How to Banish Fear, Cut Deals for Companies you Don’t Own, and Work with Legends

“Fear blocks so much of what we can all be and do in our lives” she said. “Maybe this is a fault, but I was never afraid of rejection.”

Molly Fletcher wanted 2 things in her early 20s:

1. She wanted to live somewhere rent free.
2. She wanted to coach tennis.

After striking out with the only 3 contacts she had in Atlanta, and facing the humiliation of moving back in with mom, Molly drove home and noticed Perro’s Pizza — a local joint right across from an 1100-unit apartment complex.

An idea popped into her mind.

She whipped into the restaurant parking lot, asked for “Mr. Perro” (good guess, right?) and told them she could boost their business with the massive group of folks across the street.

There is an obvious flaw in this offer: she had absolutely no authority to cut a deal for anyone, much less a huge property company in Atlanta.

But to make a long story short: it worked.

To make it a little longer: the apartment building’s tennis pro quit THAT MORNING. Molly offered to take the job and, along with the pizza deal, negotiated rent-free living.

Not bad for a 20-something with no job, no home, and no connections.

How often are you afraid?

Once a day? Maybe 6 or 7 times?

How often to you act without hesitation? Do you move with confidence, or do you first stop and ponder whether or not someone else will scold you?

I once was told the world is not made up of rules. It is made up of people.

Here’s an addendum to that:

The world is made up of people with problems.

They may be business problems or health problems. They may be relationship problems or pizza-selling problems. They may be trivial problems or crippling ones.

There are billions of people on the planet. Do you think you might be able to solve a problem for ONE of those people?

REMINDER: you don’t have to start a business to solve problems. For all the good which comes from the gajillion articles on the Internet every day, the “YOU MUST LAUNCH A START UP” narrative is getting a little carried away, don’t you think?

Habitual problem solving can change your life. Molly didn’t care much about the pizza business or the apartment business. She didn’t know where her career was going at the time. She just solved a problem for “Mr. Perro,” a man who just wanted to sell pizza.

By the way, since that exchange, Molly has solved problems for Doc Rivers, Billy Donovan, Tom Izzo, Jon Smoltz, and hundreds of other athletes.

Oh, and she was the only woman in the world doing so for 20 years.

Oh, and now she has 3 daughters, a professional speaking career, and two books.

Oh, and she took the time to talk with a relatively obscure writer, because she is still not to proud to solve a small problem for a person she just met.

That’s what fearless looks like. Fearless is actions, not theory.

You can be fearless too.

In case you didn’t know, Molly Fletcher is an incredible speaker with a long career as a sports agent. I got 2 minutes of her time in this anchor post, which is an excellent way to spend 120 seconds.

Oh, and if you’re still afraid, don’t worry. That’s normal. In fact, you’ve probably got to overcome at least these 11 fears.