WEEK 95: FEAR

You are never truly ready to take on big challenges. That is why you start before you are ready. You qualify yourself through action.   Benjamin Hardy

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Today I want to start by doing an experiment with you to highlight today's learning. 

I want you to rub your stomach with one hand in one direction and then try to rub your head with the other hand in the other direction. 

Try to complete 5 rotations with both hands....

Seriously, try it! (if you know how to do this, then try squashing a piece of paper and throwing it in a nearby trashcan).

Now why am I asking you to try this simple experiment? What is the connection? It ties into the source of one of the biggest obstacles which stands in your way from achieving success and your dreams!

Drum roll please...FEAR.

Now FEAR can take on many different forms such as, being incorrect, failure, looking stupid in front of others, being different, yet it boils down to you not taking action.

Ironic thing is it ONE thing we try to avoid at all costs, but is the ONE thing we need to endure in order to achieve success. Now I have mentioned before the path to achieving your dreams is filled with uncertainty, which thus produces DIPs and uncomfortable feelings associated with them such as doubt, anxiety, and FEAR. 

There is a 100% chance you have memories of past failures where you felt one or a combinations of the above mentioned negative emotions. 

Going back to the experiment. How many of you were successful? 

I am guessing not too many of you, but what I am pretty certain about is many of you tried multiple times. Additionally, you made adjustments each time to make more progress than you did before. 

Now how can rotating your hands in two different directions help you overcome FEAR?

It is PERSPECTIVE.

You saw the experiment as a "Trial and Error" experiment. You did not know completely know how to do it at the beginning, but you took an educated guess, took action, and autocorrected on the way. 

You USED the errors as guides to get you to the end goal. Furthermore, you saw the results not as an END, but a MEANS to an END, which allowed you continue taking action. 

This has HUGE ramifications in achieving success in your life! WHY?

Most of us tend to see results as an END in themselves when we take on goals and bigger challenges in our lives. Thus, if something does not turn out a certain way, we let all the memories of past failure and the negative emotions associated with them remind us why we can not do it. 

This cripples us from taking action and provides the excuse that it is ok to quit.

Some of you might say there are more things on the line with bigger goals and challenges and I agree. 

BUT...

What I urge you to do is to take the perspective of achieving the goal as a "Trial and Error" experiment, where the results are a MEANS to an END, not an END themselves. 

This will allow you to see the negative emotions you feel not as inhibitors, but as contributors to the learning process. They are just deviations from the positive goal desired and guide you in what actions you need to take next. 

What Went Well?

Weekly task completed and taking massive action by taking on the perspective that results are a MEANS to an END, not an END themselves.

What is something we can improve? What actions can we take next week?

Getting to bed on time. My schedule has been off the past couple of weeks, which has pushed my bedtime back. This has caused me to get less sleep than usual. 

Need to set a bedtime and stick to it!

What is something to avoid next week?

Not getting to bed at a consistent time. 

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!