Reading Holton Rower’s “Run Toward Your Fear” sign recently, I recalled a remark that Tom Robbins made to me years ago when I was fretting about whether to sign up to design a big, new project with a tight deadline that required a great many skills I did not have—skills I would have to learn on the job. A very scary prospect.
What if I dropped the ball and left the client hanging, having spent a great deal of money on a badly executed job that might even need a complete re-do? How would I face the client, having faked it and failed? Could I live with myself?
Tom leaned forward, refilled my wine glass and whispered with a wicked, lopsided grin,
If you ain’t scared, it ain’t worth doing.
I’ve never forgotten those words.
