Doubt is a terrible burden. It plagues us and haunts us. It makes us inefficient; it keeps us from putting all of our juice where it will do the most good for us. It makes us waste precious time second-guessing ourselves.
And yet, we often spend a lot of our efforts protecting that doubt. We don’t ask for a promotion, because what if they say no? We don’t try that project, because what if we fail?
The promotion, the successful project, the whatever – those are secondary goals. The primary goal is the removal of doubt. That is a precious gift! If you have doubt about whether a friend would support you in a particular circumstance, don’t avoid that circumstance! This is important information to you, so go find out!
Either you were wrong to doubt the friend and that’s great, or you were correct to doubt them and now you never have to waste effort there again. These are both valuable things to know. The removal of doubt is a great blessing, in either direction.
The Opportunity Machine 