"I am your teacher and you are learning in my school. My aim is to bring you to completion, unhindered, free from compulsive behavior, unrestrained without shame, free, flourishing, and happy, looking to God in things great and small – your aim is to learn and diligently, practice all these things. Why then don’t you complete the work, if you have the right aim and I have both the right aim and right preparation? What is missing?...The work is quite feasible, and is the only thing in our power…Let go of the past. We must only begin. Believe me and you will see." ~ Epictetus, Discourses, 2.19.29-34
Do you remember, in school or early in your life, being afraid to try something new because you feared you might fail at it? Most teens choose to fool around rather than exert themselves. Halfhearted, lazy effort give them a ready make excuse: “It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t even trying.”
As we get older and wiser, failure is not so inconsequential anymore. What’s at stake is not some arbitrary grade or intramural sports trophy, but the quality of your life and your ability to deal with the world around you. The time to recover is shortened. What will your friends and family think if the business goes south?
Don’t let that intimidate you, though. You have the best business leaders in the world, the wisest business owners of our time. Pluck the weeds out of your mind. Think of the possibilities, not the "what ifs." The quality of your life is determined by the things you say no to. And not only are you capable, the universe is asking for something very simple: Just begin the work. The rest will follow.
