do all the good I can imagine doing. That’s when I had the thought, “Gee, if we win a service award I want to have better service! I want to live up to the title of that award!”
I thought about a book I read by Robert Cialdini called “Influence” and he talked about a principle called Commitment and Consistency. This is where they ask people to do something and because they say yes they are more likely to do it! Did you know that being asked if you are going to vote in the upcoming election and you say yes actually makes you more likely to vote? Especially if you make the commitment in front of more people! Well I found myself behaving that way. If I accept an award for service I had better have great service! I began thinking of all the things I want to do better. How we could help our clients more. How we could help the community more. How we could help other businesses more. I was getting excited and overwhelmed.
That’s when my BIGGEST FEAR hit me.
I’ve made a bigger commitment! Not only do I want to run a good business for our customers and community, but I have dedicated my work to God and his plans (the team has as well). We have even done that fairly publicly by putting it up on our walls.
There it is right behind me in this picture. Our mission statement: “Restoring Bodies and Lives for the glory of GOD.” No pressure there! I tell our teammates (employees) that no one works for ME, no one would want to work for me! You have to be working for something better than that and bigger than that. I realize that by putting our mission statement up on the wall I am inviting a lot of judgment when I don’t perform to that level. When I thought of this public display it made me want to apologize. I haven’t done this perfect nor will I do everything perfect in the future. I want you to know I want to do it better than good, but I am still a work in progress and have probably let some people down at different points. We try to serve our clients as best we can, but I still see tons of opportunities to be better. So there it is, my fear of not living up to my calling and mission.
This is not a fear that paralyzes, it is a fear that keeps me on high alert. When I used to tell people I pole-vaulted they often ask, “aren’t you afraid of heights?” My answer is usually, “No, but I sure do respect them! I’m not a fool…flying 16’ in the air is dangerous you need to have a healthy respect for the risks or else you are much more certain to get hurt.“
I respect the risks of making non-Christians angry or annoyed (you don’t have to be Christian to come we won’t beat your with Christianity), the risks of falling short of such a lofty goal, and the risk of looking like “perfect Christian man!” I’m willing to face it because the benefits to myself, our team, our clients, and the community are worth it.
Do you have fear that stops you from taking the risk for something big? Is it time you turned it into respect for the risks and throw in a dash of boldness to “do it anyway?!” If you have one I hope you’ll share it in the comments below like I did.
I’ll be back soon with a little less DEEP talk :o)
