I’m a Rocky junkie, and I’ll never forget the scene in Rocky III where Adrian finally breaks Rocky down and he admits he’s afraid. In short, Rocky is training unfocused and half-assed – and one day he suddenly quits while running sprints on the beach. Adrian corners him, asks him why and he makes up every excuse in the book for why “he doesn’t want it anymore” (to fight), yet she keeps prying him for the truth. Finally, he screams out…
[headline_tahoma_extra_large_centered color=”#000000″]”I’m Afraid!”[/headline_tahoma_extra_large_centered]
It is classic of the way many of us handle fear, because admitting fear is not an easy thing to do…for any of us. But fear keeps us from growing, from taking risks, from putting ourselves out there and from achieving great things.
And WHY does this happen? Simple…
[headline_georgia_medium_centered color=”#000000″]Fear = “What if [insert negative statement]”[/headline_georgia_medium_centered]
FOR EXAMPLE:
What if I set goals and fail?
What if this person judges me?
What if this person rejects me?
What if I’m not good enough?
What if I don’t finish the race?
What if I try this program and it doesn’t work?
What if I go skydiving and the parachute doesn’t open?
What if I’m not ready?
What if it hasn’t worked in the past?
When I was very young, my parents took a vacation to the Bahamas and, even though I got to talk to them multiple times when they were gone, I was convinced they had left and were never coming back. Consequently, I developed a horrible stutter and had to go to speech therapy for years. And for years (like most Americans), I had a huge fear of public speaking. I was afraid I would start stuttering, people would laugh at me and I would look stupid.
Thankfully, I got over it and now my passion in life is to speak in front of groups. You can overcome ANY fear in your life by doing this ONE SIMPLE THING…
[headline_georgia_medium_centered color=”#000000″]Fearlessness = “What if [insert positive statement]”[/headline_georgia_medium_centered]
What if I set goals and fail? What if you set goals and succeed?
What if this person judges me? What if this person accepts you and respects you?
What if this person rejects me? What if this person loves you?
What if I’m not good enough? What if you’re BETTER than enough?
What if I don’t finish the race? What if you finish the race well, with a huge frickin’ smile on your face?
What if I try this program and it doesn’t work? What if this program is finally the one that works?
What if I go skydiving and the parachute doesn’t open? What if you go skydiving and the parachute does open…and it kicks ass?
What if I’m not ready? What if you’re more prepared than you possibly know?
What if it hasn’t worked in the past? What if the past doesn’t predict the future and this time it will be different?
You want to know a solid key to motivation and breaking down barriers? There is it – reframe your fear. Face it and conquer it. Many people will read this post and shrug it off as simple and obvious. That’s good…IT IS simple and obvious. But you still need it (heck, we ALL need it). What are you afraid of? No, really, WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?? How is fear holding you back? What would you do tomorrow if you KNEW you couldn’t fail?
I’ll leave you with this quote I heard once:
[headline_georgia_medium_centered color=”#000000″]”Life is an obstacle course, with ME as the primary obstacle…if only I could get out of my own way.”[/headline_georgia_medium_centered]
As with anything in life, YOU are the variable. Go out there and DO IT. You CAN. You’re READY. NO REGRETS.
In Fearlessness,
Scott
