The Question That Wrecked Me—And Might Be the One You’ve Been Avoiding
Let me ask you something personal.
Not about your business.
Not about your bank account.
Not even about your brand.
About your becoming.
Are you terrified of losing it all?
That’s what someone asked me recently.
But the more I sat with it, the more I realized…
That’s not the question that keeps me up at night.
What terrifies me isn’t the thought of going broke, losing followers, or failing publicly.
What terrifies me—deep down—is this:
Standing before God one day and seeing a version of my life that could’ve been…
If only I had believed Him more.
If only I had obeyed faster.
If only I had run harder.
That’s the haunting question:
Aren’t you terrified of never becoming who God created you to be?
What a 19-Year-Old Kid Saw in a Hotel Conference Room
At 19, I sat in a small Zig Ziglar event—maybe 200 people in the room.
Zig looked out across us and said something I’ll never forget:
“Write down the three things you want to accomplish in the next 20 years.”
And so I did.
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Marry a beautiful, godly woman and raise a strong family.
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Write a bestselling book.
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Become a DecaMillionaire.
That list shaped the next two decades of my life.
But here’s the part nobody saw:
The failures.
The rejections.
The nights I almost quit.
It was 20 years of falling forward before anything that looked like “success” showed up.
Then, all of a sudden, people called me an “overnight success.”
But now I’m 46.
And I’m not asking myself if I’m done.
I’m recalibrating.
If the last 20 years could produce that…
What could the next 20 create if I gave everything I’ve got?
A Dream That Never Left
There was another moment in that Zig Ziglar room.
Zig was on stage, and I found myself thinking:
“Why not me? Why can’t God use my story like that?”
That dream—to speak into lives, to teach biblical principles through business, to leave an eternal impact—never left.
But dreams don’t grow in isolation.
They grow when you watch men and women who model purpose.
Here are a few who shaped me:
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Zig Ziglar: “You can have everything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.”
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John Maxwell: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
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Dave Ramsey: “Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else.”
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Les Brown: “You’ve got to be hungry!”
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Og Mandino: “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
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Dr. Myles Munroe: “The graveyard is the richest place on earth.”
Some of these men have finished their race.
Others are still running strong.
All of them? They left it all on the field.
And now I sit here asking myself—and you:
Why not now?
Why not you?
The Real Risk
I coach business owners every week who have the skill… but not the faith.
They’re asking the wrong question.
They’re asking:
“What if I lose money?”
“What if I fail?”
“What if they don’t like me?”
But here’s the better question:
What if you succeed at the wrong thing?
What if you build a successful business… and miss your actual calling?
See, when you know God gave you the vision—money isn’t the risk.
Reputation isn’t the risk.
Time isn’t the risk.
The only real risk is disobedience.
It’s Not Too Late. It Never Was.
You might be 38. Or 48. Or 68.
And you’re wondering if you missed your moment.
You didn’t.
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Colonel Sanders franchised KFC at 65.
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Ray Kroc scaled McDonald’s at 52.
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Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book at 65.
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Peter Roget wrote the thesaurus at 73.
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Moses? God didn’t even use him until he was 80.
So let’s kill the lie that you’re too late.
If you’re still breathing, God’s not done.
“Having done all to stand, stand.” — Ephesians 6:13
That means: do everything in your power to run the race you were created for.
And then stand.
Unshaken.
Unmoved.
Unapologetically obedient.
So… What Are You Really Afraid Of?
Money?
It comes and goes.
Reputation?
Fickle as the weather.
Time?
You’re burning more of it by waiting.
Here’s what does matter:
That one day my family will look me in the eye and say,
“Dad gave everything he had.”
That one day I’ll stand before Jesus and hear,
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
But what terrifies me more than losing everything?
Missing what God had for me because I lacked the faith to step out.
“Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask or think…” — Ephesians 3:20
If that’s what He’s able to do…
Then what are we really afraid of?
Final Thought: It’s Your Turn Now
Friend, I didn’t write this to impress you.
I wrote it to shake you—the way I’ve been shaken.
God didn’t wire you with your story, your pain, and your talents just so you could hit a revenue goal and coast.
There’s a mission on your life.
And it’s bigger than what you’re building right now.
So I’ll ask again:
Aren’t you terrified of never becoming who God created you to be?
If that thought hits you in the gut…
You know what to do.
