This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 1085, the one critical thing holding you back from happiness

by Paul Apanth of affordanything.com, and I'm just a mallet your personal narrator,

reading blogs to you mostly sometimes books like yesterday.

For now, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

The one critical thing holding you back from happiness by Paul Apanth of affordanything.com.

Fear is whispering. It's in your ear, and it's getting louder.

You can't quit your job, the fear whispers. You'll never find another one.

Don't invest, it says. You're not smart enough. You shouldn't travel, it insists.

The world is dangerous and lonely. Hogwash, baloney, fooey. Fear is wrong, but the vast majority

of people keep falling prey to its siren song. How do I know? Because affordanything readers email

me with their fears. Of course, they don't phrase the email with the words I'm afraid.

Fear works best when it's cloaked as a more palatable emotion. It disguises itself as reason or

prudence. Here's an email I got recently, quote,

My parents are so against quitting my job and traveling and say I won't get a job that pays

well when I come back, end quote. Here's another. How do you explain that gap on your resume?

And the final one. As a single woman, is it really safe? These are common questions, but they're

focused on the wrong thing. These questions are preoccupied with negative what ifs? What if I can't

get a job? What if I run out of money? What if I'm gunned down in a dark alley and know whatever

finds my body? No one ever asked me about positive what ifs? What if I discover a new opportunity

that catapults my career and income? What if I meet the person I end up marrying? What if I transform

into a stronger, savourer person who is more equipped to take on the world? Most people search for roadblocks.

Here's a line from another email I received, this one from a reader who is thinking about

...