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This is Help Wanted, the show that makes your work work for you. I'm Jason Pfeiffer, editor in chief of.

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Entrepreneur Magazine, and I'm money expert Nicole Lapin. On Tuesdays and I answer the helpline and help callers solve their work problems.

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And on Thursdays I give you one way to improve your work and build a career or company you love.

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And it starts now.

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You want to do something, but you assume you can't. Maybe you want to reach out to someone, ask for a favor or pursue an opportunity, but you tell yourself they're not going to be interested or I'm not qualified or that's not for me. So you don't even try. But here's the problem. You are accepting a barrier without testing whether it's real. Today I will share a story that changed how I think about this and I hope it emboldens you to go get what you really want. So here's the story. It's about the celebrity and the security guard. This past summer I was backstage at a conference and talking to another speaker. He's a large celebrity whose name you know. Nearby, there were two people, the celebrity's assistant and an event security guard. While we spoke, I noticed a small crowd gathering. About 20 attendees had been let backstage for some reason and they were all looking at the celebrity from across the room. The security Guard noticed this too. That's his job, to notice this kind of stuff. And so he asked the celebrity's assistant, what should I do if those people approach the celebrity? And the assistant's response was one of the most remarkable, nuanced things that I have ever heard. She said, if they ask you for permission to approach him, say no, but if they just walk directly up to him, don't stop them. This made sense. She didn't want these people bothering the celebrity, but if they reached him, she didn't want to cause a scene. In other words, the security guard was functioning as a scarecrow. He was there for deterrence. But if anyone actually tried, they could walk right past him. I have thought about this moment a lot because it perfectly illustrates something that we all do. When we see or feel a barrier, we stop. But we rarely test whether it's an actual barrier or just the appearance of a barrier. Think about the assumptions that you might make as you stop in front of barriers. An assumption might be, they won't want to hear from me. But have you tested this? Are you assuming the person is too busy, too important, too uninterested, without actually finding out if that's true? Another barrier that you're assuming could be I'm not qualified. Says who? Though? The job posting that lists preferred qualifications, is that what you're focused on? The person who hasn't even seen your application yet? Is that who you fear? And here's another one that's not for me, that's not for you. Based on what evidence have you tried and been rejected? Have you tested whether you like it? Have you challenged your assumptions? In most cases, you don't actually know if you will be stopped or rejected. The only person saying no to you is, well, you. The solution here is very simple. Whenever you see a barrier to what you want, just ask yourself, do I really know if this is a barrier or does it just look like one? And if it simply looks like a barrier, then you can ask two follow up questions. Number one, what's the worst that can happen if I try? And number two, what is the best that can happen if I try? It's a simple assessment of cost and benefit. Here's often the worst that can happen if you try. Someone says no, or they say nothing at all and maybe you feel a little embarrassed. Now, here's the best that can happen if you try. You can have an incredible experience, you fulfill a desire, maybe you even change your life. If that's the case, then the potential reward definitely outweighs the Risk. Also, the worst isn't even often the worst. I mean, even if the quote, unquote, worst thing happens, it can still be a positive experience. I have an example of this. In 2012, my wife and I, well, we actually experienced a similar situation to the one that I explained a moment ago with the celebrity and a crowd watching. Except back then, we were just the people looking at the celebrity. We had gone to see Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, one of my wife's favorite groups. As we arrived at the venue, we saw David Crosby walking out of his tour bus, and a security guard was nearby. So my wife and I saw this, and my wife hesitated. She really wanted to approach David Crosby. She wanted to have a moment with him. And this whole thing was intimidating. You know, there he is. He's on the bus. Does he want to talk? There's the security guard. What's the security guard going to do? But she figured this was her only chance to meet him, so she decided to go for it. She just walked towards the bus. And you know what? The quote, unquote, worst happened? The security guard, like, snapped into place. He put his arm up, blocking her between, like, David Crosby and the bus. David Crosby totally ignored her. And. And my wife had to just sort of quickly pivot away. I snapped a photo of the moment. It is hilarious. We still laugh about it years later because, look, she didn't get to meet David Crosby, but we got an experience that we value and a story that we have been telling friends forever. It was totally worth her testing. The barrier, the worst was just fine. So what happened backstage at the more recent celebrity situation? Let's return to that. You know, it's the one I just told you about this from this past summer. A celebrity was backstage. A crowd had gathered. A security guard was given instructions, which was say, no if someone asks permission, but don't stop anyone from approaching. What do you think happened? Did anyone go meet the celebrity? Here is the answer. Only one person approached. It was a teenager. The celebrity was kind and generous, and they had a nice conversation. And everyone else watched from a distance. Take this to heart. So many barriers in our lives are scarecrows. They may look and feel real, but they have no actual power over us. The only real barrier is our willingness to test them. So the next time you want something but assume you can't have it, remember that teenager. And he got what he wanted, not because he was special, but because he was unafraid. See what happens. The formula for a more rich and fulfilling life is really simple. It is this see what happens now fun fact, which you're gonna hear if you're a close listener, to Help Wanted, which I'm just gonna pull back the curtain a little bit. So a week ago, a week prior to me recording this, Nicole and I did one of our Tuesday episodes, and we had a caller call in with a question, and we were helping them work through it. And towards the very end, I made this connection between the thing that the caller was asking about and this whole celebrity situation that I just told you about. And so I brought it up and told the story, and it was a really nice way to end the episode because it kind of brings everything to a conclusion. And then when we stopped recording, I said, you know, I've actually never written about that story, and I need a new newsletter that I got to write. Like, tomorrow. I think I'm just going to use that. And because everything that you will consume in the world kind of comes out of order, I have a newsletter that comes out every Tuesday, and it's called One Thing Better, and I usually write it just a couple days before. Here's what has happened now. I wrote the newsletter. It came out on Tuesday, January 20th, and then I recorded this episode because I read the newsletter on the podcast. That's the Thursday episodes. And so you're going to hear this on Thursday, January 22nd, and then it some point in the future, you will hear the actual episode Nicole and I recorded before all of this, which is actually going to come out later on Help Wanted. Isn't that fun? Isn't that wild? Anyway, I just wanted to pull that back so that if you heard that other episode a little bit later, you were like, wait a second. Didn't Jason just tell that story in a different format? The answer is yes. I appreciate you for being such a close listener. And now you know how everything is made. But for real, go see what happens. Do not let those barriers stop you. Go, go, go. Help Wanted is a production of Money News Network. Help Wanted is hosted by me, Jason.