Why I Would like to Be James Bond

I would like to be James Bond.  This is not some passing fancy.  I have wanted to be James Bond ever since I saw him, actually Sean Connery, in the movie Goldfinger fifty years ago.  I would like to be fit, handsome, and debonair.  I would like to rid the world of evildoers.  I would like to romp with beautiful women starting, of course, with Pussy Galore.  And I have no idea how that name passed the censors.

Of course there is another side to James Bond.  He leaps from cliffs or tall buildings.  I’m afraid of heights.  He is suave.  I can’t tie a proper Windsor Knot.  Villains shoot at Bond or try to blow him up.  My doctor says I am extremely allergic to bullets, and also to the sight of blood, especially my own.

If Miss Moneypenny called to offer me the 007 job, I would turn her down flat, for the same reason I turned down Daveen when, several years ago, she offered to introduce me to Cindy Crawford at a party.  I admire Cindy Crawford from a distance but I am shy, and while I think deeply I do not think especially quickly.  What would I have said?  “You’re beautiful”?  How interesting!  How original!  How dumb.

While the James Bond and Cindy Crawford fantasies may be confined to my own overactive mind, each of us has fantasies and desires which may exceed our ability, tolerance for risk, or both.

I don’t think I am alone in this.  Who doesn’t imagine a more exciting or satisfying life?  But dreams are extremely fragile outside the womb of the mind.

It is not my lack of ability which locks the cell door on my life as an action hero.  I am barred from being James Bond, or saying “hello” to Cindy Crawford, by my own fear of failure – my fear of heights, fear of the unknown, and fear of rejection.  But I have to realize that every one of my fears is personal to me, and not universal.  Nik Wallenda walked on a wire high across a gorge near the Grand Canyon.  Christopher Columbus with three boatloads of men, sailed into unknown seas.  Most actors and actresses audition for roles and are rejected every day.  Either these folks do not share my fears, or they take action anyway.

When I was 31 I was invited to a wine tasting party.  I attended the party, even though the hostess was the only person I knew.  I decided to put aside my fear of talking to strangers, and resolved in advance to have a series of conversations for no more than ten minutes each with as many guests as I could.  And I did.  I spoke with nineteen strangers before I left that party, and I wasn’t rejected once.

Your fears are your own.  Many fears you can live with.  I’m never going to seriously risk my physical safety.  But each of us can modify, eliminate, or ignore, a few of our more paralyzing fears.  Here goes:

Hi, Cindy.

Alan

People Tools is now #8 on the New York Times Bestsellers list for Business Books.

Three book signings coming up are listed below.  Join me if you can.  Ask some questions, and I’ll share more thoughts.

February 28, 2014- 7:00PM

Barnes and Noble, Santa Monica

March 14, 2014- 7:00PM
Vroman’s, Pasadena

March 22, 2014- 1:00PM
Bank of Books, Ventura