Fear is one of our most basic human instincts, and it shows up in all kinds of fun ways in just about every aspect of our lives.
Fear can present itself as doubt, anger, perfectionism, laziness, and all sorts of other limiting beliefs and bad behaviors that result from our brains trying to protect us from things.
There are certain areas of my life where I feel I’ve found ways to identify and overcome these fear manifestations (like finding the confidence to share my art and writing with you or committing to a hard conversation I’m afraid to have so I can be my most authentic self.)
There always seems to be one area where fear can still trick me and fly under the radar, though, and that’s in my business.
When it comes to my business, for some reason I’m able to convince myself that my fear voice is really just my better judgment or me being strategic.
That voice will whisper: “What if this is the wrong move? What if you’ll regret it down the road?”
I can easily masquerade my fear of failure as something that resembles shrewd decision-making.
But the truth is, that voice is the exact same as all my other fear voices. It doesn’t want to wade into uncharted territory because that’s where the possibility of failure is. And if there’s anything the ego wants desperately to avoid, it’s failure.
As I was contemplating this the other day, I happened to flip through my old copy of Danielle LaPorte’s Fire Starter Sessions and I landed on a page with this huge bold statement:
“It’s often best to do the opposite of what your fear is telling you to do.”
It was just the reframing I needed in order to see this big business shift next year in a new way.
Yes, it’s scary, but what if the reason it’s scary is because it’s unique, and what if unique is what I really need to grow and to feel creatively satisfied?
I know deep down that I’m happiest when I’m really LIVING, and often times that means putting myself in a position to potentially fail. It’s uncomfortable, but that discomfort is when true personal growth happens.
The key is in recognizing that your ego wants you to stay comfortable and avoid failure, but your soul actually wants to GROW. It wants to be in situations where it can figure things out.
So… your challenge this week is to contemplate this question:
What if our fear is actually a compass pointing us to the place where our souls most want to grow?
“What if our fear is actually a compass pointing us to the place where our souls most want to grow?”
By that standard, big decisions suddenly become clear —especially in areas where we struggle with identifying our sneaky fear, like business in my case.
Consider doing the scary thing. Using the fear. Letting it guide you to growth.
And then remind yourself that no matter what happens, you’ll figure it out. If it doesn’t work the way you planned it (because when does it ever) my guess is that you’ll still be glad you did it because you learned WAY more than you would have if you stayed in your comfort zone.
What’s scaring you right now? Is it possible that moving toward that fear rather than away from it holds your key to growth and happiness?
