Growing up, I held back a lot in fear of looking silly or thinking I wouldn't make it.

If you're are paralyzed with fear it's a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.

The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.

Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

When we conquer our fears, we discover a boundless, bottomless, inexhaustible well of passion.

Are you paralyzed with fear? That's a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

The power to take charge was in my hands; all I had to do was believe it.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now."   —W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

The opposite of fear is love—love of the challenge, love of the work, the pure joyous passion to take a shot at our dream and see if we can pull it off.

When you move your material ass to the geographic site of your dream, your peers and potential mentors think at once, This person is serious. She has committed. She has burned the boats. She is one of us.

She has proven she has guts. Does it matter that, alone at a traffic light, our passionate dreamer finds herself breaking down in tears? Does it make a difference that she's terrified of the choice she has made, that she has to fight off nightly the overwhelming urge to pack up and go home? All that matters is that she has taken action. She is here. She has left there behind. This does not go unnoticed, by mortals or by the gods.

It is not an idle or airy-fairy proposition to declare that the universe responds to the hero or heroine who takes action and commits. It responds positively. It comes to the hero's aid.