Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. If you're fearful of what might happen if you walk down a dark alley in the middle of the night, then your fear is definitely working for you (as long as you don't walk down the alley!) But what about the type of fear that paralyzes us and prevents us from accomplishing good things? Or even from achieving our actual purposes in life? In such cases, fear can just persist in the background. Who wants that?
To deal with fear that keeps you from living out your true legacy, you must not let the fear lurk in the background. You have to bring it out into the open and shine a big fat light on it. You can't change something unless you know it's there. So if there's a significant goal on your list that's not getting accomplished, try uncovering the fear that may be hindering your achievement by taking these steps to do something about it!
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Identify what you want to do. You won't accomplish anything unless you first precisely define what “anything” is. Write down the goal you have that's not getting accomplished. Writing things down fixes them in your psyche — it puts it “out there,” so you can't avoid it and so it can become more real to you. The first step to working through a fear is acknowledging the specific thing you want to do that fear may be keeping you from doing.
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Identify the fear. Once you highlight what you want to do, it's time to identify the fear(s) that are keeping you from it. Are you afraid you'll be rejected? Are you afraid of success? (Yes! Some people are fearful of achieving the very thing they say they want most in life!) Are you afraid you'll Look stupid? Fail? Be laughed at or ridiculed? Be made to feel dumb (by yourself or others)? Look amateurish or incompetent? Lose a lot of money? Waste a lot of time?
Write it all down. Document the fears that are paralyzing you. Shine a bright strobe light on them. Root them out of their sacred hiding places! Only then can you see them in their full glory and create an action plan to deal with them.
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Allow yourself to be mentored into action. Once you fully own and acknowledge that which scares you, start working with intention on moving past it. This does not always mean that the fear will go away, at least not initially. But it does mean that it's on full display for you to see and deal with.
I have found that the most productive way to handle a particular fear, once I know what it is, is to connect with people who have overcome their own fears to accomplish what I want to accomplish.
This helps me clearly see the benefits of moving past my fear. I can more fully appreciate the consequences of letting my fear stop me.
The people who have done what you want to do have probably overcome many things, including fear, to achieve their goals. Let them tell you their stories. Soak in their experiences. Allow their tenacity to motivate you and give you the confidence you need to move beyond your fear to a place where you can fulfill your missions, both in life and in business.
And one more thing — don't be afraid to ask people questions. Find them on FaceBook, Twitter, their blogs or wherever the say you can connect with them. Tell them you admire their success. Ask them to give you a tip or two to help you achieve. Most successful people love being asked for this kind of advice because it gives them a chance to be pull back the veil and showcase how they went from where they were to where they are. Everyone has a story, and successful people love to tell theirs!
Question: What about you? What have you learned about your fears and how to overcome them to accomplish your goals?
