Do Something That Scares You!
I was in the barber shop a few months back, speaking to a farmer with whom I grew up. We started discussing his business and he mentioned that he was a little scared. My retort was, “In business if you are not scared then you’re not doing it right.” He laughed and said the he was knocking it out of the park then because he is scared all the time.
It has been said that brave hero’s do not act without fear; rather, they act despite or while being afraid. Generally, this is the plight of the business owner/ entrepreneur. The problems seem to come in without notice or reprieve and they seem to grow in scope.
The purebred entrepreneurs can not live without this fear and it drives business to greater heights, but this also can be the cause of burnout.
Fight or Flight?
Most have heard of the concept of fight or flight but are never taught the third most common result of fear…FREEZE. As I mentioned, freezing in a stressful situation is a more common reaction in business, but in life this reaction can be the swiftest killer. Decisions that are time sensitive can be impacted negatively and completely by just not deciding at all.
The easily most common example is the bunny in the middle of the road. You may see a bunny run in one direction just to turn around and run right under the tire moments from safety. Why does this happen? His decision to run in one direction to safety was not made and he turns back to perish between rubber and asphalt.
Practicing Fear Response!
Doing things that scare you outside of business creates the ability to overcome the crippling feeling that fear causes. Look for areas that scare you and make a conscience decision to put yourself into the situation, but also pre-select your reaction and then try to execute this reaction. You may fail a few times before you succeed but it will be worthwhile.
Stand In A Line.
One example of this practice would be to go find a long line to stand in, just to prevent someone from cutting. When someone cuts in front politely but sternly go up and tell them that there is a line for a reason…get to the back of it.
This is just one simple example but if you look around you will find that there are a lot of little things that scare you that you can practice overcoming. If you can’t think of any here are a few, cliff jumping, jujitsu, parasailing, sky diving, bear hunting with a bow, bungee jumping and many more.
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.
As you practice your ability to overcome fear, five things will happen.
You will become better at making decisions while being afraid.
You see the fact that the fear has no real influence on the success or failure of the decision.
Your emotional strength will increase, and you will find it harder and harder to find things to do that you fear.
You will rise in the view of your peers as you blow by the fear that stops them but no longer affects you.
You will become at ease in situations that others can not handle thereby increasing your value as a member of your community, as an employee, coworker, friend, and family member; both intrinsically and financially.
Don’t continue to let fear drive your decision processes, especially when it takes so very little to strengthen the skill of operating despite the fear you feel. Increase your personal value today as you practice overcoming fear and growing your emotional bank account.
