M: I've decided to set some goals for myself this year.
B: Oh yeah?
M: Yeah. I decided I need to get better at using the computer. (Pause)
Why are you smiling?
B: You've been saying that for a while.
M: I know. But this time I'm really going to push myself. The only way
I will follow through is if I box
myself in.
B: What do you mean?
M: I've volunteered to make a big presentation using computer graphics
and power point. I told my
supervisor I would do it, so now I can't get out of it! There's no turning
back!
B: But what if you can't learn how to use all the software in time?
M: I've put myself on the line. I've left myself no room to back out. So
it's either sink or swim.
B: Hmm. You may have the right idea. Sometimes that kind of pressure forces
you to stay
positive and do what you need to succeed.
M: Right. That's what I'm counting on.
B: That's pretty much the same approach I took when I decided to come to
Japan.
M: Really?
B: Yeah. I had never lived on my own before, even in Louisiana. I was actually
afraid to leave home.
Everyone I talked to about my fear said I should overcome it one step at
a time.
M: Uh-huh.
B: You know, first take a short trip away from Louisiana with friends.
Then maybe share an apartment
with friends. Gradually take steps toward independence.
M: Sounds reasonable.
B: But I took a different approach. I just threw myself out there, out
in the world. I bought a one-way
ticket, and the only way to get back was to work overseas and make money
to get back.
M: Sounds like a good plan.
B: But as the time to leave got closer and closer, I became more and more
nervous. The night before
I left, I couldn't sleep. I got really panicky and was sweating all over.
I was like, "What have I done?!
Am I crazy?! I can't even live by myself in Baton Rouge! How am I ever
going to live on the other
side of the world?! I'm boxed in! I can't turn back!"
M: Wow.
B: But my friend helped me. He told me, "Take it easy! Chill out!
You never know if you can do it
unless you try." I was like "But what if I fail?" My friend
said, "If you fail, so what? It's better to try
and fail than not to try at all."
M: Right, that's it. so, how did it turn out?
B: Well, I was nervous at first, but I got to Japan, found work, even found
a wife. So it all worked out
for the best.