What holds you back? Are you afraid of failure? How about success? Maybe rejection? Are you living your dreams? Or are you working at a job you don’t care much about or even dread going to every day?
We all have something we’re afraid of; something that keeps us from doing what we want to do. It may be because of past failures or the anticipation of a future failure…you know, something that hasn’t happened yet.
Fear has a purpose. It’s a survival mechanism. It’s what has kept the human race from dying out. It is our brain’s way of keeping us safe. It works like it should when we are in a dangerous situation, like if we’re being chased by a grizzly bear. Chances are, you have good reason for fear in that scenario because you aren’t likely to win that showdown. But when you fear something that has never shown itself to be dangerous but to you is unknown, that could be F.E.A.R. rather than fear. Our F.E.A.R. keeps us from growing and living the life we were meant to live. It keeps us from stretching our creative muscles. It keeps us stagnant.
Now, if you want to have the same thing you always had then keep doing the same things you always did. Because if you always do what you always did, you’l alway get what you always got. Who needs that? I have never met anyone who was so deliriously happy with the status quo they wanted to stay in the same place for the rest of their lives. To me, that is a terrifying version of the movie, “Groundhog Day”.
With that being said however, I often find myself being held back by my F.E.A.R.S. Although, I have recently overcome my fear of public speaking and now you can’t shut me up. It’s a matter of proverbially closing your eyes and jumping right in.
If you follow the 5-Second Rule (Mel Robbins), you can start to overcome your fears. What is the 5-Second Rule, you ask? You make a decision to do something, count backwards from 5 to 1, and jump right in before you have a chance to talk yourself out of it. This tricks your brain into not trying to protect you from the imaginary grizzly bear. It works and the more you practice it, it works even better.
Challenge yourself to do something that scares you. You may find that it wasn’t nearly as scary as your F.E.A.R. made it out to be. Try it and see.
