The other day I read an amazing statistic? It said that as many as half the people who end up divorced had a strong feeling before the wedding that they were doing the wrong thing but they were too embarrassed to pull out at the last minute. The fear of embarrassment is a powerful influence in the lives of most people.

Imagine that you slipped over in a public street, what would your first reaction be? If you are like most people you would look around to see who saw you.

Another, well known, statistic is that fear of public speaking is the number one fear that people have, but is it true? I suggest that their fear of public speaking is really a fear of being embarrassed publicly if they mess up.

So what’s all this got to do with being broke?

In order to become wealthy you need to set a goal to become wealthy. Since having lots of money is a lot more fun than being broke why doesn’t everyone set a serious goal to be rich? The reason is that they are afraid of the embarrassment if they tell everyone that they are going to be rich and then they fail.

It seems crazy to let your life be controlled by the fear of what other people may think of you, yet that is exactly what most people are doing. What about you? Are you letting the fear of embarrassment keep you from reaching your full potential, financially or otherwise?

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The first step to getting rid of the fear of embarrassment is to accept that you will never gain the approval of everyone. You could paint your house white and some people will love it but others will think you would have been better painting it blue or yellow. You’ll never please everyone.

If you can’t get the approval of everyone then whose approval should you seek? There is only one person’s approval that you need and that person is you. Happiness comes from within. Wealth comes from within. Success comes from within.

When you set financial goals it is your life that you are aiming to improve. Sure there is the chance that you will fail, but failure is only temporary. If you learn a bit more, and work a bit smarter then you can turn that failure into victory.

There is only one failure that is terminal. That is the failure to try in the first place. If you are letting fear of embarrassment rob you of your potential wealth then you truly are a failure because you don’t have the courage to set a goal and give it your best shot.

Make a decision to say goodbye to the fear of embarrassment. And while you’re at it make a decision to say goodbye to any of your friends who would think worse of your for setting a worthwhile goal and falling short.

Set a financially worthwhile goal. Give it your best shot and if you fall short then take it on the chin and learn some more and then give it another shot. And if anyone criticizes you for that then move on and find a better class of friend.