I previously wrote about my transition to corporate America, which people never actually ask me about. Most people are more interested in my transition to entrepreneurship, which I’ll detail in a future post. When I tell my story, people always ask me if I was scared. I always politely say no and continue telling the story. In my mind, I’m baffled and wonder, “Why would they ask if I was scared?” It never made sense to me. Recently, I reflected more on this and asked myself “Jemaine, why weren’t you scared?” For me, personally, the “why” is more valuable than the “what.” If I can understand why a decision was made or an action was taken, regardless of the outcome, I learn a lot more. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken the time to understand “why” I, in fact, wasn’t scared to leave corporate America.

After unpacking this a bit, I realized there were a variety of reasons why I wasn’t scared. I had technically been an entrepreneur before. I knew I didn’t want to be an EY partner (great job, just not for me). I had started to de-risk my situation and my business idea, etc. I’ll provide a comprehensive list of all the reasons in a future post. My aha moment, though, was realizing the main reason I wasn’t scared was super simple: I was focused on what could go RIGHT.

People often focus on all the things that can go wrong (I’m guilty of it on a daily basis). It’s natural and part of how people assess things, but it can also be the death kiss to promising ideas if left unchecked. I was thorough in my assessment and aware of all the things that could go wrong, but I didn’t focus or dwell on them. For whatever reason, when it came to this particular decision, all I focused on was what could go right and where that could put me.

Next time you feel strongly or passionately about something, consider thinking about all the things that could go right and where you could end up as a result. You never know, the upside may outweigh the downside.