Have you ever felt the pull of something greater but found yourself paralyzed by the fear of losing what you already have? I know that feeling all too well. We all face opportunities in our lives that are often masked by fear. And for many of us, we’re blinded by fear. However, if you only focus on the fear, then you will miss out on the amazing opportunities that lie just on the other side of the fear.
Take, for example, a major decision I’ve been contemplating for quite some time now. Professionally, I’ve been in corporate since 2001, with all my focus, attention, and livelihood squarely anchored in that world. Although I started speaking as a hobby back in 2016, it has become evident to me that speaking full-time is the next step on my professional journey.
In 2016, I started giving talks to nonprofits and organizations of my friends in leadership roles. Not long after that, my corporate employer—Red Hat—asked me to keynote quarterly meetings for sales and engineering, global conferences for the marketing, HR, and Legal teams, and I was even asked to keynote all our sales kickoffs, which took place in Shanghai, Prague, and in the U.S. In the process, I spoke to the entire Red Hat organization, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed helping our teams understand the anatomy of resilience, so they are better equipped to act with more grit, persistence, and flexibility.
This has continued to evolve over the last few years. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to many large commercial clients across a host of industries and geographies—from DC to Dubai, Milan to Madrid, Singapore to Sao Paulo, and everywhere in between. What started out as a hobby quickly evolved into a passion, and now, a thriving business.
The Why
Finding the motivation for your shift is key. What is your ‘why’—the reason that drives you to consider stepping into the unknown? Whenever you’re taking on a new adventure it’s critical to understand why. What is the motivation for your shift? And, what drew me to speaking wasn’t the spotlight, the perceived glamor of travel, or the money. It was the impact I could have on the lives of countless human beings, as well as the businesses and associations they serve. But it’s the real-world human impact that provides me with previously inconceivable levels of fulfillment and joy. Now, I know that I went blind at 21 years old and emerged better than before for one simple reason: I am supposed to help others with the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and the best way I know to do that is through professional speaking.
As Bill George discusses in his True North leadership framework, linking your past experiences, particularly those of struggle and emotional stress to your profession and your talents, enables you to find limitless energy and passion for the work. Because, it’s not just a job—it’s a reason for being, a mission. For me, the work that I do actually makes going blind worth it. Now, I know that I lost my vision to help other people find theirs.
When you stay anchored to why you do the work you do, it gives you the courage and the persistence to do the hard things necessary to succeed. But even with the fulfillment of using my life’s struggle to do meaningful and consequential work, even with the commercial success of my speaking business, I still had my doubts. But, in the back of my mind, I knew I could always go back to what I knew if things didn’t work out. That was true for the pivot I made from strategically pricing large full-scope technology services deals to software, and it holds true when shifting into other areas like professional speaking, or whatever shift you may be contemplating.
It’s hard to take that leap of faith. When you’ve got something in your life that seems so solid, so predictable, so normal, how do you step out of that in pursuit of a bigger, scarier goal? Corporate work has been so good to me over the last 23 years. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in some dynamic, fast-paced environments with amazing people led by extraordinary leaders. I’ve contributed to work that has created thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in revenue, and technology innovations that continue to improve the human condition.
Corporate has been good to me. And, I’m grateful for the life it has provided for me and my family. Make no mistake about it, the fear is real, but so is the drive to create something more meaningful. So, what would cause me to want to step away from that world? Well, in short, multiplying my impact through keynote speaking and empowering people to redefine their boundaries.
Understanding the ‘why’ gave me direction, but it wasn’t enough to eliminate the fear. And because this kind of work does not seem possible through a traditional corporate structure, I started Blind Ambition for commercial ventures and the Blind Ambition Foundation for nonprofit endeavors.
Summoning the Courage
So, what does it take to summon the courage to step through the fear and take that leap of faith? For me, it was the why—the purpose—the deeper meaning that pulled me along. Focusing on any other element is just not compelling enough. The fun of starting a new business—that can also be stressful. The glamor of traveling the world to exotic destinations—travel is a lot of work, and it can also be lonely, particularly with family at home. The money is good, but I was fortunate to do very well in corporate. And, all these things are surface level compared to the purpose behind the work, which is anything but surface level. Knowing the impact I can have on others inspires me to step towards the door leading to the leap of faith. It gives me the courage to consider how short our time on this earth truly is and remind myself that our clocks are always ticking. So, for all the dreams you dare to chase, for all the actions you want to inspire, and for all the lives you want to change, there’s no time like the present. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed—which is why they call it the “present”–it’s a gift.
What future can you live with? Pursuing your goals and dreams, redefining your boundaries, and finding your limits? Or, never knowing just how wildly successful your life could’ve been? There’s only one way to know your limits and redefine your boundaries. Stand with me at the edge of what’s possible. Together, let’s redefine what’s possible, unlock our full potential, and embrace the power of taking that leap of faith with Blind Ambition!
