“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Franklin Roosevelt
How many times have you had a really great idea or wanted to take a risk and try something new, only to have a little voice inside your head shout:
“It wouldn’t work!” “You couldn’t possibly do that!” or “What a silly idea”.
Everyone, at some point in their lives has listened to their little voice cautioning them against following a certain action. If you frequently question what you do and think, and veer away from making decisions, then you may be stopping yourself from reaching your fullest potential. You may be slowly squeezing the special creative energy and inspiration inside of you that makes you unique, into a tight knot that needs to desperately unravel.
So what motivates that niggly little voice? What is stopping you from making that important decision or trying something new?
One of the most common answers is FEAR. Fear is the greatest single barrier to success in our personnel and professional lives. The emotion of fear is intended to warn us of danger and to act as a cautionary tool. It should make us stop and think before taking action.
The Great Dictator?
What fear should not do is dictate the course of action we take. It should not control our thoughts or relationships with other people, and most importantly, fear should not shape who we are or what we want to achieve in our lives.
On a conscious or subconscious level all of us have felt the impact of fear in our lives. Whether it is the fear of making a decision, the fear of failure, a fear of what other people will think, or the fear of success - the consequences are the same.
If left to fester and control our lives, fear eventually leads us to stop trying new things. Our comfort zone pulls tight around us and is rarely pushed further out than it needs to be. We feel stale, lethargic and wonder what is missing in our lives. Our creative energy is replaced with a survival instinct. On a subconscious level we start to really believe that we are not good-enough, or that there is no way possible that we can achieve something new or take a risk. On a conscious level our body and mind responds to being fed negative statements and responds by firmly stating - “I can’t do it!”
What are you afraid of?
Have you ever wondered just what you are afraid of? What stops you from taking the next step forward that will keep you on the path of achieving your goals?
The reason for most people’s fear is buried deep within themselves. A low level of self-confidence and self-esteem makes us feel unhappy about ourselves. Because our thoughts are based on feelings of inadequacy, we set our boundaries and standards very low and achieve little in our lives.
One of the greatest realizations that you may ever experience in your life is that the emotion of fear is part of being human. It is perfectly normal to experience misgivings and doubts!
Fear will never go away no matter how self-confident or successful we are!
The key to overcoming our fears is to feel good about ourselves and think positively. We can then begin to use the energy that fear creates positively in our lives.
Only then can we turn indecision and fear into power and action.
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