Hebrews 13 : 5–6 NKJV:

(5) “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with
such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will
never leave you or forsake you.’

(6) So we may boldly say:

‘The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?’ ”

A physical truth of life is that the fruit of any tree always grows out at the end of its limbs…at the end of its branches. If you are desirous of picking the fruit and enjoying the consumption of it, then for certain you must go out to the scary elevated extremities of the tree limbs and pick the ripened fruit.

Real and true SUCCESS always occurs in the FRINGE OF FEAR.

So naturally if one chooses to accomplish real success with the use of their life here on earth, then it follows that he or she must be willing to take some risks…must be willing to leave their personal comfort zone and navigate their way out into the fringe of fear. This is simply the way that God designed life to be. Success is the same for everyone.

One simply cannot really live without taking risks. Real risks are woven into every aspect of an individual’s daily experience. It is just the way it is. If it were not so, God would have told us.

Now taking risks in life is not a natural and easy thing for most people to do. The inherent fear of the unknown always works against them and holds them back from making a complete work effort performance. Story after story is told about people who would have succeeded greatly had they only been willing to stretch themselves into a fringe of fear. Remember, the fruit of the tree does not grow out of the safe and secure trunk of the tree. Personal self confidence has to come into play if one is to traverse his chosen pathway to success. It takes strong and well-rooted self confidence for any person to work their way into a fear-filled environment. The good news is that God has already promised that He would never leave you or forsake you,…so there is in reality nothing to actually fear.

Real success always starts with a giant leap of faith out into the fringes of this imagined fear,…followed by a consistent and persistent on-going work ethic doing the very things that are required to achieve a person’s desired results. Life is scary only when a person refuses to stretch himself or herself out of their comfort zone. Fear…real or imagined…always paralyzes personal performance. Maybe this is one of the main reasons why God told us 365 times within the pages of the entire Holy Scriptures to “fear not”…to “not be afraid.”

Success requires a sustained work effort. If a person permits fear to stop his or her work efforts, then success cannot and will not be achieved.

One simply cannot truly live a full and complete life without taking risks.

I am reminded of a poem that I first read over 38 years ago as I was just starting my own business in February 1977. This poem is so appropriate to this discussion. The message of this poem greatly impacted and influenced me. It directly caused me to get out of my comfort zone, take a risk, and start doing the very things that had frightened me. Allow me to share it with you in an attempt to convince you to react in the same way that I did so long ago.

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing our true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try at all is to risk failure.

Even so, the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Because the person who risks nothing:

Accomplishes nothing,
Feels nothing,
and in the end,
Becomes nothing.

Make certain that you do not waste your valuable life by going to your own grave with your personal life’s “song” still unsung,…trapped forever within your own heart and mind.

If success is to occur in your own life, you are going to have to overcome, through taking immediate action, the fears that have been imprisoning your performance of the requirements for accomplishing your own success.

Don’t ever be afraid of taking a calculated risk.

Risk is essential for growth and success in every area of your life!

Leaders Gotta Lead…………….