Creating Success from the Inside Out: Develop The Focus and Strategy To Uncover the Life You Want

III.3. Fear of Loss versus Hope of Gain

We've already covered Fear of Failure as one of our fears, and Fear of Loss is really a component of this. But here I'm talking more about the motivators and attitudes that govern our decision making.

The person who always sees the half—empty glass makes decisions based on perceptions of what they lack; they fear losing what little they have.

For example, some feel an inner pressure to invest in some project, business, or stock to avoid losing out on the deal of the century. Or they stay in a bad relationship way too long ... avoiding the loss of companionship. Some people pull out investments when the market is down, afraid they could be the last one standing when the music stops. These are classic examples of basing our actions on Fear of Loss, and both involve a significant amount of gnawing and gnashing of teeth.

Yet Hope of Gain is the motivator that looks at the opportunity and analyzes the chances of making a good return on investment, then takes positive, decisive action. Once our decision is made, there is very little worrying and fretting because we haven't bet the farm, and we haven't acted because of fear.

Not Making a Decision Is Making a Decision

On the other hand, not taking positive action is the only sure way to lose, and every day lost costs us more (this is the dark side of the Time Value of Money). The first step is to have the confidence to decide to decide. Even just to make the decision that you will not let indecision ...