Long week for me, Friends, long weekend this weekend for some, long preamble last week……shorter preamble this week.
Here’s a quick exercise for you:
Think about 5 things that cause the MOST fear for you.
Stop what you are doing and write them down, type them in your phone, seriously think about 5 specific things….it can be anything that causes fear for you in your daily life, your career, your relationships….anything.
Fear is something we have covered here a number of times over the years, specifically whether it be how it can’t exist in your work “dojo” or it being a choice.
It was happened to be a topic that came up recently as I got together with FoD Brian Frohn for coffee.
A few years ago Brian left his full time corporate career and decided to move into career coaching. After spending some time catching up about family and life, I was curious to hear about the things Brian was learning most as he built his client list — he shared that the topic of fear was probably a common theme in the most in conversations he is having with his clients, young and old.
It is something that causes people the most problems at work, in their career development and in their personal relationships. And yet, they don’t understand why.
As we have discussed here, fear is an interesting concept — because fear does not actually exist. It is something we all create in our minds.
Back to the exercise and your 5 things…..
For each thing that causes the most fear for you, think about this:
WHY does it make you afraid?
Maybe you thought about a fear of heights, or flying or failure. These are things that get engrained in all of us that, over time (yes, probably back to childhood), we just take for granted. Often times they are things that simply make us “uncomfortable” but we somehow turn them into something more than that…something bigger that causes a more visceral reaction within us when we have to confront it.
But how often do ask yourself “why?”
Write down the reason it makes you afraid….look, it’s a short intro this week, just indulge me….
Then look at what you wrote.
Maybe you have a fear of flying, and the reason why is that you think “I’m afraid we’ll crash.” Natural reaction, right?
But is that really what is causing the fear? The crashing (which, btw, is statistically less likely to happen to you than you dying from food poisoning)? Or is it really the lack of control you have? Is it the unknown of what could happen if you crash and die?
I’m sure some of you have a fear of failure. Why? Because you are afraid of what others will think of you if you fail? Or is it really what you think of yourself?
Most likely, every thing you think is the reason for your fear is probably not really the reason. It’s something else that perhaps runs a bit deeper.
When we begin to really challenge ourselves to understand why the things we fear cause us to be afraid, we can then begin to minimize the impact that fear has on us. Sure, we may still have those thoughts. And they will be uncomfortable. But, when we think about them rationally, we will see they are most likely not something that need to cause us fear.
I’m here to encourage you to level up your game, Friends.
Don’t allow your fears, which don’t actually exist unless you let them, be an obstacle to your success. Embrace what makes you the most afraid and really work to understand why you and your brain are causing you to hold yourself back.
You have way too many great things to do, to see and to accomplish!
XOXO
Dave
And now a few things to make you smarter…
There’s an old saying: everyone thinks that they’re middle-class. Data from SmartAsset reveals the annual income threshold at which a household can be considered part of the top 1% in their state.
The inflated ego that comes with success often makes us feel as if we’ve found the eternal answer to being a leader. But the reality is, we haven’t. An inflated ego makes us susceptible to manipulation; it narrows our field of vision; and it corrupts our behavior, often causing us to act against our values.
The K5 will act as a crime deterrent and provide real-time information on how to best deploy human officers to a safety incident. No official comment from its googly-eyed cousin, Marty the Grocery Store Robot, that likely torments you in your local supermarket….
MAJOR EAR WORM ALERT: Upon first listen, anyone might mistake the vocalization of “Prisencolinensinainciusol” for the voice of an American rocker the likes of James Brown. Ultimately though, the song was performed entirely in nonsensical English, however, with the intent of sounding like it was 100% American…and it was a hit….and if you listen to it, I guarantee it will be in your head the rest of the day.