The graduation parties are over. Your diploma is at the frame shop. Now what? What's next in your life transition?

The graduation parties are over. Your diploma is at the frame shop. Now what? What’s next in your life transition? College, graduate school, a job, the military? What is your strategy for moving forward with passion and purpose?

In his 2001 best-seller, author John Ortberg detailed a secret to success reflected in the title of his book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. A mega-church pastor, Ortberg frames faith in God as a key aspect of progress and recovery from setbacks and failure. “The boat” represents safety and security in uncertain and potentially turbulent seas. Ask yourself, “What produces fear in me, especially when I think of leaving the boat and stepping out in faith?”

Faith in God is important but you must have faith in yourself, approaching life realistically, recognizing that success, however you define it, is a do-it-yourself-project. As political battles deepen you will hear about fairness, about entitlements, about sensitivity and not offending anyone. Actor Matthew McConaughey in a graduation address at the University of Houston dropped a nugget of realism on the Class of 2015: “Life is not easy...don’t try and make it that way. It’s not fair, it never was, it isn’t now, it won’t ever be. Do not fall into the entitlement trap of feeling you are a victim, you are not. Get over it and get on with it. And, yes, most things are more rewarding when you break a sweat to get ‘em.”

Climbing out of your boat entails risk. In investing and in life, risk and reward go together. You will not reach financial independence and self-actualization without taking risks. Atlanta-based entrepreneur Michael J. Coles is a case in point. Raised in humble circumstances, Mr. Coles went on to become a successful business leader and philanthropist. The Kennesaw State University Michael J. Coles College of Business bears his name.

Initially in the clothing business, in 1977 Michael and a friend had an idea for a cookie store. While neither had experience in food service, they knew how to make great cookies. But they couldn’t find a shopping mall that would take a chance on them and rent space. Perimeter Mall, just off of I-285 in the northern Atlanta suburbs, was their desired location.

Initially brushed off by mall management, they persisted. Told the rent would be $25,000 per year on a 10-year lease totaling $250,000, the manager said, “Do you know how many cookies you have to sell just to pay the rent?”

Think about that. You and your partner have a great idea but no experience with a single theme food concept, no market as yet, no track record. You are married with family obligations, bills to pay. You each kick in $4,000 in seed money to get started ($16,138 in today’s dollars). When told of the rent obligation for which you will have personal liability, a shiver of fear grips your psyche. In 1977 dollars adjusted for inflation, $25,000 per year in rent is $100,864 today; $250,000 in total obligation represents $1,008,643 in 2015 dollars.

Sure, cookies are tasty, but you have to sell enough to pay rent, buy supplies and equipment, pay help, and make sufficient profit to support your family. It takes a unique individual to step out and take a leap of faith. The 1977 opening day of The Great American Cookie Company was a disaster. The cookies in the baking oven caught fire, filling the store and mall area with smoke as the fire department rolled up. The second day was much better!

Six weeks after opening the first store, Michael was in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Told he would never walk again unaided, Michael thought, “I was disabled not just in my legs, but in my mind.” Determined to overcome, he took charge of his therapy, eventually setting two cross-country cycling records. Failure and setbacks are part of success. The company was sold in 1998 when multiple store sales exceeded $100 million per year. Coles went on to found and revive other companies in diverse fields, noting that each setback, in business and personally, motivated him to re-energize and take life to the next level.

You, dear graduate, will not walk across the water to the beach unless you get out of the boat. Actually, there is no beach, just a fast-moving current. You must find the courage and energy to keep swimming! May the gift of faith be yours!

Lewis Walker is President of Walker Capital Management, LLC. Certain advisory services offered through The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. (SFA). Lewis Walker is a registered representative of SFA which is otherwise unaffiliated with Walker Capital Management, LLC. lewisw@theinvestmentcoach.com