5 Steps to Navigate Your Fear So You Can Exponentially Expand Your World

I recently delivered a keynote to the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) for their Annual Fraud Conference.

The ACFE invites the formerly incarcerated to speak so they can get an inside look into our minds to understand our choices and motivation.

It’s a daunting crowd to speak to, and the last time I spoke at the ACFE in NYC, I shared the stage with the NYPD, Secret Service, and the FBI.

For someone who used to be terrified of public speaking (I still get nervous), this seemed like the last thing I’d ever be doing.

But I did, and I’m grateful. Because every single time I do something that scares me, my world expands.

Exponentially.

I imagine fear as a door on our path.

No house, no walls, no supporting features. Just a door in the middle of nowhere. It reminds me of a Dali painting; I envision a melting clock and tortured souls off in the distance.

The door is a choice. And it’s one of the most important choices we can make.

We can choose to walk through the door, or we can avoid it. Nothing forces us to walk through it.