For the past several months, one word has been very present in my life.
Fearless.
As many of you know, I recently had the privilege of hosting the Fearless Women’s Summit in Saint Lucia — an extraordinary gathering of women who came together to reflect, connect, and explore what becomes possible when we choose to step more fully into our lives.
But since then, I’ve found myself sitting with a deep question lingering in the back and front of my mind:
What does it actually mean to be fearless?
Because surely it cannot mean that we never feel fear.
The truth is every meaningful mountain we choose to climb will bring moments of uncertainty.
Every dream or goal.
Every new beginning and every next version of ourselves.
At some point, fear will likely show up.
The question is not whether fear arrives.
The question is whether we allow fear to decide.
Because fear can become more than a feeling… It can become the place from which we operate…
The platform on which we stand.
And from that place, our questions often sound like:
- What if I fail?
- What if this doesn’t work?
- What if I’m not ready?
- What if the door closes?
- What if they say no?
But there is another place we can choose to stand.
A place of courage. A place of faith. A place of trust.
A place that reminds us: I do not need to see the entire path before I take the next step.
Susan Jeffers captured this beautifully in the title of her 1987 book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.
Because perhaps being fearless was never about eliminating fear… Perhaps it is about changing our relationship with it.
Learning to hear fear without handing it the steering wheel… Learning to acknowledge uncertainty without allowing it to stop our ascent.
I have certainly learned these lessons many times, both literally and figuratively, on my own mountains.
On Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Barranco Wall looked almost impossible from below… As I stood there, looking up at this massive wall of rock, it would have been easy to convince myself that I could not do it.
But walls are rarely climbed all at once. They are climbed one step at a time. One decision at a time. One moment of courage at a time.
And isn’t that true of the mountains we face in everyday life?
The career change. Or change to a relationship…
The important conversation. The new venture. The personal transformation.
Maybe yours is a new project or a transition.
Or it’s that calling you have ignored for too long… The dream that just keeps pulling you in.
On any paths you take and mountains you climb, there will be obstacles. There will be unexpected turns. There will be wrong turns and closed doors.
But a closed door does not mean the climb is over. Sometimes it simply means we must take another path.
As I reflect on the Fearless Women’s Summit, I am reminded that what people often see is the finished moment — the stage, the smiles, the celebration.
But every vision has a climb behind it.
Every meaningful endeavor asks us to keep choosing, to keep adjusting and to keep believing in ourselves and in the path that we have chosen.
And now, as one mountain reaches its summit, I find myself focusing on the trail of another the upcoming publication of my book, Rise. Discover. Emerge.
Another journey. Another climb. Another invitation to work through the moments of fear and practice the very lessons I teach.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more from this journey — the stories, reflections, and lessons that shaped the book.
Not because my mountain is your mountain.
But because we all have one.
Whatever mountain is before you, remember:
Fear may join you on the climb, but it does not have to lead the way.
So this week, I invite you to ask yourself:
Where am I allowing fear to make decisions for me?
And what would change if I chose to climb from courage, trust, and possibility instead?
Responses