Advice sprouts everywhere now. Not only from the voices of friends and family. But everywhere we touch. Facebook. Twitter. Texts from friends. Pinterest posts. Blog posts. Advertisements. Billboards.

It may seem overwhelming, because…it is.

But what I have discovered that has helped me the most in life is “do something that scares you every day.”

I am guilty like everyone (perhaps even more so) to shy from anything scary. Caution runs in my veins like blood. As a result, I let myself be coddled for the simplest tasks like asking for directions or finding help in a store. Not that they would be rejection per se, but they increased the uncertainty and vulnerability that I would need to endure. So I carefully stepped with only sure footing as I moved forward.

And yet.

I always felt that it trapped me.

So in the last 10 years, I take those leaps of faith. The only worst thing that can happen is death. Not death, but the definition. But death, which means the end of doing anything more possible. I can recover from rejection, but I can’t recover the state where I can’t produce, can’t pursue, can’t ask, can’t try.

Today, I made a request. The third type of request in the last 4 weeks. The first time, I anxiously stalked the venue round and round until someone forced me to ask why I was there. I was rejected. The second time, I asked and a few days later, I was accepted. The third time, today, I asked with such a wimpy, cowardly opening, but I let my piece speak for itself and I was accepted. It was scary, but now it’s not as scary. Then one day, I would say, hey not scary at all!