NEW YEAR, SAME FEAR
As the calendar turns to 2025, now's a great time to stop and reflect on all last year had to offer, and a great time to gear up and prepare yourself to win in the year ahead. In the important areas of life and performance, success for any of us starts with facing our fear and mustering up the courage to do what our very best requires. Winning in the year ahead won't be easy.
That's because the voice of our fear is powerful. Sometimes it's loud and intimidating. Other times it's more subtle and suggestive. Either way, if you're dreaming of doing something significant, that voice is almost always around, encouraging you to avoid your discomfort and take the easy way out. How did fear challenge you in 2024, and what difficult decisions did winning require you to make? Here are a few possible examples...
-You needed to have a tough but honest conversation with someone you care about.
-You felt called to take a risk by trying something new or different than what you've done in the past.
-You were challenged to go all-in on your dream, with no guarantee of the result.
-You felt a pull to be different, unique, or set apart from those you were competing with or against.
-You wanted to set a new standard, and to hold either yourself or those around you accountable to it.
-You were challenged to confront behavior that didn’t meet your expectations.
-You were provided the opportunity to receive feedback that, even though it may have felt critical or unfair, gave you a chance to learn and improve.
-You needed to admit a mistake, take ownership for your fault, and work to rectify it.
-You recognized that really, truly competing - going all in and laying it all on the line - was the only way to get what you said you wanted.
-You were challenged to put your trust in someone else who could potentially help you achieve your goal.
-You found yourself in the midst of some unexpected adversity and had to decide on your response moving forward.
When you stop and evaluate your performance last year, it’s likely you’ll find that your level of success is directly connected to the choices you made in moments like these, when fear showed up. If you chose to muster up your courage and do what winning required you to do in those moments, then you cast a vote for your champion self and put yourself in the best position to win. Thinking back on those pivotal moments of the past year probably fills you with pride. Success required you to step up and do the hard but necessary thing, and you answered the call.
If, on the other hand, you gave into your fear in those moments last year - if you stepped out of the arena and away from the fight you found yourself in? If you took the easy way out? Then you allowed yourself to settle for less than your best, and as a result made winning harder to come by. It’s probably not pride you feel when you think back on those moments, but regret. Courage called, but you didn't answer.
No matter what choices you made in 2024, they are over and done with. You are in the position you're in because of the decisions you've made...for better or worse. But there's value for each of us in reflecting on those choices as we prepare for all that’s to come in the year ahead. That’s because the moments that will define how worthy we are of winning this year will be determined the same way they were last year, by the courage we choose to exhibit when fear comes calling. It’ll be a new year filled in many ways with the same fear. Success will require you to muster up your courage, step in the arena, and fight for it once again.
That’s my challenge for you here today - to commit to playing, to competing, to leading, and to living with courage in the year to come. Making that difficult choice in those uncomfortable moments won’t guarantee you the outcome you’re after, but it will put you in the best position to win, and it will eliminate the regret that comes with taking the easy way out. Will 2025 be the year you take winning in the important areas of life and performance to a whole new level? I believe it can be...if you have the courage to make it so.
