"Never let your fear be the barrier to your future!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

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Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series, The Art of the Infinite Pivot, based on 36 lessons from his 36 years as a solo entrepreneur, working as a nomadic worker in the global freelance economy. The series is unfolding here, and at pivot.jimcarroll.com.
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When I walked out of my corporate job 36 years ago, I was terrified.

I didn’t yet have a mortgage, but my wife and I were newly married and planned to get one soon! I had no certainty that my idea of going freelance would work, and I was pretty scared I might fail. All the while, I was reminding myself that while my career path inside a big global firm was “stable” on paper, I was miserable every single moment.

I had to get out, but my fear told me to stay.

Looking back, I now realize that confronting my fear is a natural part of my career pivot.

Throughout this time, I also learned that fear was often a guiding and prevalent issue within my client base when my solo career pivoted from a pure technology focus to innovation & the future.

Innovation? I’ve regularly seen that the biggest obstacle to innovation isn’t a lack of budget or lack of ideas; it’s the collective fear of the unknown.

Trends? When it comes to the future, I’ve learned that vast numbers of people live in fear of what it represents.

But here’s what I also know: the Infinite Pivot requires you to acknowledge the fear, but refuse to let it take hold of your future.---

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Futurist Jim Carroll knows that too many people see the future as a threat, not as an opportunity - because of their fear of what it represents.

#Fear #Courage #Barrier #Future #Pivot #Breakthrough #Risk #Discomfort #Innovation

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2026/03/decoding-tomorrow-the-infinite-pivot-series-5-never-let-your-fear-be-the-barrier-to-your-future/

Decoding Tomorrow: The Infinite Pivot Series – #5: “Never let your fear be the barrier to your future!”

A quotation from Madeleine L'Engle

When I find myself hotly defending something, when I am, in fact, zealous, it is time for me to step back and examine whatever it is that has me so hot under the collar. Do I think it’s going to threaten my comfortable rut? Make me change and grow? — and growing always causes growing pains. Am I afraid to ask questions?

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

More about this quote: wist.info/lengle-madeleine/828…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #madeleinelengle #change #discomfort #growth #questioning #rut #selfawareness #selfexamination #selfquestioning #statusquo #threat #zeal #zealotry

L'Engle, Madeleine - Speech (1983-11-16), "Dare To Be Creative," Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC | WIST Quotations

When I find myself hotly defending something, when I am, in fact, zealous, it is time for me to step back and examine whatever it is that has me so hot under the collar. Do I think it’s going to threaten my comfortable rut? Make me change and grow? --…

WIST Quotations
SkylarWilson: "Many are recognizing #discomfort isn't always a bad thing: it often means we're expanding our capacity for empathy. Thru bringing awareness to #injustice & systematic #hatred, we may find new ways of being, more nuanced & open to our togetherness in the #orderoflife."
#OrderOfTheSacredEarth bit.ly/4hkaVA6

"Consistency is only a virtue if the path is still relevant." - Futurist Jim Carroll

Here's something you already know: doing the same old thing puts you on the road to the same old destination.

Keeping that in mind, here are some simple rules to avoid consistency:

Don’t wait for clarity because speed is the only certainty (we don't know where we're going, but we're making great time)

Don’t fear the pivot because the straight path is extinct (volatility is the new normal!)

Don’t ignore the rebels because they see what you’re missing (think about that one - you know it's true!)

Don’t rely on your history because it won’t write your future (legacy is a death sentence)

Don’t prioritize your process because the world prioritizes your progress (be creatively disorganized)

Don’t mistake activity for achievement because movement isn't always forward (invest in free time)

Don’t wait for clarity because speed is the only certainty (jump without knowing!)

Don’t fear the pivot because the straight path is extinct (change yourself already!)

Don’t seek the 'perfect' plan because agility beats perfection every time (you can't plan in a fast future)

Don’t build for today because tomorrow is already here (live forward...)

Don’t settle for the comfortable because growth only happens in discomfort (comfort zone stuff)

How do you do that?

Abandon the roadmap - it was made for a different time

Abandon your assumptions - because they are already anchors

Abandon the tried and true for new things

Abandon perfection because mistakes are your new knowledge opportunities

Abandon yesterday’s logic since it is now basically tomorrow's illogical foundation

Abandon the status quo because it's already obsolete

Abandon what you know to find what you don't know

Abandon the safe plan for the risky unknown

Abandon the analysis and go with your gut

Abandon what you've already done to find what you need to do next

What's the phrase we often hear? I heard it in a song yesterday while driving: "Today is only yesterday's tomorrow.' It's from Uriah Heep, a great 70s band.

