Take away fears power

Take away Fear’s power

The kind of fear I am speaking of today is not the fear of something dark and shadowy that keeps you from doing something stupid like walking into an alley in the middle of the night by yourself. The fear I want to talk about is the one that holds you back. The fear that keeps you from doing things that would actually move you forward into the next phase of your life.

It shows up as a fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of looking stupid or a fear of getting laughed at. And it often keeps you from expressing yourself fully and being your most authentic self. That fear is the tool of the ego that wants you to keep things in the status quo and it will trip you up time and time again if you let it.

When I work with clients who tell me they are experiencing fear, that usually tells me it’s coming up because they are in the process of bringing something into their life that will take them to the next level. That fear is a resistance but also it’s a sign that you are on the right track. When it comes up it means there is something that needs to heal in order for you to grow into that next phase, whether it’s a new business venture, a new way of being or a new way of expressing your most authentic self. It’s a sign of something new and exciting trying to be born. You have to let it.

Like the ghost under your bed as a child that kept you afraid of the dark, this fear lives only in your own mind and has no basis in anything real. You must not give it the power to stop you.

How do you stop the fear from interfering?

Do what you most fear once, ten times and if needed 100 times until that fear no longer has power over you. Write 100 drafts of your book, talk to 100 new people to find a new friend, interview for 100 jobs if that’s what it takes; you only need one success to turn everything around.

But what if I fail?

Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections yet went on to become president. How many times did you fall off your bike before you “got it”? Everyone fails in the beginning; it usually makes you better.

What if people laugh?

After you graduated from high school did you ever actually see someone laugh at someone else’s creative attempts? Not very often, huh? Most people if they don’t like something will just ignore it and move on.

What if people don’t like it or me or whatever I am putting out there?

Truth is not everyone will and that’s OK; you can never do or create anything that everyone will like and you shouldn’t even try. Know who will be most receptive to your ideas and create it for them. Or even better, create it for yourself-just because, and if someone else likes it, great. If not, so what.

In the words of the almighty Nike sports, “Just do it.”