“Wealth, notoriety, place, and power are no measure of success whatsoever. The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have done and what we might have been on the one hand, and the thing we have made and the thing we have made of ourselves on the other.”

H.G. Wells (1866 – 1946)

This fall, I began the process of growing and expanding Fourfold Press – my writing and editorial services business.

In the beginning, I approached this new challenge with a tremendous amount of energy. I remember working on the final touches of my website until the wee hours of the morning.

But it didn’t take long before I began to experience brief bouts of doubt. I would find myself thinking about all of the possible roadblocks to my success instead of scheming ways around them.

It suddenly hit me one day that there always will be a limitless supply of commentary (whether it comes from our own minds or the mouths of others) as to why something might fail.

But who wants to hang around with Fear and Uncertainty all of the time? Those guys are great companions if you want to stay frozen in place for the rest of your days.

I decided that, for me, the greatest travesty would be to hole up in my comfort zone and never demand anything greater of myself.

We may not get it right the first time, but so what? At least we’re making headway. The business plan that I wrote in the fall, for example, is not the same business plan that I’m following today. It changed because I realized that I had chosen the wrong path (or just not the best one) to get to my destination.

We adapt. We choose a new direction. But we keep moving forward.

The most devastating loss would be to realize at the end of the day that we had talents and passions that we never tapped. For me, this thought is one of my greatest motivators.