As you probably already know I attended LEAD back at the end of March. To close out day 1 of LEAD Gina Murphy shared with us the following inspirational poem, and it really spoke to me.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

The line that stuck out most is: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

So often I read things about being afraid of failure, and I don’t relate to that. I’m not sure why, but failing isn’t my biggest fear, success actually is.

That sounds funny in a way, but deep down I think I’m afraid success will change me. Make me forget “reality” maybe. But, in being afraid of success you are holding yourself back from the change you can make in the world.

And, ever since I was a young kid I’ve always wanted to make a big change in the world. I’ve wanted to do something that makes a difference. Not just for one person, but for thousands, even millions of people. I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I always have ideas for making things better. For a new product, a new way of doing something. But what seems to be the thing that always holds me back? The fear of what my life would look like if I was successful. How much more stressful it would be. How many more directions I’ll be pulled in.

If I’m a bit real with myself I’ve already been successful in many ways. I have built my own Web Design & Development Company and consistently grow it each year. I also felt like it was a good business venture to partner with Beautycounter and build a business educating people on the importance of knowing what ingredients are in their products and advocating for better laws to be passed to protect our safety. I’ve been successful in building my Beautycounter business slowly and steadily, and I continue to work spreading the mission to get safer products into the hands of everyone. 

My entrepreneurial adventures support our family. They’ve allowed my husband to leave his job and work with me. They’ve allowed us to live steps from the ocean, to support our kids in their interests, and still allow us to spend quality time with our friends and family. 

So, if that’s what success is, what is there to be afraid of, right? 

I’m going to keep being fearless. I’m going to keep working my butt off to make the Internet more beautiful and to advocate for safer products on our shelves. 

Now, back to work 🙂 

xoxo