How You get More Out of Life by Doing One Scary Thing Everyday
Sitting at his desk, a man began to feel his heart beating. The task came up on his list to call the one customer he didn’t want to call. You know the one. He yells at you every time. Calls you names. The customer has never been pleasant. It would be so much easier to avoid talking to this person. But the customer service representative knows he has to note that he called and emailed. He knows that this customer will pick up to berate him for one reason or another. And yet, he has to do that one scary thing.
“Always do what you are afraid to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
We all have those scary moments. We have a task to do, but we want to avoid it. Doing the task has risk. We might experience something terrible or something might happen that is embarrassing. If we avoid it, at least we don’t have to experience one of these possible outcomes. However, when we do the scary thing, does the worst happen all that often?
I used to think that more often than not, I would experience the worst outcome. However, it has been my experience the worst doesn’t happen. Sometimes we must do these tasks. And on the other side of it, find some unexpected surprises.
I recently heard on a podcast about how someone started doing one scary thing a day. The moment that he had an idea and it scared him, he decided to do it. This person talked about little things; making phone calls to famous people, picking the spicy menu option, etc. Sometimes they would be higher risk situations; asking a girl out on a date or making a decision for his business. The person interviewed said he was finding that more than 90% of the time, the worst didn’t happen and in fact, he was having amazing outcomes.
Scary Intentional
After hearing that podcast, I started to see situations like this in my life. And me, being the intentional person that I am, I decided to respond similarly to the person interviewed on the podcast. I think that if we want to create lives we really want to be living, we need to do the scary things. We need to stop taking the easy path and start going for it.
Over the past few weeks I have had some very positive experiences with doing the scary things. Here are three examples.
1. Negotiate Everything
My parents came to town for Thanksgiving. They always stay at this same hotel when they come to visit. While I was setting up their reservations, the representative asked if my parents had stayed their before. I told the rep yes and asked if they would give my parents a 20% discount on their stay. I shared how my parents choose that hotel for every trip over the past six years.
The rep couldn’t do 20%. But offered breakfast free and applied two discounts, which they don’t normally do, or so she said. It turned out that the two discounts came out to about at 15% reduction in their room rate and the breakfast covered the other 5% in value. It was amazing. All I had to do was ask. I asked kindly and was willing to get nothing. And yet, they attempted to work with me. Don’t be afraid to ask.
2. Building my Email List
If you are a blogger. It is essential to build an email list to make sure you are getting your writing in the hands of the people who read it. While reading through a resources from someone’s subscriber list, it discussed how people you know can help build your list when you are starting out. Then they will share your work and you will get more organic signups.
It is scary for me to put my writing out their to people I know. However, I have found that most people when asked agree to joining my list. And in fact are very encouraging and provide feedback. It has helped a ton and my list is growing. If you want to read more from my blog you can sign up and receive my FREE EBOOK, The True North Manifesto. It shares how to set the priorities you want to be chasing in your life.
3. Call the People You Don’t Want to Call
That opening paragraph to the article. That man is me in my day job. Every so often, I have someone who is never pleasant to talk to on the phone. In my office we call them “Telephone Tough Guys.” They are the people who will use the anoninimty of the telephone to allow themselves to be rude and unkind to try and get their way. Ultimately, it makes everyone more aggravated and aggressive.
However, after hearing this podcast. I started going for it. Making those hard calls and allowing myself the freedom to give people the opportunity to be nice. And if they aren’t, I get the phone call over with and move on. Sometimes, we have these situations in life. With family members, or business people. We need to do it. And move on.
Call to Action
Where do we go from here? It is time to dare to do something great. Stop being afraid. Or at least, jump in and do something scary. You will be surprised what comes out of it. The easiest way to start making this practice happen is by chasing after a goal or a priority in your life. Then you will have motivation to complete the scary event.
Do you know what your priorities are? If you don’t I have a FREE EBOOK, The True North Manifesto. It helps you discover your priorities and live you best life now. You can sign up to download it at the link below.
DOWNLOAD THE TRUE NORTH MANIFESTO
Read it, share it, and you can provide me with feedback. And remember, once you know what you are going after, do the scary things that help get you there.
