Fear is NOT Your Friend

Fear is not your friend. Feeling secure is an illusion but a useful one. Stress can kill you and fear creates stress. So how do you manage to feel secure while taking chances that could lead to either success or financial ruin?

It is genuinely a good thing when an entrepreneur understands the risks that they all have to take. There is no risk free way to success. Anyone selling the idea that their method will get you to prosperity without any risk is selling an attractive fantasy.

The world outside of our mind is beyond our control. The ability to take advantage of changes in our environment is what has made human beings the dominant life form on the planet. Growing comfortable with change is vital for anyone starting a business.

The recycling business is one case in point. If you look around you will see a lot of waste. This society is so rich that it wastes a lot of resources. This is not a sermon about waste. The point is that those wasted resources can be recovered and generate a profit if you know how to take advantage of them.

Tom was a guy who never worried much about where he lived as long as he had a car. He would sleep in the car if he had to but a lot of options existed. He found part time jobs where the rent on his living space was low or nonexistent.

Tom never had much doubt that he could make enough money to get by. He didn’t need a lot of cash. He liked simple food and drinking was not a problem for him. He would take pretty much any kind of liquor and convert it into a happy feeling.

Tom wasn’t exactly fearless but he had nothing much to lose. His only concern was that he might lose his car.

Tom noticed that a lot of bottles were going out of the back door of his favorite bar. There was a small deposit paid on each of them when they were bought by the establishment. He thought about it for a few days then he decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

He found a large unused lot in a low rent part of town with a fence around it. He rented the lot and put a lock on the gate. He then started collecting the bottles from all of the bars in that part of town. He found a broken trailer and bought it for twenty bucks.

Tom fixed the trailer up with the necessary lights to make it street legal. He used it to haul his bottles to the local recycling center. Viola, Tom had created a business. He was the middleman in the waste stream.

Years later Tom owned several warehouses and a junkyard. He had never married but there were several children in the neighborhood that looked suspiciously like him. His life was still pretty stress free. He never suffered from much fear because all he ever needed was his car.

Need defines fear. Need creates fear. Need and stress are two sides of the same coin. If you want to avoid fear keep your needs simple. Tom told me after all those years of building his business that he was still happiest when he was in his car going someplace.

Oh yeah, and today his diesel Mercedes runs on waste oil from restaurants and bars. It smells a little like French fries but he still loves it.