Books that Inspire Me: #22 For Entrepreneurs Only: How to Transform Terror into Exhilaration

I think of this passage whenever I run into a brick wall. At the beginning of a project, everyone

This is the 22nd in a series of posts in which I share thoughts on a book that has inspired me over the years. 

The late Wilson Harrell was a successful entrepreneur and editor of Success magazine.

The physical symptoms of terror and exhilaration are identical: racing heart, shallow breathing, sweaty palms, eyes wide open. If you were hooked up to physiologic monitors, a clinician would not be able to tell whether you were terrified or exhilarated.

The difference between exhilaration and terror is the name you give to those symptoms. The reason riding on a roller coaster is exhilarating and falling out a window is terrifying is that you know you’ll walk away from the roller coaster ride. 

And here’s the key thing: when the outcome is guaranteed to be successful, you call it exhilaration. When the outcome is uncertain, you call it terror.

And the difference between courageous and crazy is usually evident only long after the fact. The people who call you crazy for taking a risk today will be the ones saying “I knew you would be successful” several years from now.

As I type this, there are 359 days left in this new year. What’s the Big Goal that would make this a year to remember and celebrate?

What terror is preventing you from getting started? 

Remind yourself that terror is just exhilaration with a different name.

Happy Exhilarated New Year!
Joe

 

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