Legend has it that one day a man was walking in the desert when he met Fear and Plague. They said they were on the way to a city to kill 10,000 people. The man asked Plague if he was going to do all the work.

Plague smiled and said, "No, I'll take care of only a few hundred. I'll let my friend Fear do the rest."

Can you actually die from fear? Most likely not. What fear kills is your spirit, your ambition and your confidence.

Several years ago, I wrote a column about "The Second 10 Commandments." Commandment two stated: "Thou shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass." Every crisis we face is multiplied when we act out of fear. Fear is a self-fulfilling emotion. When you fear something, you empower it. If you refuse to concede to fear, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Success usually depends on overcoming your fears: fear of taking a risk, fear of asserting yourself, fear of exposing your deepest self to other people, and ultimately, fear of failure. But for some people, the real fear is -- believe it or not -- success itself.

Fear of failure can be crippling, but fear of success can paralyze your efforts just as severely. Avoiding success may seem irrational, but success brings change, and change is often threatening.

We fear success because success can bring expectations of continued success. Achieving a major goal is hard work. What happens if people expect you to keep doing it indefinitely? Can you continue to produce?

Another concern is that co-workers may look to you for advice or assistance once you've proved you can succeed. You may lose control over your time or your privacy. Or you might offer advice that doesn't work as well as hoped. Then your achievements might become suspect.

And you certainly don't want to make enemies of the people you work with. Some people delight in taking down those who are successful. Envious or hostile peers can make life miserable. Can you bring them on board on another project so they can also celebrate some success?

The prospect of actually reaching a goal can be terrifying: What comes next? How will people react? What if your goal turns out to be meaningless? These worries can lead to procrastination and self-sabotage. To overcome them and achieve the success you were meant to enjoy, follow this advice:

-- Face your fears. Explore the emotions you have about success. Analyze what you're really afraid of, and it will usually lose its impact.

-- Focus on the process. The end result may be important, but as with any journey, the individual steps can be more meaningful than the destination. Concentrate on what you're learning, the people you meet, and the experiences you collect as you move closer to your goal.

-- Analyze past successes. Look at projects or achievements from your past. What obstacles did you face? How did success make you feel? What changed as a result? This will help you sort through and clarify your fears and your ability to overcome them.

-- Anticipate the changes. Ask yourself, "What will happen when I succeed?" By confronting fears, you take away their power, and you'll be able to identify strategies for moving beyond them.

-- Select worthwhile goals. Pursue goals that address your needs, not anyone else's. Take the time to think through what success will really mean before committing yourself. You'll only be excited about success if it's what you truly want.

-- Think about the rewards. Don't let concerns about the future distract you from the positive benefits of reaching your goals. Visualize the upside: the final product, a satisfied customer, a check or some other tangible results.

-- Create new behaviors. After you've looked through the issues, start devising strategies for moving forward. How can you reinforce your self-confidence? What excuses do you need to eliminate? How can you sustain your motivation?

-- Be realistic. Remember that success won't solve all your problems, but the feeling of accomplishment can make everyday irritations easier to tolerate even if you can't erase them.

Benjamin Franklin had some timeless advice for those who are afraid of success and failure: "The man who does things makes mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all -- doing nothing."

Mackay's Moral: If you want to be successful, you must first succeed in conquering your fear.

On his deathbed, Alexander the Great summoned his generals and told them his three ultimate wishes: The best doctors should carry his coffin; the wealth he had accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the way to his burial; and his hands should be left hanging outside the coffin for all to see.

Surprised by these unusual requests, one of his generals asked Alexander to explain. Here is what he said: "I want the best doctors to carry my coffin to demonstrate that in the face of death, even the best doctors in the world have no power to heal. I want the road to be covered with my treasure so that everybody sees that the wealth acquired on earth stays on earth. I want my hands to swing in the wind so that people understand that we come to this world empty-handed and we leave empty-handed after the most precious treasure of all is exhausted -- time."

Time is our most precious treasure because it is limited. We can produce more wealth, but we cannot produce more time. The ultimate mystery: None of us knows how much time we really have.

When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never get back. Our time is our life!

Time is money, or so the saying goes. In your work life, how you spend your time often determines your success.

Make the most of every minute with these useful ideas:

-- Set aside a block of time to return phone calls and answer emails. Of course, urgent messages should be returned in a timely manner. But plan to regularly set aside a few minutes on the phone or responding, saving or deleting messages so important emails don't get lost in the electronic clutter.

-- When talking on the phone or face-to-face, give the other person your full attention. Don't check your email or fill out your daily planner when you're talking to someone. Make sure that your communication is clear and focused, which will reduce the need for clarification and other time-wasters in the future.

-- Do your most important tasks first. Identify your priorities (and those of your boss) so you know what's critical and what's trivial. Then take care of your top priorities first thing in the morning. The rest of your day will flow more easily once you've got the important stuff under control.

