"My chief task has been to conquer fear. The public sees only the thrill of the accomplished trick;

they have no conception of the tortuous preliminary self-training that was necessary to conquer fear…

no one except myself can appreciate how I have to work at this job every single day,

never letting up for a moment. I always have on my mind the thought that next year I must do something greater, something more wonderful."

~ Harry Houdini quoted by David Blaine

Fear.

Again?

Always.

Two things I want to establish here:

1. We need to quit thinking that people we admire don’t have fear. They do. They just have enough courage to move through their fear. Which is why they’ve done the things we admire.

2. We must conquer our fear.

As Emerson advises: “Always, always, always, always, always, always, always do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”

[ btw: Here’s another classic from Houdini: “The greatest escape I ever made was when I left Appleton, Wisconsin.” :) ]