Our #mondaymindset with The Change School is all about ditching the fear. Because all the good stuff is on the other side.
Have you been thinking of starting your own business? Or maybe you’ve been thinking of quitting your job and taking a six-month trip, but something keeps stopping you? Or maybe you’ve been dying to ask that hot colleague out… This week we’re sharing three powerful tips from The Change School to take on those fears that are holding you back.
One of the many reasons we don’t pursue our passion or our dreams or that person we have a thing for… is fear. Fear holds us back when thinking about diving into something new, or when you’re thinking of changing something in your life. The fear we have is usually just an excuse that we put up as roadblocks and a way to stay in our comfort zone.
But, really, what’s the worst that could happen?
We all have fears at different stages of our life, anyone who says they don’t is full of BS (excuse the language!). Many times the most common types of fears are:
- Fear of making the wrong decision
- Fear of financial loss or hardship
- Fear of loss of status / identity
- Fear of failure
- Fear of being seen as not good enough
- Fear of rejection
Let’s conquer that fear and make fear your friend in order to move one step closer to doing something you’ve been dreaming of.
1. Change your relationship with fear
Fear usually comes from three places: the past, current events and a distorted view of life or reality. If we can change our relationship with fear we can choose to look ahead to our future with optimism. To do so we need to make a choice to do the following…
- Not look at past events as deciding our future
- Make a conscious decision to surround yourself with positive people and fill your mind with positive news, material, etc
2. Give yourself a reality check
For five days in a row ask yourself this: If today was the last day of your life, would I be happy with what I have achieved or experienced in my life so far? If your answer is no consecutively, then you know it’s time to take that BOLD step and make the change.
3. Write your fear out
The act of writing helps to release our emotions and provide us an opportunity for more clarity. To get the fear out we suggest writing down all the worst case scenarios for whatever it is you’re thinking of doing but too afraid to do. Then write how you would FEEL if you didn’t do it. Once you’ve done that write down all the best case scenarios and how you would FEEL if you did do them. This simple act of writing will allow you to see that what you’re fearful of is actually nothing to be worried about and the worst case scenarios aren’t too bad afterall.
4. Talk it out
If writing helps, talking it out helps even more. Find people who can support you and encourage you to be fearless. Talking with others and sharing your deepest fears will help shift your mindset in a very similar way to writing your fears out.
This week let’s leave our comfort zones and be fearless… in the wise words of Susan Jeffers, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.” Like we said, what’s the worst that could happen?