-- Identify quick tasks. Make a list of routine items you can do in five minutes or less. Tackle these when you've got a little spare time -- between meetings, or waiting for a long document to print. That way they won't distract you when you need to concentrate, or waste your time when you should be working on more important things.

-- Determine whether you really are necessary to meetings. Find out what the meeting is intended to accomplish. Ask yourself, "Do I get anything out of the meeting?" and "Do I contribute anything to the meeting?" If your answers are "no," ask the meeting organizers if your attendance is really necessary or if you can attend only part of the meeting.

-- Take good notes. When you've got an idea, or realize you need to do something later, write it down. Review your notes regularly so nothing slips through the cracks.

-- Just say no. Avoid tasks and projects that don't directly contribute to your primary objectives. Use your list of priorities to identify work that you need to do. Politely turn down requests to take on irrelevant work, or negotiate for a deadline that allows you to focus on your key tasks.

-- End each day with a plan for the next day. Make a to-do list with reminders about phone calls, meetings and appointments so that you can hit the ground running. Be sure to give yourself some flexibility to handle interruptions and unplanned tasks that are bound to come up during the day.

Using your time well will become a habit. And it will lead to some shocking revelations, such as that getting more done doesn't always mean doing more things. Sometimes it's about doing less. Don't try to schedule every minute of every day, because that's when you discover that time can be your enemy as well as your friend.

Mackay's Moral: Taking your time can sometimes be the best use of your time.

John Calipari is one of the most fascinating basketball coaches you will ever meet. He is calm and animated at the same time. He is intense, yet introspective. He loves to -- and lives to -- win. And he always, always, always lives by the credo: "Players First." His new book bears that title.

The University of Kentucky men's basketball coach has had much more than the usual amount of success. Well-deserved, I might add. And I had the pleasure of visiting with him during the recent NCAA Final Four Tournament. I've known him since he was the head coach of the New Jersey Nets, when I spoke to their season ticket holders in 1997.

His book, "Players First," is a straight talk, no-holds-barred, lay-it-on-the-line study of a man and his philosophy. He has stirred up controversy from time to time. He doesn't apologize for that. He is committed to developing young players into the best team and the best people they can be.

That is where "Players First" comes in. "We reach our goals by striving together toward collective goals," he says. "During the season, it's all about the team; after the season, it's about the individual." His plainspoken manner is central so that players can make honest self-appraisals.

He realizes his reputation as a "one and done" guy, where superstar kids play one year and then leave school to go into the NBA. He understands his role in their development when he says that "some people see the young players as future millionaires, just stopping through before they cash in. That's not what I see. They're kids, some as young as 17 years old. They all need me in a different way."

Calipari is completely honest with his players: "Playing for me is going to be the hardest thing you've ever done. If you're not up for that, go somewhere else. Please go somewhere else."

As a real basketball junkie, I was completely enthralled with this book. I loved the stories, the strategy and the thoughts behind his decisions. And then I realized that I was reading a book about so much more than basketball. Calipari has incorporated a variety of business and life lessons that will resonate with sports fans as well as those who don't know a slam dunk from a grand slam.

For example, he makes lists and advises readers to write things down and give themselves a deadline. Business people know the importance of being organized and setting goals. Take it from me: If you don't have a good game plan, how do you expect to win?

Calipari tells his players: "You've got to love the grind. Embrace the work. Embrace the sweat. Embrace the pain." Managers everywhere can relate to that kind of a pep talk. There are parts of every job that require the kind of dedication that enables you to work through the difficult or tedious tasks. Just like winning basketball requires practice, practice and more practice, to be really good at what you do takes plenty of preparation. You might as well enjoy the journey.

The coach discusses at length the importance of turning his players into "servant-leaders": They are servants first, who then cultivate a desire to lead. That concept easily translates to business. Management and staff alike need to demonstrate a servant mentality toward each other and toward customers. The leadership component is a logical next step for team players.

"Anyone who ever taught one of my kids," Calipari says, "I wanted them to use every single tool they had to make my kids the best version of themselves."

Good managers teach or train their staffs to develop their skills for the good of the team. I encourage mentoring at every level. Good advice and sincere interest in career advancement bring rewards to both sides of the relationship.

Calipari believes in sharing the glory, a concept that really successful businesses understand. He says, "After any kind of success we experience, I want every single person who works for the basketball program to feel that their personal imprint is on it."

But perhaps his most valuable lesson is that he tells his players to "fail fast. Don't be afraid to try new things. Don't be afraid to experiment. Fail fast and we'll correct."

I couldn't agree more. I tell people that if you want to triple your success rate, you have to triple your failure rate. You can learn so much from your mistakes.

Mackay's moral: Life's failures are stepping-stones to success.