In last week’s newsletter I opened the door on fear, and this week I want to offer some ways to close it!
There I wrote about how fear holds us all back, and those people who get themselves to take action in the face of their fear.
While we all recognize the power in this, the real question is, how do we get ourselves and others beyond our fear?
The Simple Answer
We all already know how to get beyond our fears…
Simple. Do the thing that we feared, and we no longer fear it.
Once we climb those stairs and jump from the proverbial diving board, we’ll no longer be afraid to jump.
Most fears we diminish or extinguish this simple way.
Think about the timid salesperson from last week. By asking for the order over and over again, they get beyond the fear of asking for the order.
We all know this, which is why the simple answer mostly fails.
Our Fears Keep Us Stuck
Because we know that we can easily squash most fears just by taking action…
Rather than just doing it, we tend to avoid those things that we fear 🙂
Think of it this way.
We typically “try” to get ourselves and others beyond fear by saying stuff like You’ve just gotta do it.
If we can just lead with more conviction. Ask for that date. Or start to build momentum on that project, we know that we’ll move beyond our fear…
Yet, we already knew that!
And unless we’re suddenly more capable in taking that action, we’re more likely to avoid that thing we fear. (e.g. pretending we don’t really want it)
Just Get Motivated!
When the fear is high and we find ourselves or others stuck in taking action, we often reach for more motivation.
That’s like massaging a broken leg hoping to heal it. It doesn’t matter how strong your motivation is when fear is walking the talk.
Perhaps the best example is a fear that, despite our strongest biological motivations, has held every single one of us back.
Like a dog humping a leg we hardly need much motivation to pursue love and sex, yet who amongst us hasn’t been held back by fear?