Have you ever known two people that seem to have the same amount of talent, ability, and smarts but only one of them seems to have success in their life? You may wonder why in the world the other person can’t ever seem to achieve anything great when they have just as much ability as the other person.

As a matter of fact, you may have even wondered that about yourself! You never seem to be quite as successful as someone else even though you know that you are just as talented, if not more so. Why is that?

There could be several reasons, but most likely it’s just a matter of you not walking the same planks.

Let me explain.

Image that there was a 2-foot wide plank of wood that was set on the ground. You are asked to walk the length of that plank to get to the other side. You gladly get on the plank and walk to the other side without any problems whatsoever. Then the same plank is raised 25 feet up into the air and you are again asked to walk the 2 foot wide plank of wood to the other side. You say to yourself, ‘No problem, I just did it a second ago without any problems.’ So you get in place to walk across the plank and then it hits you, you’re 25 feet up in the air! What if you fall off? Can you catch yourself if you fall? Would you survive the fall if you weren’t able to catch yourself? You start paying attention to all the things that could happen if you made a mistake, yet it’s the exact same plank you just walked a few moments ago with no prolem.

So, the reason why it seems that you aren’t as successful as someone else is because they are willing the walk the plank when the stakes get raised and you are not. The path to success and greatness is never without risk. You just have to step out and know that you have the ability to succeed even if you aren’t always used to the risks and conditions that will arise.