Are the most successful people scared most of the time?

I wonder if successful people choose to do the riskiest thing because it scares them a little. I have talked to a couple executives that have frankly stated that they have had several moments when in a new position that they wonder if they will be able to do. They wonder what they might have gotten themselves into. Of course maybe that is only a few, I wonder if there are others that never any doubts about them selves. Maybe the successful people that accomplish the most are one sort or the other. This is a bit of a personal question for myself – due in part to the fact that in the past few years I have changed the way I approach life to small degree. Of course I think it has made a major change.

Sometime in 2002 I started to make decisions because they made me uncomfortable, because they scared me, and because I was unsure of what the out come. All I knew each time I made such a decision is that the payout would be greater, and it would take a lot more effort from me to make it work. The first of these decisions was to leave a good paying, very stable job, in place I didn’t want to be to go back to school. This was very shortly followed by a scarier choice. The original plan was much safer, find a job back home, and then go to school at the local state school at night. I had plenty of unemployment and payout from the company I left to last most of a year, with some part time work I could get by looking for a job in my field for a year and a half easy. However after some time off, and some challenges from a friend, I made a more uncertain decision. I decided to try to go back full time and get into the business school at the University.

There are many reasons this plan was riskier. I didn’t know if I could afford to keep paying my mortgage, even renting most of it out. My previous college grades were, not to exaggerate, horrendous and the program at the university had quantum level higher standards to get in. To even try to get in I would have to do an extra year of work to qualify, which of course there was no guarantee I could get in after that year. Because this was rework it would not help me at all if later I went to the state school. It also cost twice as much to go to the university versus the state school. So I risked my house, a year of work that would not be useful anywhere but the university, and had no guarantee that it would accomplish anything. In fact odds were that it would certainly be an up hill battle.

But the combinations of decision to move home and go for the better program paid off. I was admitted to the program, well I found a way to get in anyway, and graduated with a degree in the program I was interested in from the business school (though I had to blend it with another program to qualify – but that is another story). The fall before I graduated I was present with a much more fun decision. Where to work, and I had several offers. This was a huge contrast to only two and half years before when it was hard for me to even get an interview. I had the choice of several jobs where I knew I could easily do the work and excel, along with one offer that I was completely unsure of. Just like with school I was technically not qualified to apply but did anyway. With a little help from a friend I got the interview and must have done well because they made me an offer. The thing that scared me about it was that I had no clue if I could do the job, or would even fit in.

Again I took the path that quite frankly scared me. I didn’t want to do what I already knew about. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted the opportunity to get in over my head. I guess what I wanted above all was to step out of my comfort zone. Again it has paid off very well. I love my job. I think I do very well at it. At least last year I was in the top 25% of performers. I get some good roles, and some that need to be spun into lemonade. But even the lemons off me new challenges and make me stretch. I think be scared, or at the minimum apprehensive about something actually drives me to work harder, prepare more, and not let my guard down. I think it brings out a new level of performance from me. Do or die so to speak.

Because of this I wonder if this is just me or if people that really leave their mark on the world use the same tactic; to take the harder path to force themselves to perform at a new level. I then have to wonder if this was a secret that I needed to figure out to get where I am now. I wonder if I keep using the tactic if it will continue to payoff.