Rethink it: "Tomorrow is yesterday's missed opportunity" if you don't change things up!

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Futurist Jim Carroll has seen many companies fail at innovation because consistency is central to their culture.

**#Consistency** **#Change** **#Pivot** **#Agility** **#Abandon** **#Rules** **#Future** **#Innovation** **#Rebels** **#Progress** **#Speed** **#Growth** **#Discomfort** **#Strategy** **#Movement** **#Tomorrow** **#Roadmap** **#Assumptions** **#Risk** **#Leadership** **#Transformation** **#Relevance** **#Logic** **#Action** **#Onwards**

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2026/03/daily-inspiration-consistency-is-only-a-virtue-if-the-path-is-still-relevant/

New Research from VSP Vision Care and Workplace Intelligence Finds Desk Workers Spend Nearly 100 Hours a Week on Screens, 71% Say Screen-Related Visual Discomfort is Reducing Productivity<br/>

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A quotation from The Bible

If your enemies are starving, feed them some bread;
   if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads,
   and the Lord will reward you.

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 25:21ff (Prov 25:21-22) [CEB (2011)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/82472/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #proverbs #charity #discomfort #embarrassment #giving #hunger #loveyourenemy #passiveaggression #philanthropy #shame #thirst

Bible, vol. 1, Old Testament - Book 20. Proverbs 25:21ff (Prov 25:21-22) [CEB (2011)] | WIST Quotations

If your enemies are starving, feed them some bread; if they are thirsty, give them water to drink. By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward you. See Romans 12:19-21. Alternate translations: If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;…

WIST Quotations

#discomfort : to destroy or disturb the comfort of

- French: incommodité

- German: die Unannehmlichkeit

- Italian: disagio

- Portuguese: desconforto

- Spanish: incomodidad

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Try Christian's word chain building game @ https://wordwallgame.com

Word Wall

A quotation from Josh Billings

Whenever a minister haz preached a sermon that pleazes the whole congregashun, he probably haz preached one that the Lord wont endorse.
 
[Whenever a minister has preached a sermon that pleases the whole congregation, he probably haz preached one that the Lord won’t endorse.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.)

More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/82236/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #audience #challenge #congregation #discomfort #enjoyment #homily #pleasing #preacher #sermon #crowdpleaser

Billings, Josh - Josh Billings' Farmer's Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.) | WIST Quotations

Whenever a minister haz preached a sermon that pleazes the whole congregashun, he probably haz preached one that the Lord wont endorse. [Whenever a minister has preached a sermon that pleases the whole congregation, he probably haz preached one that the Lord won't endorse.]

WIST Quotations

Make up your mind…

...silly overwhelmingly busy brain... I've been struggling. For several weeks now... Months even, if I take away the few good days that I had in between all the bad ones... And, I don't like complaining. I don't like giving up. I don't like feeling weak because I can't "easily" make it through. I know why I've been struggling. And I know that I've been trying to get help. But I also need to follow through now, and that takes more spoons. And, the way the last ±12 weeks or so have been going... It's been a lot. I lost the routine that I just got into after recovering mostly from my surgeries and traumatic loss. And while I was getting back to it... It slipped away again. 😔 […]

https://cynnisblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/21/make-up-your-mind/

#America: The Land of the #Unbothered and the Home of the Load-Bearing #Discomfort.

If you ever watched the original Lost in Space TV show, I'm sure you remember Dr. Smith. If you never saw it, just know that he was the kind of person who could flatter you and curse you in one breath, and at the same time be planning your demise. Every episode began with the Robinson family trying to move forward, and almost every episode eventually revealed that Smith had been plotting behind their backs the whole time. He was always ready to throw them under the bus the moment he felt threatened. They didn’t trust him and they didn't like him, but because of unforeseen circumstances and a sense of morality, they were stuck with him. He was dead weight they had to carry, and he acted like they were the burden.

There is a certain kind of #American who operates exactly like that. They are historically white, although not defined by race alone, and shaped by a particular inheritance. Charming on the surface, terrified underneath, and willing to alienate everyone else so they can stay delicately comfortable. Their lives aren’t what they claim. They present them as the ideal, but the shine is only surface deep. They insist their way is the best because admitting otherwise would contradict the story they have convinced themselves to believe.

https://open.substack.com/pub/succotashnsmiles/p/america-the-land-of-the-unbothered?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7kub4q

#politicsusa #politics #lostinspace #drsmith

America: The Land of the Unbothered and the Home of the Load‑Bearing Discomfort

If you ever watched the original Lost in Space TV show, I'm sure you remember Dr.

Succotash 'n' Smiles