We live in a world facing multiple crises, many set in motion by factors beyond our individual control. As if this were not enough, we often compound these collective and personal crises with self-judgments, insecurities and doubts -- the voice I call the obnoxious roommate living in our heads. But again and again in my life I have witnessed moments of extraordinary strength, courage, and resilience, when fears are confronted, even overcome, and anything seems possible.
For me personally, the biggest step was realizing that fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of fear. Fearlessness is like a muscle -- the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. It's getting to the point where our fears do not stop us from daring to think new thoughts, try new things, take big risks. It's about getting up one more time than we fall down.
My desire to share these thoughts led to my book On Becoming Fearless... In Love, Work, and Life. And now I'm delighted to announce a series, Becoming Fearless, sponsored by Toyota, that will revisit and expand on some of the book's themes, from parenting and work to relationships and love.
We kick off today with a video about one of the most fear-inducing forces known to humankind: money.
Money isn't just money -- it's also a stand-in for our hopes, dreams, goals and, of course, fears. We fear we will never have the resources to live well, parent well, or feel secure. And then there's the fact that not only do women make less money than men, we save less for retirement, and we usually outlive our husbands, if we have them. When I recently appeared on The Colbert Report, I presented Stephen with a certificate before the taping, declaring him an Honorary Woman. "Do I still get paid 100 percent of my salary?" he replied. It would be great to get to a point where he didn't have to ask that question.
For Becoming Fearless, I rounded up some friends and experts to talk about money, our fears about money, and how to overcome those fears.
As you'll gather from today's video and those to come, our goal is not to lecture, but to open up the conversation with a range of voices and perspectives. It's a way of reminding ourselves that fear is universal. Whatever frightens you has frightened someone before you. It touches everyone -- but as we all know, it doesn't stop everyone.
And since your voices are crucial, we hope you'll join that conversation -- not just in the comments section but by visiting our Big News page about Becoming Fearless, and by participating in our tweet contest, using the hashtag #BecomingFearless.
Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff